[Solved] How to draw/measure diagonal lines to scale

[Hagar Delest]

Having a hard time figuring this one out...
I am using Draw to sketch lot plans to scale.
The problem I am facing is with diagonal lines. In the "Position and Size" settings of a line, it gives me values for width and height, but not for an actual line length of the diagonal line. I thought that maybe one of those values would be what I am looking for, but after testing it definitely is NOT.

Any help

Thanks!

[John_Ha]

That is how it works.

As you have found Draw isn't really easy to use for scaled drawings. It is much better for things like process charts. However, see Drawing to Scale in Chapter 10 - Advanced Drawing Techniques in the Draw Guide which begins:

Drawing to scale

Draw is not a CAD (computer-aided design) program but a graphics program with which you can produce drawings to scale. The example used for this chapter is a drawing of a Logic Circuit Diagram.

Try a free CAD system like DraftSight, LibreCAD, DoubleCAD, BabaCAD etc.

[keme]

My workaround is to use dimension lines. A bit kludgy at first, perhaps, but once you get used to it, it is almost workable

The procedure outlined can also be used on plain lines if you decide that you don't need dimension lines.

If you can't drag to exact dimension, you can enter manually. First ensure that the line is level, then set length. (If you try to rotate and resize in one go, the line tends to behave erratic):

• Right click the line and select Position and size
• Select the Rotation tab
• Enter angle 0 (zero). OK
• Right click the line and select Position and size
• Select the Position and size tab
• In the Size section, set Width to the length you want. OK

Click once again on a selected line to toggle between drag/resize mode and rotation mode. The handles change color, and in rotation mode you have a "crosshair handle" in the middle. This is the pivot point which you can drag e.g. to one endpoint before rotating. Start drag from an endpoint to rotate. If you drag to move the line when in rotation mode, the pivot point stays in place. Toggle between modes to center it on the line again.

You can also "rotate by numbers", by revisiting the rotation settings. This gives you precise control of placement and angle.

The dimension line has the obvious advantage that it displays the dimension. In addition, it will always be on the Dimension lines layer. Shift+click the layer tab to toggle visibility of objects on that layer. If you used the dimension line for spacing but also need the simple line, a "proper" line can be drawn with "snap" to the endpoints of the dimension line.

[cwid77]

Awesome workaround... thanks. That will help for sure.

C

[John_Ha]

Awesome workaround... thanks. That will help for sure.

Trust me - a CAD package will be much easier.

[keme]

Awesome workaround... thanks. That will help for sure.

Trust me - a CAD package will be much easier.

Agreed!

If it is a one-off case, or a smooth integration with the other Office apps is of great importance, that "almost workable" workaround may be good enough. If you do this a lot, definitely get some CAD tool. There are quite a few opensource/free tools out there, and some of the commercial ones offer a free license for personal/starting business use. There is a learning threshold, but you will benefit from it in the long run.

[John_Ha]

If ... smooth integration with the other Office apps is of great importance

LO opens .DXF files - the AutoCAD Interchange Format also used by many other CAD systems.