Graphics Programs Reference
In-Depth Information
Using Grips to Make Minor Adjustments to Dimensions
The definition points, whose location you can see through their grips, are located on their
own unique layer called
Defpoints.
Definition points are displayed regardless of whether the
Defpoints layer is on or off. To get an idea of how these definition points work, try the following
exercises, which show you how to manipulate the definition points directly.
In this exercise, you'll use coordinates to move a dimension line:
1.
With the grips visible, click the grip near the dimension text.
2.
Move the cursor around. When you move the cursor vertically, the text moves along the
dimension line. When you move the cursor horizontally, the dimension line and text
move together, keeping their parallel orientation to the dimensioned floor plan. Here the
entire dimension line, including the text, moves. In a later exercise, you'll see how you
can move the dimension text independently of the dimension line.
3.
Enter
@ 9´< 0
↵. Metric users should enter
@275<0
↵. The dimension line, text, and dimen-
sion extensions stretch to the new location to the right of the text (see Figure 11.19).
FIGURE 11.19
Moving the dimen-
sion line by using
its grip
In step 3 of the previous exercise, you saw that you can specify an exact distance for the
dimension line's new location by entering a relative polar coordinate. Cartesian coordinates
work just as well. You can even use object snaps to relocate dimension lines.
MAKING CHANGES TO MULTIPLE DIMENSIONS
You can use the Dimension Edit tool to edit existing dimensions quickly. This tool gives you the
ability to edit more than one dimension's text at one time. One common use for the Dimension Edit
tool is to change a string of dimensions to read Equal instead of showing the actual dimensioned
distance. The following example shows an alternative to using the Properties Inspector palette for
appending text to a dimension:
