Distance measurement

The distance measurement tool gives the linear or planar distance between two selected points.

When the Distance icon is selected, the cursor changes to indicate that the measurement mode has been entered.

To switch between linear and planar measurement, roll the mouse wheel; initially, the measurement mode is linear.

The cursor below will take a linear measurement from the selected point. This is unconstrained in any axis.

The cursor below will take a planar measurement from the selected point.

This delivers a measurement along the surface normal of the selected point. In each case, the measurement details are displayed within the active view.

Steps to perform a distance measurement

1. Select the distance measurement icon.

2. Roll the mouse wheel to specify which measurement mode you wish to use.

3. Click to select the first point to measure.

4. Roll the mouse wheel to change the measurement mode if necessary.

5. Click to select the second point.

6. Measurement values appear in the active view and Measurements tab attributes window.

After selecting the measurement start point, a cutting plane appears which tracks the movement of the mouse cursor until the measurement end point is selected. This gives you a sense of depth as the cutting plane appears behind data that is in front of the measurement.

After selecting the end point, the measurement is displayed in the active view as a blue line with a diamond at each end.

Clicking on the diamonds shows the x,y,z coordinates of the point. Clicking on the line displays the total point-to-point distance and a measurement component frame.

This measurement component frame is interactive, allowing you to click on each of the measurement component lines to see the planar measurement for each axis.

Measurements are logged in the Measurements Manager.