How do I measure distances and areas in a drawing?

Use the Ruler tool to measure and the Dimension tool to label. In Vectornation by Zaweba, dragging the Ruler shows the distance, angle, width and height, both on the canvas and in the status bar. Clicking a closed shape with it gives that shape's area and perimeter. When you need the measurements to appear on the drawing, the Dimension tool adds linear, angular or radius dimensions that follow the art if it changes.

Measuring is a quiet but constant part of design work. A sign maker needs the area of vinyl. A laser cutter user needs the length of the cut. A packaging designer needs to check a panel is the right width. And an architect's client wants the sizes written on the plan.

Measuring with the Ruler

Choose the Ruler tool and drag from one point to another. The readout gives the straight-line distance, the angle of the line, and the width and height it covers. Snap to points on your artwork for exact readings.

For a shape, click on it. If it is closed, you get its area and its perimeter. Area tells you how much material a piece uses, and perimeter is the length of its outline, which is what a cutter or a router actually travels.

Set your document units to suit the job before measuring, so the numbers come out in the units you think in.

Labelling with dimensions

The Dimension tool draws proper dimension lines. There are three kinds. Linear measures a straight distance. Angular measures the angle between two lines. Radius measures a curve or a circle.

Each dimension can have arrow or tick ends, an offset from the object, a text size and a number of decimals. Ticks are common in architectural drawings and arrows in engineering ones; choose whichever your readers expect.

The important part is that dimensions follow the art they measure. Resize a panel or move a wall and the dimension updates, so the numbers on the drawing never fall out of step with the shapes.

Measuring sensibly

Keep dimensions on their own layer. That lets you hide them for a clean presentation version and show them for a production version from the same file.

Use sensible decimals. Showing a sign as 1200.000 mm wide suggests a precision nobody will cut to. Pick the number of places your maker can actually work to.

Measure the real object, not the stroke. A thick outline can make a shape look bigger than its path. Think about whether the measurement you need is to the centre of the stroke or its outer edge, and check against the path.

Where measuring helps most

In print and packaging, measure panels and folds against your dieline before you add artwork. For cutting, check the perimeter to estimate machine time and the area to estimate material, then export with File > Export > G-code, which works in mm. For plans and technical drawings, Vectornation opens and saves DXF and opens DWG, so measurements carry through to and from CAD files.

Isometric drawings are measurable too, since View > Isometric keeps parallel lines parallel and sizes along each axis consistent.

Vectornation by Zaweba is free software for Windows that works offline and needs no account.