Dimension tools & Dimension Styles

Partly availableSome of what this page describes is in DimSum today and some is still coming. Parts marked Coming are designed but not built yet.

Blueprint-style dimension lines (aligned, horizontal, vertical, chain, baseline, angle, radius/diameter, arc length) that measure live at the page scale, all styled by named Dimension Styles.

Overview

Dimension tools let you check the plan's dimensions, add missing ones and document your checks for the report. They look like the dimensions on a blueprint: thin line, architectural ticks, extension lines, text above the line. Unlike the printed dimensions, DimSum's are live: move an end point or change the page scale and the number updates.

Dimension tools are markups, not takeoff tools: they don't roll into parts or costs, but their length is a property, and Dimension Lines will be a report data source — not where the length is read in its properties (Measures).

Where to find it

• Dimension ribbon tab: Dimension Line (aligned), Horizontal, Vertical, Chain/Continuous, Baseline, Angle, Radius/Diameter, Arc Length, Quick Measure, Quick Area, Quick Count.
• Until the ribbon comes: Markup ▾ in the canvas tool strip, after Page ▾ → Dimension Line, with D beside it. The same list is on the canvas right-click menu, on an empty spot.
• Shortcut: D Dimension Line; M Quick Measure (later).
• Its look: System Settings → Markups → Dimension Line, one default look (below). Named styles (Settings → Dimension Styles) come later.

All tools follow Shared tool behavior: left-click places points, Backspace picks up the previous point, Enter/double-click finishes, Esc stops the tool, right-click opens the context menu and right-/middle-drag pans. Snapping, ortho, handles and exact input by arrow keys (an arrow locks the direction and opens the length dialog; Space for a free angle) work the same everywhere. Quick Measure, Quick Area and Quick Count — and their Keep button — are documented there.

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Its look: one default, in System Settings

Setting	Options	Default (the blueprint look)
Line colour / weight	A colour from the colour picker's safe set; a weight in points	Black, 0.5 pt
Ends	Architectural tick, Arrow, Dot or None, and their End size	Tick, 6 pt long
Extension lines	The Extension gap between the measured point and the extension line, and the Extension overshoot past the dimension line	Gap 2 pt, overshoot 3 pt
Text	Text size, Text colour, and Text position: Above the line or In the line	8 pt, black, above and centred
Unit	Feet-inches (12'-6 1/2"), Feet (12.54') or Inches (150 1/2", or 150.5")	Feet-inches
Precision	A fraction, 1/2" down to 1/64", or 0–4 decimals	1/16"

• Rounded to nearest, never up.
• Feet with a fraction means nothing (nobody draws a sixteenth of a foot), so with Feet the fractions are greyed out, and picking Feet while a fraction is set moves the precision to 2 decimals. A dimension that somehow has both shows 2 decimals.
• The block has a live preview, and Markups back to the defaults at the foot of the page puts every block back as DimSum ships it (drawn markups keep their look).
• Sizes are on the sheet: text and weights are in points on the printed sheet, so a dimension zooms with the plan, as the architect's own dimensions do, and prints as you see it — true size at true scale, smaller on a fit-to-paper print.
• A dimension keeps the look it was drawn with. Each one stores its look when it's placed, so a job reads and prints the same on every computer. Change the default and the next one you draw takes it; the ones already drawn don't move. It's the rule Draw side for Linear tools set: "Changing it never moves anything already drawn."
• Restyle to defaults catches drawn ones up: right-click a selection → Restyle to defaults, or Apply to this job under the Dimension Line block on the Markups page. Each is one Undo (Restyle 12 markups to defaults).
• One dimension's own look — units, precision, colour, weight, ends, text size — is changed in its properties (double-click it).
• No per-job copy of the defaults: a job already carries each dimension's look.

Named Dimension Styles Coming

The plan's design, kept for when it's built. the one default look above stands in for it. Every dimension would use a named Dimension Style.

How to use it

1. Open Settings → Dimension Styles.
2. Duplicate the default style (or click New) and name it, e.g. "Framing check – red".
3. Set the fields below; the preview updates.
4. Pick it as the default in Settings → Defaults → dimension style, or pick it per dimension in the Properties panel.
5. Styles are saved in .tsum tool libraries ("Line/Dimension Styles"), so you can share them.

