Dimension

Two points and the distance between them, written on the sheet. It’s a LABEL, not a measurement — it never reaches your bill.

Why you would use it

Sometimes you need the sheet to state a size rather than add one to a take-off: a gutter run on an RFI, the opening somebody queried, the setting-out you’re asking the architect to confirm. Measuring it would put it in the bill; writing it on the drawing says it without charging for it.

For example

What to do

1. Click one end.
2. Click the other.
3. The distance appears along a line stood a little off the two points, with a witness line from each.
4. Drag the diamond in the middle of the line to move it nearer, further or to the other side.

Going further

It’s drawn in the brand blue as notation, with the line stood off what it measures (how far is in Settings), witness lines from each point and a tick at each end, and exports the same way. It reads the CURRENT scale, so recalibrating a page corrects every dimension on it — the opposite of a measurement, which keeps the scale it was taken under so a figure you have already priced can’t move under you. On an uncalibrated page it says "Not calibrated" rather than inventing a number. Reshape either end afterwards and the figure follows.

If you already use another program

In a CAD program: A linear or aligned dimension: a line standing off two points, with witness lines.

In a building-model program: An aligned dimension.

In a PDF markup program: A dimension markup. It states a distance and is never added to a take-off total.