A dimension style (or dimstyle, for short) is a collection of drawing settings, called dimension variables (or dimvars, for short) in AutoCAD 2014 , which are a special class of the system variables.
We have a stair section and create a detail from it. When we need to add dimension to both drawing, we have to create two dimension styles. They have different scales, so we need to create another dimension and control the dimension value by changing the scale factor. If you scale it 4x, then you need another dimension style with scale factor 1/4. Lists dimension styles in the drawing. The current style is highlighted. Right-click in the list to display a shortcut menu with options to set the current style, rename styles, and delete styles. You cannot delete a style that is current or in use in the current drawing. A icon before the style name indicates that the style is annotative.
If you do need to create your own dimension styles or you want to tweak existing ones, use the DIMSTYle command. You can invoke it by clicking the small, diagonal arrow in the lower-right corner of the Dimensions panel of the Annotate tab on the Ribbon. The Dimension Style Manager dialog box opens.
Every drawing comes with a default dimension style named Standard (for imperial [feet-and-inches] drawings) or ISO-25 (for metric drawings) and a matching annotative style. Although you can use and modify the Standard or ISO-25 style, you are encouraged to leave them as is and create your own dimension style(s) for the settings that are appropriate to your work.
This approach ensures that you can use the default style as a reference. More important, it avoids a potential naming conflict that can change the way your dimensions look if the current drawing is inserted into another drawing.
When you install AutoCAD, it checks with the operating system (OS) to see what country was selected when the OS was installed, and then sets its measurement system accordingly. If you’re in the United States or one of the few other countries that still use imperial units, the default dimension style is Standard; most of the rest of the world defaults to ISO-25.
The system variable MEASUREINIT controls the default action. If set to 0 (zero), AutoCAD uses imperial units; if set to 1, metric units are used. Among other things, this setting also affects text styles, hatching, and noncontinuous line types.
Starting a new drawing from an ISO template (for example, acadiso.dwt) forces everything to metric, and starting a new drawing from a non-ISO template (for example, acad.dwt) forces everything to imperial, regardless of the setting of MEASUREINIT.
The system variable MEASUREMENT overrides the default for a specific drawing, but it affects only text, hatching, and noncontinuous line types.
Follow these steps to create your own dimension style(s):
On the Ribbon’s Home tab, click the label of the Annotation panel to open the panel slideout, and then click the Dimension Style button.
Alternatively, if that just sounds like too much work, you can type D and press Enter. The Dimension Style Manager dialog box appears.
In the Styles list, select the existing dimension style whose settings you want to use as the starting point for the settings of the new style.
For example, select the default dimension style named Standard or ISO-25.
Click the New button to create a new dimension style that’s a copy of the existing style.
The Create New Dimension Style dialog box appears.
Enter a New Style Name and then select or deselect the Annotative check box. Click Continue.
Select the Annotative check box to create an annotative dimension style, or deselect it for a non-annotative style.
The New Dimension Style dialog box appears. (This dialog box is virtually identical to the Modify Dimension Style dialog box, which is displayed when you edit a dimension style.)
Modify dimension settings on any of the seven tabs in the New Dimension Style dialog box.
Click OK to close the New Dimension Style dialog box.
The Dimension Style Manager dialog box reappears.
Click Close.
The Dimension Style Manager dialog box closes, and the new dimension style becomes the current dimension style that AutoCAD uses for future dimensions in this drawing.
Draw dimensions to test the new dimension style.
Avoid changing existing dimension styles that you didn’t create, unless you know for sure what they’re used for. When you change a dimension style setting, all existing dimensions using that style change to reflect the revised setting.
Thus, one small dimension variable setting change can affect a large number of existing dimensions! To play it safe, rather than modify an existing dimension style, create a new style by copying an existing one and modifying the new one.
A further variation on the already convoluted dimension styles picture is that you can create dimension substyles (also called style families), which are variations of a main style that affect only a particular type of dimension, such as radial or angular. If you open the Dimension Style Manager dialog box and see names of dimension types indented beneath the main dimension style names, be aware that you’re dealing with substyles.
After you click New or Modify in the Dimension Style Manager dialog box, AutoCAD displays a tabbed New Dimension Style dialog box or Modify Dimension Style dialog box with a mind-boggling — and potentially drawing-boggling, if you’re not careful — array of settings.
Fortunately, the dimension preview that appears on all tabs — as well as on the main Dimension Style Manager dialog box — immediately shows the results of most setting changes. With the dimension preview and some trial-and-error setting changes, you can usually home in on an acceptable group of settings. For more information, use the Help feature in the dialog box: Just hover the mouse pointer over the setting that you want to know more about.
