Education_007 – Dimensions

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Dimensions
A drawing without dimensions is pretty useless. It is important that when you place dimensions you place them accurately. Learning to dimension your drawings accurately will allow you to draw more quickly in Vectorworks.

Go to the Dims/Notes tool set.
Click on the Constrained Linear Dimension tool.

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Go to the Tool bar. Make sure the first mode is selected.

Move your cursor to the top left of the first rectangle. It is important to make sure you are directly on the corner of the rectangle. If you have turned on all the recommended snaps, the screen hint will say Top Left.
Click once.

Move your cursor to the top-right of the rectangle. It is important to make sure you are directly on the corner of the rectangle so that you benefit from the screen hints, and the dimensions will associate to the rectangle.

Now move your cursor up the screen, away from the object, and click a third time to place the dimension.

When the dimension is correctly placed, you should notice small green squares at each corner of the rectangle. These show you that the dimension is associated with the rectangle. If you move the rectangle, or change the size of the rectangle, the dimension will update. This is not just a neat trick, it makes the drawing process quicker, and it makes your drawing more reliable.

After placing a dimension, you can change the style of the dimension but choosing the required Dimension Standard on the Object Info palette.

Ensure your dimension is selected.
Go to the Object Info palette.
Click on the Dim Std pop-up menu.
Choose the required standard.

The dimension will display the selected dimension standard.

You can change the dimension standard before you place any dimensions on the tool bar. Select the required dimension standard. All dimensions placed from now on will use this dimension standard.

Go to the Dims/Notes tool set.
Click on the Constrained Linear Dimension tool.

Go to the Tool bar. Make sure the second mode is selected. This mode is for creating chain dimensions. Chain dimensions allow you to create a string of dimensions that are treated as one object. If you move one of the dimensions, they all move. This is also the quickest way to create a string of dimensions as it saves a lot of clicking.

Move your cursor to the top left of the first rectangle. It is important to make sure you are directly on the corner of the rectangle. If you have turned on all the recommended snaps, the screen hint will say Top Left.
Click once.

Move your cursor to the bottom-left of the rectangle. It is important to make sure you are directly on the corner of the rectangle so that you benefit from the screen hints, and the dimensions will associate to the rectangle.