Style settings

Setting	Options	Default (blueprint look)
Text font / size	Any font; size	Sans-serif, 8 pt on the sheet
Text position	Above / Inline	Above, centered
Units / precision	Feet-inches 12'-6 1/2" (to 1/16"), feet or inches, fraction or decimals; metric later	: from the Dimension Line's default look (above), not Settings → General
Arrowhead type	Architectural tick /, arrow, dot, none	Architectural tick
Extension line offset	Gap between measured point and extension line	2 pt on the sheet
Extension line overshoot	How far extension lines pass the dimension line	3 pt on the sheet
Line color / weight	Any	Black, 0.5 pt

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Dimension Line (Aligned) — D

• No arrow key and length dialog yet: a dimension of a known length can't be typed. Click its two ends instead.
• Its properties open in their own panel (double-click, or right-click → Properties…), not in the Properties panel.
• Override text gets a ⚠ only when it reads as a length (it has a ' or a ") and that length differs from the drawn one. Words like VERIFY, or a bare 12, never warn.

How it looks

    |←——————— 12'-6" ———————→|
    |                         |

• A thin line parallel to the measured edge.
• Extension lines from the measured points, with a small gap before them and a small overshoot past the line.
• Architectural ticks at the ends (or an arrow, a dot or none).
• Text centred above the line, always reading upright: if the line runs right to left, the text turns over.
• On a turned page it's drawn through the page's turn, so it stays on its spot of the sheet, and its text still reads upright.
• The defaults are in Its look: 8 pt text, a 0.5 pt black line, 6 pt ticks, all on the sheet.

How to place it

1. Press D, or Markup ▾ → Dimension Line, or right-click an empty spot → Dimension Line. The cursor lines show while it's armed.
2. Click point 1 — snap to a wall corner, a face, or the end of another Dimension Line. The status bar reads Dimension Line: click the second point (Backspace steps back).
3. Click point 2. The dimension is written now, measured on the line (offset 0): one Undo, Add Dimension Line. Nothing is a draft.
4. Move the mouse sideways to set the offset (how far the dimension line sits from what it measures). The status bar reads Dimension Line: move out and click to place it (Enter keeps it on the line).
5. Click to place it there: a second Undo, Place Dimension Line. Or press Esc or Enter to leave it on the measured line.
6. The tool stays armed: the next click starts another dimension. Esc puts it away.

• Stepping back: Backspace or Ctrl+Z takes back one click at a time.

• Ortho: hold Shift for point 2.

• A known length: The design is an arrow key after point 1 that locks the direction and opens the length dialog, so you could type 12'6" and get a dimension of exactly that length.

• Pan with a right- or middle-drag, as with every tool.

• The same snaps as takeoff: ends, vertices, midpoints, a band's corners and faces, and the line.

• The two ends of other Dimension Lines (End), so dimensions line up end to end.

• Not the plan's own linework — the end of a printed dimension, say. That waits for vector snapping.

• Its ends are its own points: move the wall and the dimension stays where it was.

How it operates

• It measures the true scaled distance between its two ends, live: move an end or change the scale and the number changes.
• Its scale is the page's, or the scale region's that holds its first point.
• Across two scales: if its ends sit in different scales, the text gets a ⚠, and its properties say which, e.g. Crosses into a 1/4" region, or Crosses out onto the page scale (1/8" = 1'-0").
• On an unscaled page it reads Unscaled ⚠ instead of a number (This part of the page has no scale).
• Override text (e.g. VERIFY) replaces the number, and the measured length is still kept. Typed words never warn. If the override reads as a length (12'-6") that differs from the measured one, a ⚠ shows the difference — The drawing measures 12'-4 1/2", 1 1/2" off.
• Prefix and suffix, such as ± or TYP., go either side of the number.
• It isn't takeoff: no quantity, no parts, no cost. It's never on the Estimating tab or in the legend, and not in reports yet — its length is in Properties.

