Please reduce the width of dimension text fields.
Or even better: make it possible to manually control the text field width.
Current settings cause dimension text fields to overlap leaders, dimension lines and other dimension text fields.
I know this was already requested back in 2015, but the issue persists.
Agreed!
Workaround: use draw order to move the dim with the 40 to the background
Unfortunately you can’t move only the text field in the dimension object behind the dimension lines by arrange>send to back.
Using the arrange command would send the entire dimension object behind or in front of other objects on the same layer.
@hnrkndr didn’t suggest using Arrange>Send to back. He suggested changing the order in which you place the dimensions so that the 40 is behind the 15 or whatever it is.
It would be nice to have the text box size reduced in width but in the meantime there’s a simple work around that you can use now.
Sorry about that, hnrkndr. But unfortunately this doesn’t solve the fundamental issue that I point out.
The text field boxes even cover the dimension lines INSIDE the dimension object itself.
Here’s a couple of examples. The “two segment” leader has a hard time trying to reach the text 
There’s no real workaround unfortunately, including adding extra, empty dimensions on top or exploding the dimension object which removes the important dynamic functionality etc.
Have tried these since LayOut was introduced.
Therefore, I request the text field widths inside the dimension objects to be coded narrower.
On Mac I can turn off the text fill and set Leader Style to “No Leader”. I assume the same applies to PC? If there’s a conflict just double click the dimension text and Nudge or Drag it to a more suitable position. You can override the leader setting on an individual basis.
Hi DGSketcher
Thanks for your input!
These settings are available in the Windows version as well 
There are several other things you might consider when adding dimensions for smaller details:
Maybe you need to use leaders for short dimensions.
It might be that it’s appropriate to use a smaller font size for dimensions. I see a lot of plans and shop drawings in which the dimension text is much larger than it really needs to be based on the size of the paper and normal viewing size.
If you can’t reduce the size of the text, consider creating insets which can be shown at a larger scale so the dimensions will fit. This is an example from a recent project. The view on the left is at 1:4. The dimension text is set to 6 pt. It would have been very difficult to get dimensions for the grooves placed without creating confusion or ambiguity. The inset viewport on the right uses the same scene at 1:2.
None of this is intended to negate your feature request. Feature requests do not get implemented immediately. Unless you plan to stop working on projects until your request is introduced into LayOut you need to find an alternative way to deal with things.
Yes. turning off fill would fix the issue in their example but there can be cases where you still need fill turned on. There really isn’t a need for so much padding in dimension text boxes with small fonts. It appears that the padding is the same width no matter the size of the font.
Hi @kevin58, yes I use filled dimension text whenever necessary. It totally depends on the situation of course, but the fill emphasizes a dimension that overlaps secondary graphics - makes the drawing “readable”.
@DaveR, I couldn’t agree more. The factory installed LayOut templates even use a standard dimension settings with a 10 pt. Verdana (!). I can’t imagine a professional drawing with such a large text size. I tend to use 5 or 6 pt. with a narrow font.
(Btw: you can’t type in e.g. “5.5” or “5,5” which will probably be one of my next feature requests ).
As you mention, the text fields grow relatively wider when using smaller text sizes, a paradox when you need the software to handle smaller text sizes particularly well.
I’m aware that feature requests won’t be implemented over night. This post is just a small attempt to revive attention to a problem that was already reported 11 years ago. We will keep using workarounds as we have done so far until this is one day solved.
Here’s a breakdown of the issues caused by the too wide text fields within the dimensions tool:
It depends on the selected paper size but I don’t think any of the shipped templates are really intended as the final template users would use. They are mainly set up as examples, ideas, and starting points for the user to create their own templates.
Type it in for what?
Do you send a magnifying glass with your drawings?
That is small. Less than 2mm.
The ISO drawing standard is probably antiquated, but I seem to remember that 1,8 mm is the smallest “allowed” text size. I often use that. The museum in my drawer has an 1,8 mm text stencil. It’s tiny. I am not sure if 1,3 mm existed.
Well, if you need to fine tune the size of text blocks, decimal size numbers are necessary. As found in most other 2d graphics applications.
In LayOut you can use e.g. 7 pt. or 8 pt. but not 7,5 pt.
Btw: An option to switch text units from pt. to mm would be an amazing feature request, but I am afraid that’s too much to ask for 
As long as you know that 1 pt. = 1/72 of an inch, it’s just a matter of calculating…
Oh. So for font size. That wasn’t clear in your previous post which is why I asked.
No, but people keep trying to pinch my printed drawings hoping for a miracle 
Nevertheless, the fundamental issue (and feature request) persists, also with 10+ pt. text fields are too wide, as demonstrated.
