Annotations: dimensions, leaders, text

Rayon's annotation tools can be found in the bottom toolbar or triggered via shortcuts.

Dimension & Leader

Dimensions DI

Mode: Orientation, Chained Arguments : Distance, Angle

• Start by selecting the start point of your dimension, then pick an end point.

• If in chained mode, repeat the above step.

Leader DR

Arguments : Distance, Angle

Leader can be used either with text or with blocks. To work with a text leader:

• Call the Leader command, and make sure that in the annotation style, the Block property is turned off.

• Start by selecting the arrow head point of your leader, then the landing line.

• As the text box opens on command completion, enter the text that your leader should display.

To use a block leader, repeat the same steps, but toggle on the Block property of the annotation style. Let's go through each step:

• Call the Leader command.

• Toggle on the annotation style's Block property.

• In the modal that opens, either pick one of the three default head blocks, or browse to your preferred library. Validate to close the modal.

• Start by selecting the arrow head point of your leader, then the landing line.

At any point, the text inside the leader's block head can be edited, by simply doubling clicking on the text itself.

Annotation head options and transform

The head of a dimension or a leader can be either a text or a block. Either way, the annotation style allows choosing the head...

• Gap: a gap surrounding the annotation text

• Position: Centered, Below, Above

• Rotation: Aligned, Horizontal, Vertical

... as a way to format the annotation.

Additionally, the head transform allows moving manually the head inside the annotation. Any manual edition will be saved inside the head transform property (Shear, Rotation, Offset, Scale), that can be reset at any point.

Dimension scale

Note that dimensions can be set to a specific scale. This is especially useful when adding dimensions in the paper canvas. This way, if a view has a 1:20 scale, then dimensions overlaid on top of it can be tuned to match the view scale. The scale properties can be found in the dimension properties.

Arrow AW

Arguments : Distance, Angle

• Start by selecting the start point of your arrow.

• Then pick the arrow head point.

Text & tag

Text TT

• Start by selecting the insertion point of your text box.

• As the text box opens on command completion, enter the text that your text box should display.

Tag TG

• Start by selecting an entity your tag should be tied to.

• As the text box opens on command completion, either:

  • Enter the text that your tag should display.

  • Click on the / (add variables) button in the text edition panel to call the property of the tag parent entity.

For more step-by-step information, watch our tutorial about how to use annotations, text and dimensions in Rayon:

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