The Quick Dimension command (or QDIM) is one of the long-standing AutoCAD commands that made its way into AutoCAD LT 2011. In essence, QDIM lets you apply dimensions to an entire series of objects at once, without having to execute an individual dimension command multiple times. Here’s a short animation showing QDIM in action: The default option for QDIM is to create continuous, linear dimensions, but if you take a look at the command line (after you select your geometry) you’ll see you have a bunch of other options: Continuous Staggered Baseline Ordinate Radius Diameter datumPoint Edit seTtings Continuous, Staggered, and Baseline all create linear dimensions. “Staggered” moves from the inside out, while “Baseline” measures all distances from the same point. “Ordinate” creates ordinate dimensions, identifying the X or Y coordinates of the objects you select. (It’s smart enough that all objects that share an ordinate are marked with a single dimension – it won’t clutter up your drawing.) Radius and Diameter, obviously, are for arcs and circles. The last 3 choices are for more general options. Datum Point lets you pick the starting point to use for Baseline or Ordinate dimensions. Edit basically lets you change your mind if you realize you forgot to select some objects or points, or picked some that you didn’t need. And finally, Settings lets you specify whether endpoints or intersections should take priority when determining where to create the dimensions. I can think of a bunch of places where I might use QDIM – column grids, hole sizes, beam spacing…what would you use it for?

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