Tip of the Week January 9

Solid Edge Tip of the Week January 9, 2015

Solid Edge - PMI Dimensions

When working with 3D PMI dimensions, the default setting is for all dimensions to stay a set pixel size. So no matter how far in or out you zoom, they will stay the same size. The keyboard shortcut to increase the PMI font size is (CTRL+SHIFT+.) and to decrease font size you can use (CTRL+SHIFT+,). This is normally the behavior you want as it will stay the same size no matter how big or small your parts or assemblies are. However, when working with larger parts or assemblies containing many parts, it may start to become difficult to see. As you can see below, when the model is zoomed out and the option is set to Pixel Size PMI, our view starts to get cluttered: 

We can change the setting to Model Size PMI located on the PMI tab as seen below. What this option does is set dimensions and annotations to the active font style size: 

When the model is zoomed in or out, the dimensions stay at a set dimension and adjust with the model as seen below: 

If the size of the dimensions is too large or small, it can then be adjusted through the Styles menu which is to the left of the Model Size PMI button. 

Another great question that we get asked a lot is how to display dual units on all dimensions. This can be done in the Styles menu as well. Simply click on the Secondary Units tab as seen below and select the box next to Dual unit display. There are many options that can be applied to the secondary unit such as round off value, if you would like parentheses or brackets, what justification you want the dimension at, and many more. Again, changing this option in the Styles menu will adjust all dimensions that share the same style formatting. If you would like to add secondary units to a single dimension simply right click on it and go in to the properties. On the dimension properties dialog box will be a Secondary Units tab just like the Styles menu:  

Ben Weisenberger

Application Engineer

Ally PLM Solutions, Inc.

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