Placing a Dimension Tape

Spotlight software users can place a dimension tape object on the drawing to quickly indicate the approximate location of objects that don’t require final alignment until after installation is completed.

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To place a dimension tape:

1. Click the Dimension Tape tool from the Dims/Notes tool set.

2. Click to mark the beginning of the tape, click again to set the rotation and tape length, and click a third time to place the object.

The first time you use the tool in a file, the object properties dialog box opens. Set the default properties, and click OK. The properties can be edited from the Object Info palette.

The dimension tape’s text font, size, and style are controlled with the Text menu, and attributes such as pen color, line type, and fill are controlled with the Attributes palette.

Click to show/hide the parameters.

Parameter	Description
Tape length	Enter the length of the dimension tape in document units
Dist. between Hash Marks	Enter the distance between hash marks
Number of subdivisions	Enter the number of evenly spaced subdivision marks between hash marks
Height of hash marker	Enter the height of the hash marks
Height of subdivision marker	Enter the height of the subdivision marks
Number in negative direction	Select to extend the numbers in a negative direction; by default, the numbers increase in the direction the tape was drawn
Number placement	Select whether to place the numbers above or below a horizontal line, or to the right or left of a vertical line
Mark from center	Select to extend numbers in both directions from the center of the tape; if 0 should be located off-center, enter the offset

3. If you need to indicate a specific location on the tape to mark the placement of an item, right-click (Windows) or Ctrl-click (Mac) on the dimension tape object and select Add Specific marker from the context menu.

The specific marker is a separate object from the dimension tape it is associated with, and its pen, line type, and fill attributes are edited independently. The placement of the specific marker and the length of its line can be edited with control points, and its position on the tape can be modified in the Object Info palette. To remove a specific marker, move its control point past the end of the dimension tape object, or select it and press the Delete key.

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Using Notation Objects

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