AutoCAD Dimensions in Metres

By Andy Davis

I recently received a support query from a client who had received an AutoCAD drawing that had been drawn in millimetres but subsequently needed to dimension it in metres. To be able to do that in AutoCAD, you need to define a new Dimension Style that is scaled by a factor of 1000. 

The procedure to create this new Dimension Style is quite straightforward:

• Open the Dimension Style Manager window, which is accessed from the Dimensions panel of the Annotate tool ribbon or via the DIMSTYLE command
• Click the New… button.
• Choose a style to use as a template from the Start With: list
• Enter the New Style Name, then click Continue
• On the Primary Units tab, set the Scale Factor to 0.001
• Adjust any other parameters as required, then click OK.
   

You will then have a new dimension style that will dimension in metres.