You can place dimensions anywhere in a drawing and you’ll find the dimension tools on the Tools component tab. There are tools for measuring horizontally/vertically/diagonally in both 2D and 3D, as well as tools for Angle dimensions, Radius dimensions, and Chain dimensions.

Placing a dimension

Diagonal, vertical and horizontal dimensions are positioned in the 2D view and the 3D view using the same tool.

To place a dimension, follow these steps:

1. Go to the Tools component tab and select the Dimension tool:
   
   
   
2. Move the cursor to either the 2D or the 3D drawing view. In the quick properties box in the top left corner of the view, the Associative checkbox is activated and the object you snap the dimension to is highlighted in blue. Click once to set the dimension's starting point.
   
   
   
3. Move the cursor in the desired direction and click again to set the dimension's ending point:
   
   
   
4. Move your cursor to adjust the length, which in this step is the distance between the dimension text and the distance being measured, or use the properties box to enter a precise length.
   
   Also in this step, you pick the dimension alignment - Diagonal, Vertical, or Horizontal - as described below.
   
   
   
   
5. Click one last time to place the dimension.
6. To place more dimensions, repeat steps 2-5.
7. When you are finished, press the Esc key or move the cursor off the drawing area to release the tool.

Dimension alignment

Diagonal

Vertical

Horizontal

Editing a dimension

When a dimension is selected in the drawing, the yellow stretch nodes can be used to adjust the dimension or the placement of the text.

1. Click and drag to adjust the length of the dimension. The small, blue dots at the end of the dimension legs indicate that the dimension is associative.
2. Click and drag to place the text above, below, or on the dimension line. The text can also be pulled outside of the line.
3. Click and drag to adjust the height of the dimension.

Dimension properties

For each dimension you can change its properties from the property box. Each dimension type has different sets of properties. To change them, select the dimension in 2D or 3D to bring up the quick properties box. This one is for a regular dimension:

• Text Display: Choose the desired way to display the text with your dimension: Dimension only, Text only, Text and dimensions, Text and dimensions on 2 lines, or Text and dimensions on multiple lines.
• Text: Type the text you would like to show with or in the place of your dimension text.
• Line length: Increase or decrease the line length of the dimension. You can also do this with the stretch node of the top line of your dimension in the drawing view.
• Text rotated: Check this box to toggle between horizontal and vertical text.
• Auto-rotate Dimension: Keep this checkbox selected to make an associative dimension auto-rotate along with the object it is attached to, for accuracy and readability.
• Text Style: Use drop-down to select a pre-defined style or click Edit to customize Font, Font Height, Font color, and more. Choose between different text styles that you create in the Style Editor.
• Dimension Style: Use drop-down to select a pre-defined style or click Edit to customize Distance unit, arrow head type, and more.
• Arrows Outside: Places the arrow heads on the outside of the dimension line and remove the line between the two end lines.
• Fill background: Check this box to make the background a solid color.
  • Background color: Click this box to change the color of the fill.
• Line Style: Use the drop-down to select a pre-defined style or click Edit to customize Width (thickness), type (solid, dashed, etc.), and more.