Showing Dimensions

You can set options related to Dimensions in the Design tab.

This dialog lets you decide when dimensions should show, how to measure length and area, and more.

You can choose to display the dimensions of your walls and objects: Never, Only When Selected, or Always.

Showing Dimensions for Connecting Line or Wall Segments

You have three different options when displaying the length of wall segments or multiple connected polygon lines.

Measure the Distance Between End Points

Instead of displaying the total length of all line segments, you can also measure and display the distance between end points.

Total Length of Line

Displaying the total length of the line will add the width of each line segment and display the total.

Display the Length of Each Segment

You can also choose to show the length of each segment individually instead of the total.

Display Options

This section lets you set preferences about other display options related to dimensions.

Showing Extension Lines

Extension lines show the length of wall segments offset from the wall itself so they're easier to read.

You can toggle displaying Extension Lines under the Display Options of the Dimensions dialog.

The Extension Lines will appear in blue extended away from the wall segment they show the length for.

Showing and Setting Angles Between Walls

To see the angles between walls in your drawing area select the Line Angles box under the Display Options of the Dimensions dialog.

To change any specific angle, click to select it and type in the new degree value. Any connected walls will adjust accordingly.

Set How Wall Distance is Measured

The Measure Wall section controls whether SmartDraw displays the dimensions of a room based on the outer edges or the inner edges of the walls. This option only applies when you're working with a fully enclosed space drawn using wall segments. If your selection isn't a closed shape or wasn't created with walls, this setting will appear grayed out.

Walls have a thickness. By default, interior wall are set to be 4" thick and exterior walls are set to 6". This a setting you can adjust under Set Wall Thickness in the Adjust Wall area of the SmartPanel (the panel left of your work area).

When you change how to measure walls:

From Exterior: The dimensions displayed reflect the distance from outer edge to outer edge of the walls. This measures the entire footprint of a room or structure.
From Interior: The dimensions reflect the distance from inner edge to inner edge. This measures the usable interior space within the walls.

The default setting to measuring walls is From Interior.

For example, assume your walls are 4" thick and you set Measure Wall to From Exterior, SmartDraw will show a room as 20 feet wide. However, toggling to measure From Interior, you'll see 4" inches subtracted from each side (8" total) to account for the wall thickness on both sides of the room and the same room will show as 19 feet 4 inches wide.

This setting is useful for ensuring your floor plan displays the right kind of measurements depending on whether you're planning a construction (exterior) remodel or layout/interior design (interior).

Showing the Area of a Room or Shape

To see the area of a shape choose "Of the Shape" in the Show Area section.