[solved] Drawing Preference Feet Drawing Inches

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wildspidee
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[solved] Drawing Preference Feet Drawing Inches

Post by wildspidee » Wed Jun 02, 2021 6:17 pm

Version: 3.26.3.0
Windows 64bit

As you can see in the attached screenshot, I have my Drawing Preferences set to feet. I set this immediately after creating a new drawing. However, you can see in the display of dimensions that it shows inches.

Also, when you enter values into input boxes it assumes they are inches unless you add the foot notation. If the project is set to feet, should the default entry be feet unless you indicate inches?

This has been the case for some time over a few versions, but I've just been ignoring it. Now I need it to display properly for a project. Is there another setting that I've missed that needs to be adjusted? Any help is appreciated.

Lori
UnitIssue.png
UnitIssue.png (61.2 KiB) Viewed 6748 times
Last edited by wildspidee on Thu Jun 03, 2021 4:02 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Husky
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Re: Drawing Preference Feet Drawing Inches

Post by Husky » Wed Jun 02, 2021 7:03 pm

Hi,
wildspidee wrote:
Wed Jun 02, 2021 6:17 pm
If the project is set to feet, should the default entry be feet unless you indicate inches?
Correct.

wildspidee wrote:
Wed Jun 02, 2021 6:17 pm
This has been the case for some time over a few versions, but I've just been ignoring it. Now I need it to display properly for a project. Is there another setting that I've missed that needs to be adjusted? Any help is appreciated.
Tried to reproduce it - no luck. Can you provide for further investigation a drawing (dxf/dwg) which shows the issue? Thanks.
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andrew
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Re: Drawing Preference Feet Drawing Inches

Post by andrew » Wed Jun 02, 2021 7:32 pm

wildspidee wrote:
Wed Jun 02, 2021 6:17 pm
Also, when you enter values into input boxes it assumes they are inches unless you add the foot notation. If the project is set to feet, should the default entry be feet unless you indicate inches?
Depends. If you have your dimension label format set to "Engineering" or "Architectural" under Edit > Drawing Preferences > Dimension > Dimension Settings > Label Format > Linear Dimensions, this implies inches as drawing unit. It's a historical thing enforced by the DXF/DWG format.

I would strongly advise to not use feet as drawing unit at all and instead use inches. Your dimensions can still show feet (and inches) and you can still enter feet (4') or feet and inches (4' 12 1/2").

wildspidee
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Re: Drawing Preference Feet Drawing Inches

Post by wildspidee » Thu Jun 03, 2021 1:05 am

Thank you Andrew and Husky for your quick response.

Using inches on a 20 acre plot map gets a bit silly, but I will if I must. If I stick with the inches as the drawing unit, how do I get my dimensions to show feet (and inches) as you've indicated? Will QCAD do it for me or do I have to manually enter the values to display them?

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ryancousins
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Re: Drawing Preference Feet Drawing Inches

Post by ryancousins » Thu Jun 03, 2021 1:52 am

wildspidee wrote:
Thu Jun 03, 2021 1:05 am
If I stick with the inches as the drawing unit, how do I get my dimensions to show feet (and inches) as you've indicated? Will QCAD do it for me or do I have to manually enter the values to display them?
If you choose "Architectural" or "Engineering" then QCAD will automatically show the dimensions in feet and inches. Architectural will show fractional inch values and Engineering will show decimal inch values.

Also keep in mind that at those kinds of sizes, you probably won't see the dimension text at first because it will be so tiny. If you go to the dimension settings and change the "text height" you can find something that will be visible at that scale. It will probably have to be an extremely large value. At the highest extreme, it looks like you'd need around 10,000 [Edit: how about 200! Oops!] inch text height for a dimension that shows the length of a side of a 20 acre square. :lol:
Last edited by ryancousins on Thu Jun 03, 2021 1:04 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Husky
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Re: Drawing Preference Feet Drawing Inches

Post by Husky » Thu Jun 03, 2021 6:00 am

wildspidee wrote:
Thu Jun 03, 2021 1:05 am
Using inches on a 20 acre plot map gets a bit silly, but I will if I must.
I Agree - but you don't have to do that when you use QCAD ability's for your advantage .... :wink:

How?
Start your drawing in "Foot" to draw the map for the acres. If it then comes down to "smaller" things like buildings etc. convert the drawing to "Inch" below "Menu / Edit / Convert Drawing". Converting a drawing means QCAD will scale everything inclusive dimensioning according to the new unit.
Note: Don't change just the unit below "Drawing Preferences / Drawing Unit - that will only change the name of the drawing unit and not convert anything!

Howsoever - you can keep switching between the units but to meet your dimension goal the final converting has to be to "Inch". Follow the description from ryancousins how to get feet and inches displayed at the Dim Label and you are ready to go.

Just my two cents ... :wink:
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Husky
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Re: Drawing Preference Feet Drawing Inches

Post by Husky » Thu Jun 03, 2021 6:37 am

ryancousins wrote:
Thu Jun 03, 2021 1:52 am
Also keep in mind that at those kinds of sizes, you probably won't see the dimension text at first because it will be so tiny. If you go to the dimension settings and change the "text height" you can find something that will be visible at that scale. It will probably have to be an extremely large value. At the highest extreme, it looks like you'd need around 10,000 inch text height for a dimension that shows the length of a side of a 20 acre square. :lol:
It depends on the print scale. In my example (Ansi A / 1"=2048") a Text hight of 200 works just fine. Did I overlooked something ...? :oops:
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ryancousins
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Re: Drawing Preference Feet Drawing Inches

Post by ryancousins » Thu Jun 03, 2021 1:02 pm

Husky wrote:
Thu Jun 03, 2021 6:37 am

It depends on the print scale. In my example (Ansi A / 1"=2048") a Text hight of 200 works just fine. Did I overlooked something ...? :oops:
No, you're correct. I forgot to take the square root to find the length of one side after finding that a 20 acre square would be 871,000 sq. feet. I was trying to have a conversation with my wife while I was responding yesterday. I should know that is a stupid thing to do! 200 inch text height looks good here, too. :lol:

wildspidee
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Re: Drawing Preference Feet Drawing Inches

Post by wildspidee » Thu Jun 03, 2021 3:59 pm

ryancousins and Husky, I really appreciate the quick detailed responses. I'll give your suggestions a go.

I don't typically create drafts on this large of a scale, but I do have a bunch of house plans I need to do now. This will be fun!

QCAD has never failed me yet. It is usually my own lack of knowledge to blame. :)

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