2004

510 | Chapter 20 Dimensions and Tolerances
Understand Basic Concepts of Dimensioning
You can create several types of dimensions, and you can control their appear-
ance by setting up dimension styles or by editing individual dimensions.
Overview of Dimensioning
Dimensions show the measurements of objects, the distances or angles
between objects, or the distance of a feature from an origin you specify.
AutoCAD provides three basic types of dimensioning: linear, radial, and
angular. Dimensions can be horizontal, vertical, aligned, rotated, ordinate,
baseline, or continued. Some simple examples are shown in the illustration.
You can dimension objects, such as lines, arcs, circles, and polyline segments,
or you can dimension between point locations.
AutoCAD places dimensions on the current layer. Every dimension assumes
the current dimension style, which controls characteristics such as arrow-
head style, text location, and lateral tolerances. With dimension styles, you
can make subtle modifications to a base dimension style for different types
of dimensions. With dimension style overrides, you can modify these char-
acteristics for a specific dimension.
You can use Quick Dimension (
QDIM) to dimension multiple objects at one
time or edit existing dimensions. However, dimensions created with this
method are nonassociative.
angular
diameter
radius
vertical
linear
horizontal linear
continued
aligned
baselin
e