If you find the preview image hard to read in the Dimension Style Manager, New Dimension Style, or Modify Dimension Style dialog boxes, click and drag the right edge of the dialog box to increase the size of the preview image.
Before you start messing with dimension style settings, know what you want your dimensions to look like when they’re plotted. If you’re not sure how it’s done in your industry, ask others in your office or profession, or look at a plotted drawing that someone in the know represents as being a good example. A general rule that is helpful in virtually all aspects of life is to stick with the defaults unless you know specifically what you want to change and why.
When you have everything set the way you want it, click OK to close the Modify Dimension Style dialog box, and then click Close to exit the Dimension Style Manager. The new style is now current.
Following lines and arrows
The settings on the Lines tab and the Symbols and Arrows tab control the basic look and feel of all parts of your dimensions, except text.
Symbolically speaking
The settings on the Symbols and Arrows tab control the shape and appearance of arrowheads and other symbols.
A useful setting is Center Marks. Depending on which radio button you select, placing a radius or diameter dimension also identifies the center by placing a small center mark, or by placing center lines that extend just beyond the circle or arc, or none. The default is the tick mark, but many AutoCAD users prefer the line because normal drafting practice is usually to show center lines.
Tabbing to text
Use the Text tab to control how dimension text looks, which includes the text style and height to use and where to place the text with respect to the dimension and extension lines. In particular, note the Text Style drop-down list, which shows the text styles available in the drawing. Click the three-dot Browse button at the right end of the list to open the Text Style dialog box, and edit or create a suitable text style if one doesn’t already exist in your current drawing. The default Text Height in imperial units (0.180) is too large for most situations; set it to 1/8”, 3mm, or another height that makes sense.
You should define the text style for dimensions with a height of 0 (zero) in the Text Style dialog box. If you specify a fixed-height text style for a dimension style, the text style’s height overrides the Text Height setting in the New/Modify Dimension Style dialog boxes. Use a zero-height style to avoid the problem. A zero-height text style can be a real nuisance when placing text, which means that it’s almost mandatory to have at least two text styles defined: one for text and one for dimensions.
Getting fit
The Fit tab includes a bunch of options that control when and where AutoCAD shoves the dimension text if it doesn’t quite fit between the extension lines. The default settings leave AutoCAD in “maximum attempt at being helpful” mode. That is, AutoCAD moves the text, dimension lines, and arrows around automatically so that nothing overlaps. On rare occasions, AutoCAD’s guesses might be less than perfect. It’s usually easier to adjust the text placement by grip-editing the placed dimension, instead of messing with dimension style settings.
Even at its most helpful, AutoCAD sometimes makes a bad first guess about how you want dimension text and arrows arranged. If you’re having problems getting the look you want, flip the arrows to the other side of the dimension lines by selecting the dimension and choosing Flip Arrow from the multifunction grip on the arrow.
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Most important, the Fit tab includes the Annotative check box. Using annotative dimensions makes dimensioning go a lot more smoothly!
The Use Overall Scale Of setting corresponds to the DIMSCALE system variable, and you’ll hear long-time AutoCAD drafters refer to it as such. If you’re using old-style non-annotative dimensions, this is where that number goes. It resizes text height, arrowhead sizes, and gaps accordingly. When Scale Dimensions to Layout is selected, DIMSCALE is automatically set to 0 (zero). When Annotative is selected, DIMSCALE is ignored, and a suitable scale factor is applied to each dimension when it’s created.
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Using primary units
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The Primary Units tab gives you highly detailed control over how AutoCAD formats the characters in the dimension text string. You usually set the unit format and precision, and maybe specify a suffix for unitless numbers, if it’s not clear from the drawing which units you’re using. You may also change the Zero Suppression settings, depending on whether you want dimension text to read 0.5000, .5000, or 0.5.
AutoCAD 2010 introduced an interesting tweak to dimension text: dimension subunits. If the main unit of measure on a drawing is meters, rather than have a bunch of smaller distances dimensioned as, say, 0.450, you could create a centimeter subunit so that any dimension of less than 1 meter would be shown in centimeters.
Other style settings
If your work requires that you show dimensions in two different systems of measure, such as inches and millimeters, use the Alternate Units tab to turn on and control alternate units. Alternate Units display both dimensions at a time. If your work requires listing construction or manufacturing tolerances, such as 3.5 +/-0.01, use the Tolerances tab to configure the tolerance format.
AutoCAD includes a separate TOLerance command that draws special symbols called geometric tolerances. If you need these symbols, you probably know it; if you’ve never heard of them, just ignore them. Search for the term Geometric Tolerance dialog box in the AutoCAD help system for more information.