Making dimension text legible

[patricks]

Sometimes on a plan or detail if things get a little crowded, I might end up having a callout line and dimension text on top of one another. Now if I create the callout first, and then place the dimension, the area around the text neatly obscures part of the callout line with a white background so the text is still readable.

But if I place the dimension first, and then place the callout, the callout line covers the dimension text and makes the text hard to read. Is there any way to "bring to front" the dimension text to make it readable, or do I just have to delete and re-create the dimension?

Similar things occur when dimension lines cross text from other dimensions.

[Melarch]

Go to the Properties for the Dimension Type and change the Type Property>Text Background under the Text area from Opaque to Transparent.

This should resolve some of the issue.

[phyllisr]

Go to the Properties for the Dimension Type and change the Type Property>Text Background under the Text area from Opaque to Transparent.
I suggest exercising caution with this approach. If it were me, I would create two dimension families, maybe Linear - Opaque and Linear - Transparent. This way, you need only "swap" the dimension in the tricky, crowded area and can enjoy the benefit of the masked text in others.

Just a thought...

[kshawks]

I feel you pain. I to have had this happen from time to time on projects. Typically it happens on larger projects; however, it has reared its ugly head on smaller projects when I try to cram a lot of info on the plan.

My work around is to use callouts. I will usually leave off the dimensions and text in an area that is getting crowded and I will use the callout feature and blow that area up to a larger scale and then place all of the dimensions and text on that plan. It adds another sheet but it also makes the drawing a lot cleaner and more readable for the guys in the field.

I toyed with the transparent feature a little, but ended right back to the callout version. More of a personal preference than anything.

[Firmso]

Reference link :

http://forums.augi.com/showthread.php?t=41896&highlight=dimension+family

You could use the Fake Dimension Family in this link and place text with leaders pointing to the dimension line. This way you'll have more room for your text placement in those crowded areas.

[patricks]

I suggest exercising caution with this approach. If it were me, I would create two dimension families, maybe Linear - Opaque and Linear - Transparent. This way, you need only "swap" the dimension in the tricky, crowded area and can enjoy the benefit of the masked text in others.

Just a thought...

But all my dimension types have an opaque background anyway. But if you draw a callout AFTER the dimension is already in place, and the callout line crosses the dimension text, you can't read the text. The opaque text background obscures the callout line only if the dimension is drawn second after the callout. I can't figure out if there's a way to not have to delete the originally drawn dimension and place a new one just to have the opaque background work correctly.

It's like there is a draw order involved, but you can't change the draw order with annotations and things like that.

[Bill McLees]

Generally, you can cut the dimension that is obscurred and then paste it back in the same place. This will set the draw order so that the dimension is the newest item.

The main drawback with this approach is that you may have to do this more than once if you continue modifying the drawings before plotting.