Learn about the effective use of dimensioning in AutoCAD, using shortcuts to switch between dimension options quickly. The article provides a comprehensive guide on how to measure a floor plan accurately using the DIM Linear and DIM Continue commands.
Key Insights
- The article demonstrates the use of AutoCAD's dimensioning tool, using shortcuts like DIM Linear and DIM Continue to facilitate the dimensioning process.
- The tutorial explains how to accurately dimension a floor plan, using the model's largest dimensions as a starting point before detailing smaller parts of the plan.
- It also covers techniques for turning off layers, snapping to wall outlines, and saving progress using zoom extents and CTRL-S commands.
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We are going to go ahead and begin dimensioning our floor plan, and I'll just show you a couple of quick keyboard shortcuts to get you quickly into some of these dimension options. If you type DIM enter, you're going to go into this dimension tool.
This is a rather new tool to AutoCAD, and it is useful in some cases. However, I like to automatically lock in to either linear or continue fairly often. If I type DIM L for dim linear, DIM L, it'll automatically put me in the linear command.
And if I type DIM C, it will start the dim continue command. These are two of the commands we've used fairly often so far throughout this course. Before we get started, I also want to turn off my masonry layer.
And so I will use L-A-Y off, lay off, L-A-Y off. I'll click on my masonry geometry, and it will turn off the layer for that geometry. All right, now we can snap directly to our wall outline, which is represented here on the no plot layer and represented in our wall geometry.
In fact, I'm going to choose this no plot line, right click, draw order, send to back. And we'll be able to click directly on our wall geometry. I'll do a zoom extents, control S to save.
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And now I'm going to start with the dimensions. Again, I'm going to move rather quickly, and I might use the DIM L keyboard shortcut or the DIM C keyboard shortcut. If you'd prefer, please go up to your annotate tab and choose the linear and continue dimension buttons from there.
Okay, I'm going to start by zooming into my model and choosing the largest dimensions on all four sides. I'll go linear from this endpoint to this endpoint, and this represents the total height of my model. Here we can see 59 feet 7, and it is the correct height.
I'll do it again, DIM linear, and I'll do the bottom of the model from here to here. Again, I'm snapping on the endpoint grips, but as soon as I hover over this magenta line, it'll show me that grip. Perfect, and there we see 60 feet 7. At the top of the model, linear, this one doesn't include the garage below, so it's a slightly shorter dimension, 55 feet 9, but it does go all the way across.
This piece of the model is dimensioned down here, so I'll go linear here to here, and it simply goes up that high. This dimension going all the way to the top of the drawing doesn't make that much sense. I'll go linear one more time, and this one follows the same trend from here to here out to the end, and that is 49 feet 11 and one-half inches.
I'll do a zoom extents, CTRL S to save, and now I can start filling out the dimensions for some of the smaller parts of my model, but I will focus on the big bump outs of the floor plan first. So here at the bottom of my model, I'll go linear here to here, choosing that second magenta line, and then I'll go DIM continue to this bump out, this bump out, and the width of the garage. Enter to say I'm done.
Now I'll continue with this elevation, the front elevation, and I will continue making all of the dimensions for this view. DIM linear here to here, and I'll bring it to there. DIM continue to that window.
Enter to say I'm done. Escape, escape, DIM linear here to here out to that point. DIM continue to the window and to the wall.
Enter to say I'm done. Escape, escape. Let's zoom way in, and we'll work on the dimensions in this space.
First, this wall is dimensioned with a linear just to there, and then the front door and this wall are also dimensioned. Linear, the front door, DIM continue to the corner. Enter to say I'm done.
Escape, escape. Finally, the garage itself, DIM linear here to here out to the end, and DIM continue the width of the garage door, this piece of the wall, the garage door, and again to the corner of the wall. Enter to say I'm done.
Escape, escape. While we're here, we can dimension some of this information. I'll go linear.
We can see that this is from the edge of the door to the midpoint of the door, and I'll bring it out to this magenta line. DIM continue across the rest. That simply shows that the pulley system, the chain system, is right in the middle of the door.
Now we can dimension these overhangs. DIM linear here to here, and that's two inches. I'll do it again.
Enter to go back in. This is the width of the chain pulley, and I'll click on this dimension to make it the same distance, and I'll do it one more time. Enter to go back in.
Here to here, the same distance. I'll come up and do this gearbox next. DIM linear.
This is a six-inch overhang from here to the midpoint, and then I can do a DIM linear from here to here. I'll use the same snap. Enter to go back in for the top.
One last dimension on our garage doors is the height of the overhang, so I'll go DIM linear, and that's from the corner to the back of the door, and that's seven foot six. All right. Zoom extends.
Control S to save. At this point, I'm going to do a review of all of the exterior elements on this elevation. Of course, there's more dimensions in the garage and in these bedrooms, but I'm just focused on the exterior elements right now.
Okay. Once I see that's complete, I'm going to move over to this left side, and let's keep going. I'll do a DIM linear.
This is from the corner of the garage to the corner of this bump out to the second line. Continue to here, and this is major bump out, so I'm going up to the corner there and to the corner there. Enter to say I'm done.
DIM linear. This next string starts at the corner here, goes to the wall inside to the corner of where the bathtub is, and out, and then continue again to the wall inside to the top side here, again to the wall inside for the closet here, and then all the way to the corner of the building. Escape, escape, escape.
I'll go linear one more time, and this is for this to the window edge, and then continue to the bottom of the window. Enter to say that I'm done. I'll go DIM linear one more time, and this is simply for the edge of the window, and here I'm going to choose this same dimension string where this window was dimensioned, so it's going to be that most inner magenta line, and I'll do a quick continue and select the edge of the window.
Enter to say I'm done. Zoom extents and CTRL S to save. We've now done all of the exterior dimensions on these two sides.
We'll continue with the exterior dimensions for these two in the next video. I'll see you there.