How to edit it

• Drag an end: it re-snaps and the length updates (Move Dimension Line end).
• Drag the dimension line to change the offset (Move Dimension Line).
• Drag the text along the line, or off it (Move Dimension text).
• Double-click it for its properties: Measures (the length, read-only, with any ⚠ spelled out), Override, Prefix, Suffix, Units, Precision, Colour, Weight (pt), Ends (Tick, Arrow, Dot, None) and Text (pt). They open in a panel of their own; the button row at its foot has Restyle to defaults, Hide, Lock and Delete.
• Typing or clearing an override is one Undo: Override Dimension text, Clear Dimension override.
• Each drag or change is one Undo. A locked dimension (Ctrl+L) refuses to be moved, edited, deleted or restyled, and says Dimension Line is locked. Unlock it to change it.

Properties

Property	What it does	Default
Measures	The measured scaled length, read-only	Measured
Its look	Units, precision, colour, weight, ends and text size — this dimension's own (text position, end size and the extension gap and overshoot stay as the default look it was placed with)	The default look when it was placed (above)
Override text	Replaces the displayed number (value kept; ⚠ if it's a different length)	Empty
Prefix / suffix	e.g. ±, TYP.	Empty
Locked / visible	Ctrl+L / Ctrl+H	Unlocked, visible

Uses on a plan

Verify printed dimensions against the drawing (catches "not to scale" sheets); add missing dimensions for field crews; mark items to verify ("VERIFY", "±"). Documenting checks in a Page Markup Report comes when Dimension Lines are a report data source (later).

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Horizontal / Vertical Dimension

How it looks

Same as Aligned, but the dimension line is always horizontal (Horizontal) or vertical (Vertical).

How to place it

Same three clicks as Aligned: point 1, point 2, offset click. The measurement is locked to the X or Y axis whatever the point positions (a diagonal pair measures only its horizontal or vertical distance).

How to edit / properties

Same as Aligned. Properties add the axis (X or Y).

Uses on a plan

Overall building width/depth between corners that aren't on the same line; stepped walls; the horizontal run of an angled wall.

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Chain / Continuous Dimension

How it looks

A row of dimensions end-to-end along one shared line, each segment with its own value, plus an optional overall total dimension above.

How to place it

1. Arm Chain.
2. Left-click the first point, then each successive point (e.g. every window center along a wall). Backspace picks up the last point.
3. Set the offset.
4. Press Enter to finish.

How it operates

Each segment measures independently; the total equals the sum. All segments stay on one line.

How to edit it

Drag any shared point (both neighboring segments update); drag the line to change the offset. Toggle the overall total in Properties.

Properties

Property	What it does	Default
Segment lengths	Each segment's length	Measured
Total	Sum of segments	Measured
Show overall total	Draws the total dimension above	On
Style, prefix/suffix, override per segment	As Aligned

Uses on a plan

Window and door spacing along a wall; stud/joist layout checks; room-by-room widths across a building.

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Baseline Dimension

How it looks

Several dimensions all measured from the first point, stacked at a fixed spacing (like 0 → 4', 0 → 10', 0 → 22' one above the other).

How to place it

1. Arm Baseline.
2. Click the base point (the datum, e.g. the building corner).
3. Click each measured point in turn.
4. Press Enter.

How to edit it

Drag the base point (all update) or any measured point; change the stacking spacing in Properties.

Properties

Property	What it does	Default
Lengths from base	Each measured distance	Measured
Stack spacing	Distance between stacked lines	Set by the style's text height
Style, prefix/suffix	As Aligned

Uses on a plan

Locating openings or beams from one reference corner; footing steps from a gridline; anchor bolt locations from the corner.

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Angle Dimension

How it looks

An arc between two rays with the degrees text, optionally shown as a roof pitch (e.g. 6/12).

How to place it

1. Arm Angle.
2. Click the vertex (corner point).
3. Click a point on ray 1.
4. Click a point on ray 2.

How to edit it

Drag the vertex or ray points; toggle degrees vs. pitch in Properties.

