Measurement Toolbar

Select Measurement or Annotation

To select a measurement or annotation, press this button, then click on the desired measurement or annotation. The selected measurement or annotation will display yellow circular selection symbols for all points. This button will look like it is "down" whenever you are in select mode. Shortcut: You can switch to select mode by pressing the "Enter" key or the "S" key.

Select Multiple Measurements and/or Annotations

To select multiple measurements and/or annotations, press this button, then click on the desired measurements or annotations. If you click on a measurement that is already selected, it will be de-selected.
You can also select by dragging a rectangle around the desired measurements and/or annotations. Press the left mouse button down on one corner of the selection rectangle, drag the mouse to the opposite corner, then release the left mouse button. Any measurements or annotations that fall entirely inside the rectangle that were not previously selected will be selected. If everything inside the rectangle was already selected, they will be de-selected.
The selected measurements and/or annotations will display yellow circular selection symbols for all points. This button will look like it is "down" whenever you are in multiple-select mode.
This feature is available with Pro-Plus, Advanced, Premier and the Drawing Compare Add-on.

Add New Measurement

To add a new measurement, press this button, then begin clicking on the points in the measurement.
In the Basic Viewer, measurements are not stored so starting a new measurement will erase any measurement you were previously working on. Shortcut: You can add a new measurement by holding the Control key down and pressing the "A" key or the "N" key.
You can complete the measurement by changing to Select mode. This can be done by pressing the Select button in the toolbar, pressing the Enter key or pressing the "S" key.

Add Points to Measurement

This button will look like it is "down" whenever you are in point adding mode. In this mode, each time you click on the drawing, the point is added to the current measurement. This mode is set automatically when you press the Add New Measurement button.
When adding points, you can hold down the "Ctrl" key while clicking to force the line from the previous point to the new point to be horizontal or vertical.
While adding points, you can automatically generate arcs or circles. For more information, see Taking off Arcs and Circles.

Add Disconnected Point Sometimes a single measurement is desired for several separate lengths or areas. Dimension handles this using "disconnected" points. The last point of the first length or area is "disconnected" from the first point of the next length or area.
To create two disconnected groups, first add the points in the first group, press this button, then add the first point of the second group. When you press this button, it will look like it is "down" to show that the next point will be disconnected. When you add the next point, this button will pop "up" and the Add Points to Measurement button will be down as you add more points to the second group. A measurement can have an unlimited number of groups.
Shortcut: You can also add a disconnected point by pressing the G key before you click the first point in the second group.
This button will be disabled in the Basic Viewer.

Edit Measurement Points

This button will look like it is "down" whenever you are in point editing Mode. In this mode, you can move points, insert points or delete points:

• To move a point, press the left mouse button down on the point. Holding the button down, drag the point to the desired location, then release the button.
• To insert a point (between two existing points), press the left mouse button down on the line between the points (away from the points). Holding the button down, drag the new point to the desired location, then release the button.
• To delete a point, press the left mouse button down on the point. Holding the button down, drag the point to either the preceding or following point, then release the button.

You can hold down the "Ctrl" key while clicking and dragging to force the line from the previous point to the moved point to be horizontal or vertical. To go back to adding points (instead of editing), Press the Add Points to Measurement button or the Select Measurement or Annotation button.
This button will be disabled in the Basic Viewer.

Move or Copy Annotations and/or Measurements

To move annotations and measurements, first select the annotations and measurements you wish to move. Then press this button. This button will look like it is "down" whenever you are in move mode. Click down on one of the selected objects, then drag it to the desired position. To COPY, hold the Ctrl key down while you click down with the mouse button. When copying, Quantity Worksheet assignments will NOT be copied. But if Auto-assign is on in the Item Assignment Toolbar, new assignments will be created. To terminate move mode, press the Select Measurement or Annotation Button

Two Point Line Takeoff

Some measurements consist of a series of many disconnected line segments of two points each. These can be measured using the New Item button described above, but Dimension supports a special mode that makes it even easier. To use this mode; start a new measurement, add 1 point, then press this button. When you press this button, it will look like it is "down" to show that you are in Two Point Line Takeoff mode.
As you add points, disconnected line segments are created automatically. Point 1 and point 2 form the first segment, points 3 and 4 form a second disconnected segment, points 5 and 6 form a third segment, etc.
You can end this mode of takeoff by pressing the Select Measurement or Annotation,, Add New Measurement, Add Points to Measurement, Edit Measurement Points, Add Disconnected Point or Two Point Rectangle Takeoff button.
This button is enabled only in the Pro, Pro-Plus, Advanced and Premier Viewers.

