Drawing dimensions

Sweet Home 3D Help > Creating homes, walls and furniture

|  |  | Drawing dimensions

To draw dimensions, you must first choose Plan > Create dimensions or select the Create dimensions tool.

> Create dimensions tool

You can create a new dimension in the plan using either way:

- Click at the start point of the new dimension, click at its end point, then click a third time after moving the mouse pointer to choose the size of the extension lines drawn at each end of the dimension line.
- Move the mouse pointer on the border of a piece of furniture, the wall side or the room side you want to measure, double-click to accept the temporary dimension draw in the plan, then click a third time after choosing the size of its extension lines.

In both cases, the new dimension won't have any extension line if you don't move the mouse between the second and the third click.
At any time you may press the Escape key to cancel the creation of the current dimension.
While choosing the end point of a new dimension, each mouse move updates in the plan its size and the length it displays.

Creating a dimension without extension lines | Creating a dimension with extension lines

To end the drawing of dimensions, choose Plan > Select or select the Select tool.

> Select tool

• | To help you draw dimensions precisely, use alignment lines drawn from the current mouse pointer location to the closest corner of a wall, a room or a piece of furniture. If you press the enter key when the plan has the focus, an editable tooltip will be displayed to let you enter with the keyboard the length and the angle of the current dimension (if you didn't start any dimension yet, the tooltip will display the coordinates of the start point of the new dimension), then its offset i.e. the length of its extension line. Use the up arrow, down arrow or tab keys to edit an other value and press the enter key to confirm the values you entered. If you want to use again the mouse to draw a dimension, simply move it over the plan.
• | The location and the orientation of the length drawn on a dimension line depends on the relative location of the dimension start and end points, and of the location of its extension lines.
• | To help you drawing parallel dimensions, the angle of dimensions is by default a multiple of 15°. You may cancel this magnetism in the preferences pane or while drawing, by holding down the Alt key under Windows, the cmd key under Mac OS X or the Shift + Alt keys under Linux.
• | Once a dimension is created, you may change its location and its size with the mouse.
• | The length displayed in dimensions is expressed by default in the unit of your country. You may switch to Centimeter, Meter, Millimeter or Inch in the preferences pane.
• | Choose the items of the menu Plan > Modify text style to modify the size and the style of the font used to draw dimensions text.
• | While Create dimensions tool is selected, many tools and menus are disabled. If you need these tools, select the Select tool again.