Adding Dimensions to Floor and Site Plans

In a floor plan or a site plan, you often need to refer to the specific measurements of furniture, walls, paths, or other objects. Although shape dimensions appear in the Size & Position window while you work in Visio, you can easily add dimension lines that display measurements dynamically as you reposition and size shapes. Table 18-2 summarizes shapes and techniques you can use to display measurements.

Table 18-2: Techniques for Adding Dimensions to Plans

Type of Dimension	Technique
Add dimension line shapes that calculate and display linear and angular dimensions	See the shapes on the Dimensioning—Architectural stencil in the Visio Extras folder. For details, see “Calculating and Displaying Dimensions,” page 453.
Display the dimensions of a shape within the shape itself	Add a geometry field to the shape’s text block with the Field command on the Insert menu. For details, see “Displaying Custom Measurements,” page 456.
Label a room and display its dimensions	Drag the Room Measurements shape (see Figure 18-28) from the Walls, Doors And Windows or Walls, Shell And Structure stencil into a room.

Figure 18-28: When you drop the Room Measurements shape in a room, it sizes to fit the space and displays the word “Room” with the dimensions below. You can change the font of the measurements using the Text tool, and you can delete or edit the word “Room.”

In addition to dimensions, building plans frequently include other annotations and text information. Useful techniques are described elsewhere in this book:

• You can point out relevant features and highlight information with callout shapes. For details, see “Annotating Diagrams with Callout Shapes,” page 130.

• You can create custom callouts that automatically display information from the Custom Properties window. Because all the building plan shapes have a variety of built-in properties, you can design automated annotations. For details, see “Displaying Values in a Custom Callout,” page 132.

• For details about working with the shapes on the Title Block stencil, see “Adding a Title Block to a Diagram,” page 134.