DImension Tool in Layout Appears Unreliable
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When I use the dimension tool in lay-out, it sometimes give me accurate dimensions, and sometimes in reverts to giving me the dimensions of the page itself. Example: if the sketch up model line is 4', it will sometimes only give me 1" dimension, if the scale is 1/4":1'. Serious problem for my work. I noticed it does this when I insert my sketch up model in hidden line style with perspective off. Is there a way I can change the setting of the dimension tool to read accurately from the SU model?
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Hi Keea,
Make sure that you turn off grid snapping at the bottom of the Arrange menu. I think when one picks the dimension tool, it should turn off automatically (this was still a very early feature request and they implemented it) but maybe it is turned on for you?
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Hi,
I just tried what you suggested and it didn't work. I have 6 pages in my set and 5 of them work beautifully, but the last one, the elevation page is only giving me page dimensions. Do you have any other suggestions? By the way, is there a way to draw in feet and inches on the lay-out page itself, or do you have to convert in your head to the scale you are working with? thanks so much, I really appreciate...Keea
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Can that particular viewport (inserted skp file/view) be corrupted somehow? Or not updated? Or maybe even exploded? When you right click, can you get an "Update reference" item in the context menu?
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Hi Gaieus,
Yes there is an update reference when I right click. It seems currant. I updated and still no success. Do you have any other thoughts that may work, have you ever encountered this problem before? thanks so much for you time...Keea -
Well, to be honest, these were my only thoughts as your dimension tool seems to measure paper space instead of the model and these are typically the reasons. What if you start a new page with that exact viewport? Does it give the same, faulty behaviour?
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Did you explode your model? That would do it. Or did you NOT get an inference point on the dimension? If so, it'll be paper space.
I've found it harder to handle dimensions if you're not displaying edges - you get an intersection of faces inference point, but not an Endpoint inference. Are you using scenes and matching your scene selection in LayOut to the scene in SketchUp?
Lastly, you can make some changes in your model, but if you're doing major changes to the model, dimensions wont be persistent across edits, so the typical workflow is to wait until the model is stabilized to dimension in LayOut. Let us know if you get this solved or if any of this helped.
b
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See, Keea, Barry has the same suspicions as me. Can you not share the layout file for a closer look?
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Hi Gaieus and Barry,
Thanks for your help. I haven't had time to try your last suggestion, but I'll attach the lay-out file here for your review. thanks so much for you time.
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After playing around with the layout file, I could not find a solution. I also looked at the sketchup drawing and found I could use dimensions correctly in sketchup. I went back to page 6 in layout and after picking the dimension tool I looked at the dimension style tool and found it was trying to scale at full scale 1:1. I hit Auto Scale and it worked. Give it a try. I don't know the reason but someone will figure it out.
Dan
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THANKS SO MUCH! IT WORKED..THAT IS A HUGE HELP! THANKS EVERYONE FOR GIVING A SHOT AT IT, I REALLY APPRECIATE...KEEA
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Ah ha ha ha... now I get it. How we decide if there should be 2D (paper) or 3D (model) dimensions:
If you're in Ortho view, and have assigned a standard view (which you had: front, back, left, right), then you'll get paper space * scale. You can override this by selecting the "Auto Scale" button in the Dimensions Style inspector.
All of your other pages and models were in Perspective (instead of Ortho), and those will be in 3D model space scale. So to fix this, if you ALWAYS want your document to display dimensions based on 3D model space and not 2D paper space, select the "Auto Scale" button.
Clear, everyone?
b
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Clarification: not all of your other pages were in Perspective, but if they were in Ortho you hadn't drawn dimensions so this issue didn't appear. Morale of the story is: if you always want dimensions from model space, select "Auto Scale".
b
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Hi, thanks Barry for the insight...I guess one question that got unanswered in this discussion is: can I set the line tool, or other drawing tools, to draw in feet and inches in proportion to the scale I've selected, rather than always drawing in paper space. This is without using a sketchup model, just 2d drawing in Lay-out. thanks, Keea
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No, but that's an interesting request. I could see having a "use model drawing scale in measurements box" checkbox, but what if you have multiple models per page?
You'll have to use the inference and then move lines - e.g. trace a line over a model, inferencing it's endpoints and then moving or rotating the drawn line if necessary. There are a lot of LayOut users that do this to trace over models in this way to put emphasis on lines.
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