Properties

Property	What it does	Default
Angle	Measured degrees	Measured
Show as pitch	Displays x/12 instead of degrees	Off
Style	Dimension Style	Default

Uses on a plan

Angled walls (bay windows, 45° corners); checking roof pitch on an elevation or section sheet; verifying skewed property lines.

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Radius / Diameter

How it looks

A leader line to the curve with text "R 4'-0"" or "Ø 8'-0"".

How to place it

1. Arm Radius/Diameter.
2. Click on an arc or circle (a DimSum arc/circle, or a vector arc in the PDF/CAD), or click 3 points on a curve that DimSum can't pick.
3. Click to place the leader and text.

How to edit it

Drag the text/leader; switch Radius ↔ Diameter in Properties.

Properties

Property	What it does	Default
Radius / Diameter	Measured value	Measured
Mode	R or Ø	Radius
Style	Dimension Style	Default

Uses on a plan

Curved walls, round columns, bay/turret radii, circular patios.

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Arc Length

How it looks

A curved dimension following the arc, with the length along the arc.

How to place it

1. Arm Arc Length.
2. Click the start, a point on the arc, and the end (3-point arc).

How to edit it

Drag any of the 3 points.

Properties

Property	What it does	Default
Arc length	Length along the curve	Measured
Style	Dimension Style	Default

Uses on a plan

Curved wall length for plates or trim, curved driveway edges, radius stair stringers.

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Examples

• Window layout on a framing plan: Chain dimension across the wall from corner to each window center to the far corner; the overall total shows above.
• Field verification: Aligned dimension on a questionable room width, override text "VERIFY", suffix ±. It prints on the marked-up plan; listing it in a Page Markup Report comes later.
• A detail at another scale: on a 1/8" sheet with a 1/4" region round the stair detail, D from the stair's first riser to its last. It measures at 1/4" because its first point is in the region. A dimension started on the 1/8" plan and ended inside the region measures at 1/8", and its text gets a ⚠: Crosses into a 1/4" region.
• Roof pitch check: Angle dimension on the section sheet, "Show as pitch" → 6/12.

Tips & shortcuts

Action	Shortcut
Dimension Line	D, or Markup ▾ → Dimension Line
Leave it on the measured line (no offset)	Esc or Enter after point 2
Take back the last click	Backspace / Ctrl+Z
Quick Measure	M (Keep → a Dimension Line, or a Linear instance if you pick a tool) — later
Exact length	arrow key locks the direction → type the length → Enter
Ortho while placing	hold Shift / O
Snap	S
Hide / lock the selected dimension	Ctrl+H / Ctrl+L
Finish chain/baseline	Enter

• Horizontal, Vertical, Chain, Baseline, Angle, Radius and Arc Length have no default shortcut; bind them in Settings → Keyboard Shortcuts.

Rules, limits & edge cases

• Dimension tools never add to takeoff quantities or costs.
• Override text hides the number but never loses it.
• A dimension on an unscaled page reads Unscaled ⚠, not a number.
• One dimension's own look can differ from the default: each dimension stores its look, and its properties edit it. Restyle to defaults puts it back.
• Show ▸ Dimensions (at the foot of Markup ▾, or right-click → Show or hide markups…) hides or shows them all on screen; it's view state kept with the job, not an Undo step.
• Dimensions print on marked-up plans unless you untick Dimensions under Include in the print options; the tick starts as the Show switch has it. They print as vector lines and text at their size on the sheet. They are markups, so they never appear as legend rows (legend rows are takeoff instances: swatch · name + Report Section · qty + unit · color). See Marked-up plans.
• Refused, and said: a Dimension Line on a page that doesn't exist, and a locked one moved or edited (Dimension Line is locked).
• A typed number beats the drawing: override text and hand-entered values are what print; where the measured geometry disagrees, a ⚠ shows the difference instead of overwriting what you typed.
• A dimension on a protected page is hidden, along with the rest of the page, until the project password is entered.

Related features

• Shared tool behavior (Quick Measure, Quick Area, snapping)
• Page tools (Scale, Verify)
• Draw tools · Annotation tools
• Settings page · Tool library files
• Report Designer