• Home
  • Training Books
  • Subscribe to Our Email Newsletter
  • About
    • Contributors
    • Feedback
    • Contact
    • Privacy policy
    • Cookie Policy
  • Bahasa Indonesia

CADnotes

CAD Tutorials and Best Practices for professionals and students

  • Featured
  • AutoCAD
    • AutoLISP
  • Revit
    • Revit Architecture Basic
    • Revit MEP Basic Tutorial
  • Inventor
  • MicroStation
    • MicroStation Basic Tutorial
You are here: Home / AutoCAD / AutoCAD Basic: Using Alternate Units in Dimension

AutoCAD Basic: Using Alternate Units in Dimension

November 20, 2017 by Edwin Prakoso Leave a Comment

In this Article...

  • Alternate Units Tab
  • Summary
  • Additional Reference

If you need to show another unit on your dimension (like feet inch, while your main unit is mm) you can change it in dimension style settings. We can show another unit by using alternate units.

To use it, open Dimension Style Manager. You can click the small arrow on the Annotate tab> Dimensions panel.

You can also type DIMSTYLE then press Enter. Create a new dimension style if required. Or select an existing dimension style and click Modify to change the settings.

Alternate Units Tab

In Modify Dimension Style dialog, open Alternate Units tab.

You can do the following in this dialog box (see the numbers above to match the explanations)

  1. Check Display alternate units to activate alternate units.
  2. This option is for changing the conversion factor to change your unit to another unit. Check the value cautiously. By default, if you use mm then the alternate unit is feet inch. If you use feet inch, it will be mm. However, it’s better to check it again.
  3. Zero suppression is the option to hide the zero value. You can hide 0 feet and 0 inches. When the measurement is 0’8″ AutoCAD will show 8″. 3’0″ will be shown as 3′.
  4. This option is for alternate units placement. You can choose to place alternate unit after the primary value or below it.

Summary

Sometimes we need to show a different unit in our drawing. We can do that by using alternate units in the dimension style. We discuss it in this article.

Additional Reference

If you want to find an additional reference to convert your primary unit, you can refer to this website: https://www.unitconverters.net/

As you can see below, the conversion factor from mm to inch is 0.0393700787 like AutoCAD value.

About Edwin Prakoso

I work as a Sr. Consultant in PT Cipta Satria Informatika. I've been using AutoCAD since R14 and Revit since Revit Building 9. I occasionally write for AUGIWorld magazine and I am also active in Autodesk discussion forum. I'm a member of Autodesk Expert Elite, an appreciation for individuals who give contributions to the Autodesk community.
Connect with me on twitter or LinkedIn.

Filed Under: AutoCAD Tagged With: autocad tips

5 3 votes
Article Rating
Subscribe
Login
Notify of
guest

guest

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

Featured

8 Frequent Issues when installing Autodesk Products

Many times the installation failed. We need to know what the problem is and what the workaround is. If you don’t know what’s the problem, you may not be able to install it even you have tried several times. Let’s try to fix it!

Recent Articles

  • Autodesk Construction Cloud Activity Log
  • Exporting AutoCAD Plant 3D Model to Navisworks
  • Autodesk Data Connector for Power BI is Now Available

Advertisement

New on CADnotes

  • Autodesk Construction Cloud Activity Log
  • Exporting AutoCAD Plant 3D Model to Navisworks
  • Autodesk Data Connector for Power BI is Now Available
  • Autodesk Forma Design Contest
  • Revit 2025: Toposolid Enhancements

Meet the Authors

avatar for
avatar for
avatar for
avatar for
avatar for
avatar for

Get Connected

CADnotes on FacebookCADnotes on InstagramCADnotes on TwitterCADnotes on YouTube

© 2009 – 2025 CADnotes · Feedback · Privacy Policy · Become an affiliate

wpDiscuz