Hi, I am back with Sketchup after big break. I am drawing a furniture and I need to add dimension to a cylinder. All I can do is to add the diameter into a circle, but I cannot move the dimension outside the cylinder so it is not visible when shades of sides are visible. So how can I add the dimension to cylinder to be visible outside of it?
Is this what youâre trying to do?
If the cylinder is a group or component, open it for editing and dimension the circle at the end.
How about uploading the model instead?
Does this help at all?
Box, thanks for your animation. I have updated the post and added a photo. So the problem is that the diameter will not be visible because it is under the cylinder. I tried your trick to place the DIA text outside. And it is visible now. Yet Is it possible to change the DIA text for sign of the diameter Ă? Using Sketchup 8 on Windows XP 32bit.
You can edit the text after placing it and replace DIA.with Ă. Just double click on the text and edit it.
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Nice. I tried to upload the project but I got message that the file is too big.
Edit this is what I see. Not that clear as I would like.
Cosmetic aspects and visibility of dimensions depend on the direction from which you view the model. They can become useless clutter if you orbit or zoom. Hereâs how I cope with the situation:
- I donât create dimensions until I am finished building the model. That way nothing added later can get in the way.
- I choose a direction of view on which I want to add dimensions and create a scene preserving the camera for that view.
- Now I add the dimensions and place them so that they are visible and legible on the view
- I re-associate the dimensions with a new layer that is visible only on that scene (there are various layer management extensions that can create a new layer with this behavior, or you can use my SB_dimension_utilities extension to create it and associate all dimensions in the scene in one go). This step keeps the dimensions from being clutter on other scenes that donât happen to view the model from the same direction and zoom.
Note: dimensions are one of the kinds of entities that it is ok to associate with layers other than layer0. This is because each one is stand-alone. Although it may be associated with a geometric entity, it doesnât alter that entity and the visibility of the dimension doesnât cause confusing effects on the entity.
Before DaveR chimes in to say it: this is one of the reasons to use Layout for this kind of annotation!
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Thank you for your tips!
Finally I have finished. I have used guidelines to help myself and added the dimensions between the horizontal guidelines.
For future reference, turn on hidden geometry, click the two relevant endpoints and pull the dimension to where you want it.
Do you mean Layout section of forum or Layout functionality in Sketchup program?
I need to explain how to âre-associate the dimensions with a new layerâ. When I create new layer how can I move the dimensions to that layer?
I meant the Layout application that is part of the Sketchup pro package. Itâs function is to create 2D documentation of a 3D sketchup model.
To reassociate anything with a different layer, select it (or multi-select several ) then choose the layer in the entity info windowâs drop down list.
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Ah so, the Entity Info window! Thatâs why it doesnât work in Layers window.