The Onshape Measure tool is available in Part Studios, for sketches and parts, and in Assemblies, for parts and assemblies, and for curves and surfaces as well. The Measure tool appears in the bottom right corner of the interface in Part Studios and Assemblies, (shown below, in a screenshot from Onshape's desktop application).

You can filter which measurements are shown by selecting a Measure type from the first dropdown.

Assembly Measure tool icon at lower right corner of the window Measure tool dialog Measure dialog with an example of a Part Studio

In addition, selecting any entity from the graphics area also automatically shows the pertinent measurements without having to explicitly open the Measure dialog.

You can also use the Measure tool on faces, edges, and vertices while in a Section view.

This video explains how the Onshape Measure tool is used. The Measure tool is available in the Part Studio, for sketches and parts, and in Assemblies, for parts and assemblies. The Measure tool appears in the bottom right corner of the interface.

The Measure tool displays measurements dynamically whenever you select entities. Select any entity and the Measure tool shows measurements for the single entity. Use the dropdowns to select measurement type, measurement length, and measurement angle unit.

Optionally, select another entity. The Measure tool shows center-to-center, maximum-to-maximum, and minimum-to-minimum measurements between the two entities. Hovering over the measurement information displays the measurement in the graphics area. Sketch entity icons indicate the entity type. Center, maximum, and minimum distances between entities are shown as bold dotted lines. Changes in x are shown in red, changes in y are shown in green, and changes in z are shown in blue. Center distances between the two entities are shown as a black dotted line. The same with maximum distance, and the same with the minimum distance between the two entities.

Steps

The Measure tool displays measurements dynamically whenever you select entities.

  1. Select any entity or entities, then click the measure tool icon Measure tool icon in the bottom right corner of the page to open the Measure dialog. The measure tool shows measurements for the selected entity or entities:

    Measure dialog with an example of a Part Studio

  2. Use the dropdowns to select Measure type, Length unit, and/or Angle unit. These can all be changed at any time.

    Measure dialog showing Measure type dropdown optionsMeasure dialog showing Length unit dropdown optionsMeasure dialog showing Angle unit dropdown options

  3. Optionally, select another entity. The measure tool shows center-to-center, maximum-to-maximum, and minimum-to-minimum measurements between the entities.

    4. When a sketch entity is selected, a sketch entity icon indicates the type.

Measure dialog options

  • Measure type - Filters the type of measurements displayed in the Measure dialog. Options are Show all, Position, Center position, Min distance, Max distance, Length, Diameter, Radius, Angle, Face tangent angle, Curvature deviation, or Surface area.

  • Length unit - Select the length unit. Options are Centimeter, Foot, Inch, Meter, Millimeter, or Yard.

  • Angle unit - Select the angle unit type: Degree or Radian.

  • Diameter - Diameter of an arc or circle.

  • Radius - Radius of an arc.

  • Center Dist. - The center distance between two entities.

  • Perp axes angle - Perpendicular axes angle between two entities.

  • Area - Area of a surface.

  • Face tangent angle - Tangent angle between a selected surface and a line that meets the surface.

  • Curvature deviation - Deviation between a selected surface and a line that meets the surface.

  • Center - The center dimensions for an arc or circle (X, Y, Z).

  • Center Dist. - Center distance between two entities (X, Y, Z).

  • Min Dist. - Minimum distance between two entities (X, Y, Z).

  • Max Dist. - Maximum distance between two entities (X, Y, Z).

  • Max Rad Pt. - Minimum elliptical radial point (X, Y, Z).

  • Max Rad Pt. - Maximum elliptical radial point (X, Y, Z).

  • Length - Length of an entity; for example, the length of a line, or circumference of a circle.

Adding a Variable

To add a variable for the current measurement, click the variable icon to the right of the measurement (shown below to the left of the blue arrow):

Image highlighting add variable option in Measure tool dialog

This opens the Variable dialog, pre-populated with your necessary selections to get the listed measurement . See the Variable topic for more information on variables.

Using values

You can use the information displayed to enter values elsewhere in the system, for example, as a dimension:

  1. With the Measurement dialog expanded, click to highlight the value you want to copy. One click captures the maximum precision value, clicking a second time captures the lower precision.
  2. Use keyboard shortcuts to copy the value.

Interpreting the measure information

When you hover over Measurement information in the flyout, the measurement is visualized in the graphics area, depicting the exact measurement referred to. For example:

Sketch entity icons indicate the type of entity selected

Sketch entity icons indicate the entity selected

Bold dotted lines

Center, maximum, or minimum distances between entities:

  • Center, min, or max distances are shown in black
  • Changes in X are shown in red
  • Changes in Y are shown in green
  • Changes in Z are shown in blue

Note that when measuring to the center of a circle, you can select a planar face, edge, and edge of a cylinder

Measure tool dialog showing black dotted line for Center distance

Center distance

Showing distance between entities using red, green, and blue dotted lines

Center distance X, Y, and Z

Example showing max distance between entities using a black dotted line

Maximum distance

Example showing max distance between entities along x axis using red dotted line

Maximum distance X, Y, and Z

Example showing min distance between entities using a black dotted line

Minimum distance

Example showing distance between entities along the Z axis using a blue dotted line

Minimum distance X, Y, and Z

Angles appear as thin dotted lines:

Example of angles appearing as thin dotted lines

Measure tool icon

Steps

The Measure tool displays measurements dynamically whenever you select entities.

  1. Tap the Measure tool Measure tool icon to active it.

    With the Measure tool active:

  2. Tap to select an entity or entities to measure.

    The relevant measurement information appears in the dialog at the bottom of the screen. Tap the top of the dialog to collapse or expand it. Swipe inside the dialog to scroll up or down.

    Measurement info dialog

  3. Use the dropdowns to specify Measure type, Length unit, and Angle unit (these can be changed at any time).

  4. Tap the X in the upper right corner of the Measure dialog to close it and exit the measurement tool.

The measurement tool displays information using the units of measurement that you have set for your document. To change the units of measurement, select Units from the document info panel and select desired unit.

Measure tool icon

The Onshape Measure tool is available in Part Studios, for sketches and parts, and in Assemblies for parts and assemblies; it appears in the far right of the main toolbar at the top of the screen. It displays measurement dynamically whenever you select an entity. The tool shows all possible measurements for the selected entity/entities including, but not limited to, minimum distance between entities, total surface area, angles, length, parallel distance, etc.

Steps

  1. Tap the Measure tool Measure tool icon to active it.

    With the Measure tool active:

  2. Tap to select desired entities to measure.

    The relevant measurement information appears in the dialog at the bottom of the screen. Tap the top of the dialog to collapse or expand it. Swipe inside the dialog to scroll up or down.

  3. Tap the X in the upper right corner of the Measure dialog to close it and exit the measurement tool.

Screenshot of the Assembly Measure tool dialog