Dimensions and Units
A dimension is a size you type that the sketch then keeps true. This page is the way in: it says how to place one, how units work in the size boxes, and where each kind has its own page.
Placing a Dimension
- Open a sketch and draw something (see Planes and Faces and Lines, Circles and Rectangles).
- On the Sketch tab, click Dimension.
- Click what you want to size: one line, a circle, an arc, two points, or two lines. The prompt at the bottom of the view names the next click.
- A size box opens, already holding the current value. Type the new value and press Enter. The sketch moves to match.
- Press Esc to close the box without changing anything. The tool stays armed, so you can click the next thing to size. Click Select when you are done.
Once a piece is sized this way, its size is kept true: dragging or otherwise editing the sketch will not silently change a typed dimension. If a change would break one, nothing moves and a message says so (see Relations).
Each Kind Has Its Own Page
- Smart Dimension: the length of a line, and the distance between two points, along the line, across or up the screen
- Radius and Diameter: size a circle by either one, and switch between them
- Angle Dimensions: the angle between two lines, the angle an arc sweeps, and the angle at a point between two others
- Equations: every dimension has a name, and a dimension can follow a formula of the others (see also the Equations Walkthrough)
Resizing Without the Dimension Tool
Double-click any drawn piece (a line, a circle, a rectangle side, an arc) at any time, with Select or most other tools, to open its size box directly, focused and ready to type. Type a value and press Enter. This is the fast path for a quick resize. Double-clicking sketch text opens the Text panel instead (see Sketch Text).
Units in Size Boxes
Every size box reads in your display unit by default (set under Settings; shown beside the box as a label like mm or in). Type a plain number to use that unit. To use another unit for one entry, type it after the number: 10mm while working in inches, or 1/4 in while working in millimeters. Fractions of an inch are accepted.
Examples in inches: 3/8 is three eighths of an inch; 1 1/2 in is one and a half inches; 12.7mm is half an inch.
Names and Formulas in Size Boxes
The box of a sketch dimension also takes a formula, such as D1@Sketch1 / 2 + 1/4 in, using the names of other dimensions in the sketch. Every dimension has a name, shown in its box. See Equations.
Changing or Removing a Dimension
- Click the number on the sketch (or its row in the list under Edit on the Sketch tab) to type a new value.
- To delete it, click the x beside it in that list. If an equation reads it, nothing is deleted and a message names the equations; change or delete those first.
- One Undo takes back a dimension and the move it made.
Common Problems
- The box says nothing can be done: the new value fights another dimension or relation. Nothing moved. Change or delete the other one first, or see Relations for the colors that show which piece is over defined.
- The number is in the wrong unit: type the unit after the number, or change the display unit under Settings.