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Measurement Properties

You can set measurement properties in the Properties pane.

CategoryDescription
General
Name

Specifies the actor name. This name appears in the Collaboration or Assembly tree and is the default tooltip text.

Tooltip

Specifies the tooltip text that appears when you hover over the actor. The default is the actor name, but you can select a different property or meta-property, or type a text string. To type text, which itself can contain properties, select String and use the Tooltip string property.

Note: By default, labels attached to an actor display the actor's tooltip text. To change this behavior, modify the label's Text property.
Tooltip string

(Available when Tooltip is String.) Specifies the tooltip text. Type your text, optionally with property keywords. For geometry actors, click to display the Text pane, where you can type multiple lines of text and more easily embed properties.

See Text pane for details on property keywords and the Text pane.

Opacity

Specifies the opacity, from 0 (transparent) to 255 (solid).

Stay on top

Makes the collaborative actor visible even when a geometry actor covers it.

Disabled Enabled
Auto show

Displays hidden annotation and measurement actors temporarily when you move the mouse pointer over the associated geometry actor. The annotation or measurement disappears when you hover over a different actor.

Note: The Collaboration tree does not reflect this temporary change of visibility.
Show red lines

(Available for radius and diameter measurements, for distance between centers, and for distance between two axes.) Shows the measurement construction line.

Disabled Enabled (with Show construction line disabled) Enabled (with Show construction line enabled)
Show construction line

(Not available when Show red lines is cleared.) Shows construction lines.

Show planes
Shows planes (in the case of distance or angle measurements between plane and plane or point). To disable the display of planes, clear this property.
Auto alignment

Specifies positions for collaborative actors with respect to their associated geometry actors: Perimetric, Circle, Rectangle, Bottom, Bottom and left, Bottom and right, Bottom and top, Top, Top and left, Top and right, Left, Left and right, Right, Free 2D, Free 3D.

Notes:
  • To align collaborative actors using magnetic lines, Auto alignment must be Free 2D or Free 3D. When dragged onto a magnetic line, an actor's Auto alignment is set to Free 2D automatically.
  • To ensure that cutting planes are applied to annotations, you must set Auto alignment to either Free 2D or to Free 3D.
Show axis vertices
(Available for distance between centers, and for distance between two axes.) Shows the axis vertices.
Auto hide

Specifies whether the annotation should be hidden if the anchor of the label or callout is hidden.

  • Disable: Disables Auto hide.
  • Standard: Enables Auto hide if the anchor of the annotation is hidden by any geometry (even the geometry linked by the annotation).
  • Advanced: Enables Auto hide if the anchor of the annotation is hidden by any geometry other than the linked object.
    Note: Depending on the number of annotations, the Advanced option may be slow. It is recommended to use it only when needed.
Value (Diameter, Length, etc.)

Specifies the measurement value. Changing the value changes the measurement construction lines.

Tip: To change the value displayed by the measurement actor without changing the actual measurement, clear the Measurement/GD&T > Display value property and specify a pre, middle, or post string.
Complementary

Flips the arc direction.

ArcComplementary Arc
Display name

Displays the coordinate system name on the icon.





Without name and axes labels With name and axes labels

Display axes labels
Displays axes labels on the icon.
Size
Specifies the size of the coordinate system icon.
Measurement / GD&T
Display value
Displays the measurement value. To omit the value and use just the specified Measurement/GD&T strings and symbols, clear this property.
Pre symbol, Middle symbol, Post symbol

Specifies the pre-, middle-, or post-position GD&T symbol.

None
Straightness
Flatness
Circularity
Cylindricity
Line Profile
Surface Profile
Angularity
Perpendicularity
Parallelism
Position
Concentricity
Symmetry
Circular Runout
Total Runout
Projected Tolerance Zone
Max. Material Condition
Min. Material Condition
Free State Variations
Diameter
Plus Minus
Plus
Minus
Equal
To be Defined
Pre string, Middle string, Post string

Specifies the pre-, middle-, or post-position string.

Text
Color

Specifies the text color.

