Dimensioning with AutoCAD - Section 6

27.4 Editing Dimensions

The dimensions already created can be modified, of course. If you click on a dimension, you will notice that it has grips like any object. So you can apply the editing techniques by grips that we saw in chapter 19. The grips that are at the beginning of the extension lines allow to modify the dimension of the dimension, those that are on the line of annotation only allow to modify the height. In some cases, the grip has a multifunction menu.

However, it is obvious that what we look for in a dimension is that it reflects the measures of some object, so that it is most desirable that any change in the geometry of the object is also reflected in the value of the dimension. To achieve this we can then select both the dimension and the object to be modified, then we could stretch some of the common grips to both, with which the dimension and the object would be modified together. However, that is not necessary. We can associate a dimension with a specific object. Thus, before any change, the dimension will be updated automatically. That is the function of the Reasociarcota command. By pressing its button, we simply indicate the dimension and then indicate the object that will correspond to it.

On a dimension object we can also apply other changes with the commands of the same section. For example, we can arrange it oblique to the object, we can also rotate the text, as we can justify it on the dimension line.

However, it is obvious that other modifications to the dimension objects are desirable: size of text, distance of extension lines, type of arrow, and so on. These specifications of a dimension are established through the dimension styles, which are subject of study of the following section.