AutoCAD® Mechanical software offers powerful dimensioning tools that enable designers to use abbreviated dialog boxes to
control only the relevant variables when creating dimensions. This advanced dimensioning method adheres to standards, making
adding, deleting, and editing dimensions of parts and assembly drawings quick and easy. With automatic dimensioning, users
can create multiple dimensions with minimal input, resulting in instant groups of ordinate, parallel, or symmetric items that are
appropriately spaced. Smart dimensioning tools force overlapping dimensions to automatically space themselves appropriately
while integrating tolerance and fit list information into the design.
Arc Length and Jogged Radii Integration
The arc length and jogged radii dimension types have been integrated with power dimensions, adding the following benefits:
• Breaking Dimensions—Overlapping dimensions make an appropriate break in one dimension line to allow the two
dimensions to fit in the same drawing correctly.
• Arrange Dimensions—When users select a group of dimensions, this command organizes
and arranges the dimensions to meet drafting standards and make the drawing more readable.
• Align Dimensions—Use this command to take a group of disparate dimensions and organize
them in a straight line or arc to make a drawing easier to understand.
• Format Dimensions—This feature adds special commands in AutoCAD Mechanical to give
users more formatting options.
• Insert Dimensions—When one dimension needs to be quickly split into two separate dimensions that are properly aligned
and arranged, this is the command to use.
• Join Dimensions—Easily merge several dimensions into a single, accurately spaced dimension.
• Edit Dimensions—This powerful command enables designers to edit a whole group of dimensions simultaneously to help
reduce inconsistencies and errors.
• Power Erase—Eliminating dimensions is easier than ever with this command that automatically
adjusts remaining dimensions to maintain proper spacing and presentation.
• Check Dimensions—This command highlights each dimension where the true value has been
manually overwritten.
• Chain Dimensions—Quickly set up and create a set of chain dimensions that are arranged and
spaced with precision that can be difficult and time consuming to achieve by hand.
• Baseline Dimensions—With minimal effort, insert a group of dimensions that are all based off one
anchor point in the drawing, correctly spaced, and following the user-defined drafting standard.
• Drawing Scales—Skip lengthy manual workflows to change dimension styles because these intelligent dimensions
automatically adjust to changes in the scale area or title border scale.
Dimension-Driven Design
This dynamic feature turns dimensions into a design tool, where changing the dimension updates the geometry of the design.
Users can now select multiple parts or entities across the entire drawing to be updated when the dimension changes. Designers
will find frequent opportunities to use this tool, for example, where one area of the design needs to grow or shrink by a certain
distance.