Font

Specifies the font family, style, and size of actor text. The default font family is your machine's default font or Arial depending on Use default GUI font for text (Application Preferences - Viewport). The default size is specified by Font size ([Default] Document Properties - Paper Space).

Notes:
  • Font (size) and Size properties are linked.
  • When a font is not available in a vector image format, it is replaced by a default font. If the vector output is not acceptable, use a different font in Composer.
Size

Specifies the text size, in points. The default size is specified by Font size (in [Default] Document Properties - Paper Space).

Notes:
  • Font (size) and Size properties are linked.
  • Because Size is stored as pixels in Composer files, changing your screen resolution (DPI) changes rendered text sizes.

Size in paper space

Defines the font size in the paper space. When you resize the viewport or zoom the paper space, the text scales accordingly. To define text size as fixed in the viewport, clear this property.

Before Zooming the Paper Space
After: Size in paper space Enabled
After: Size in paper space Disabled

Note: You can specify the default value using AnnotationRelativeComposer (for Composer) or AnnotationRelativePlayer (for Composer Player) on the Application Preferences - Advanced Settings page.

Label
Label orientation

Specifies the orientation of the measurement label.

  • Horizontal: Displays the label horizontally.
  • Auto: Aligns the label parallel with the leader line. This property does not work with angle measurements.
Label position

(Available when the orientation of the measurement label is set to Auto.) Specifies the position of the measurement label relatively to the leader.

  • Inline: Displays the label in the leader.
  • Inside: Aligns the label below the leader.
  • Outside: Aligns the label above the leader.
Center value

Centers the measurement text between the attach lines.

Before After

Notes:
  • This capability is available for all measurements between two axes except diameters and radii.
  • Centering text does not lock its position.

Shape

Specifies the annotation or label shape.

None
Rectangle
Rounded Rectangle
Square
Circle
Ellipse
Rhombus
Note: When the label orientation is set to Auto, if a measurement value overlaps the leader line and you set its label's shape to None, some padding will be applied around the measurement value to ensure that it remains easy to read.
Color

Specifies the shape background color.

Opacity

Specifies the shape background opacity.

Attach
Type

Specifies the attachment line style for radius and diameter measurements.





SimpleDouble
Advanced

Enables attach-line style properties ( Width, Color, Opacity, Type). When cleared, line style properties are used by default.





Disabled (default style properties) Enabled (advanced style properties)

Width
Specifies the attach line width.
Color
Specifies the attach line color.
Opacity
Specifies the attach line opacity.
Type
Specifies the attach line type.



Show end points
Shows end points for measurement lines, red lines, construction lines. To disable the display of end points, clear this property.
End point size
Specifies the size of end points, when visible.
End point color
Specifies the size of end points, when visible.
Arrow style

Specifies the arrow style:



None


Bold arrow


Medium arrow


Thin arrow


Rhombus


Round


Cross


Arrow


Up arrow


Down arrow

Size

Specifies the arrow size.





Default (4.0 Bold arrow) 8.0 Up arrow

Line
Show

Displays a background border.

DisabledEnabled
Width

Specifies the line width, in millimeters.

Opacity

Specifies the actor opacity (between 0 and 255).

Color

Specifies the line color.

Type

Specifies the line style.



Border
Show

Displays the border.

Width

Specifies the border line width, in millimeters.

Opacity

Specifies the border opacity (between 0 and 255).

Color

Specifies the border color.

Event
Link

Defines the action performed when a user clicks an actor or hotspot in the viewport or in vector image output (see the Technical Illustration - Hotspots tab).

To create an event link:

  1. Click in the Link field and then click .
  2. In the Select a Link dialog box, select a link type in the URL field, specify an appropriate target for that type, and then click OK.

    See Select a Link.

  3. To test the event in the viewport, disable Design Mode (status bar) and then click the actor or hotspot.
Pack linked resource

(Available when the Link property specifies a file:// URL.) Includes the linked file as part of the Composer document. To omit the file, clear this property and ensure that recipients of the document have the linked file in the same absolute path.



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