Two Point Rectangle Takeoff

This is similar to the Two Point Line Takeoff mode described above, but it's used for measurements that consist of a series of rectangles. Each rectangle is identified by clicking on two opposite corners. To use this mode; start a new measurement, add 1 point, then press this button. When you press this button, it will look like it is "down" to show that you are in Two Point Rectangle Takeoff mode.
As you add points, disconnected rectangles are created automatically. Point 1 and point 2 are used to form the first rectangle, points 3 and 4 to form a second disconnected rectangle, points 5 and 6 to form a third rectangle, etc.
The first point you click becomes the first point of the rectangle. The second point you click becomes the third point of the rectangle. The second and fourth points are generated automatically. If the second point is to the right of the first point, the points are arranged in a clockwise direction and the rectangle's area will be positive. If the second point is to the left of the first point, the points are arranged in a counter-clockwise direction and the rectangle's area will be negative. Negative areas can be used for cutouts such as windows in a wall.
You can end this mode of takeoff by pressing the Select Measurement or Annotation,, Add New Measurement, Add Points to Measurement, Edit Measurement Points, Add Disconnected Point or Two Point Line Takeoff button.
This button is enabled only in the Pro, Pro-Plus, Advanced and Premier Viewers.

Undo Last Change

To undo the last change made to a measurement, simply press this button. You can press the button multiple times to undo multiple changes. Undo works on the following changes:

• Adding points (connected or disconnected)
• Editing points
• Changing the trace (by editing or selection)
• Editing the description

Shortcut: You can also undo the last action by pressing the Backspace key or by holding the Control key down and pressing the "Z" key.

Cancel Changes to Measurement

Press this button to cancel all changes to the measurement you're working on. If you are adding a new measurement, it will be deleted. If you are making changes to an existing measurement, all changes made since you selected it will be reversed.
Shortcut: You can also cancel all changes to the measurement by pressing the Escape key.

Edit Measurement Trace

Traces define the colors and other characteristics used to display a measurement. Press this button to edit the trace for the measurement you're working on. The Trace Editing Window will appear. Select the desired trace characteristics and press "OK".
Warning: If the layer you select for the trace isn't visible, the measurement you're working on will disappear (be hidden) when you select or add another measurement.
This button will be disabled in the Basic Viewer.

Select Standard Trace  Traces define the colors and other characteristics used to display a measurement. Press this button to select a standard trace for the measurement you're working on. Either the Standard Trace List Window or the Standard Trace Tree Window will be displayed depending on the "Organize Traces in a Tree" setting in the "General" tab of the User Preferences Window. This will allow you to select a trace for the measurement.
Warning: If the layer for the selected trace isn't visible, the measurement you're working on will disappear (be hidden) when you select or add another measurement.
To create and edit standard traces Choose "Options/Edit Standard Traces" from the Main Menu.

Edit Measurement Description

You can add descriptive text to measurements. This text will appear in the "tool tips" displayed when the mouse is paused over the measurement. It will also show in the Description column of the Quantity Worksheet Window . To add or edit the description for the measurement you're working on, press this button. The Description Edit Window will appear. Type in the desired text, then press the Enter key. If you want to start a new line in the text, hold the Shift key down while pressing the Enter key. Press the Escape key to cancel description editing
This button will be disabled in the Basic Viewer.

Toggle Polar Mode On/Off

When adding points in polar mode, the point is forced to fall on a line that is a multiple of 90 degrees from the previous point. This is most commonly used to create horizontal or vertical lines. It can also works for lines of various angles. You can select the desired angles in the User Preferences Window.
Note: You can temporarily toggle polar mode by holding down the Ctrl key.
Note: There is a user preference to disable polar mode when creating measurements with a Count data type. See the "Drawing" tab of the User Preferences Window.

Display Measurement List

Press this button to display a list of all the measurements in the current project. The Measurement List Window will appear.

Measurement Quantities Control

The measurement quantities control shows a single quantity in an edit box with a down-arrow button to its right. The picture shown here doesn't show the full width.
As you add or edit points in a measurement, Dimension calculates several different quantities. One of these quantities is displayed on the measurement toolbar in the control. If you press the down-arrow button, you'll see a list of all the quantities and can select which one to display. Dimension calculates the following quantities:

• Count - the number of points
• Length - the distance from the first point to the next... to the last
• Perimeter - the Length plus the distance from the last point back to the first point
• Area - The area enclosed by a line connecting all the points. If the points are in a clockwise sequence, the area is positive. If the points are in a counter-clockwise sequence, the area is negative. This allows cutout calculations. In Two Point Rectangle Takeoff, the area is negative if the second point is to the left of the first point.
• Extension Quantities - if the measurement's trace uses an extension, the extension fields' quantities will appear in the list. See the Extension Overview for more information.

Using disconnected points (see Add Disconnect Point ), a measurement can be divided into separate "groups" with the quantities calculated independently for each group, then totaled to yield the overall measurement quantities. The list includes the total quantities for the entire measurement, plus the quantities for the last group.

Measurement Scale

A scale is displayed on the measurement toolbar to the right of the measurement quantity control. The picture shown here doesn't show the full width. Typically this will display the drawing scale. But Dimension allows detail scales to be defined for areas within a drawing. If the measurement you're working on lies inside a detail scale area, the detail scale will be displayed.

Measurement Scale Button

To set or change the scale, press this button. The Drawing Scale Edit Window will be displayed to set or change the drawing scale.