Frequent tipster Leonid Nemirovsky shares a tip for highlighting dimension text in AutoCAD.

"This method will set up a background color for dimension text, in case you ever need to highlight or emphasize some dimensions. Set the system variable DimTFill to one of the following:

• 0 for none
• 1 for the color of your drawing background
• 2 for a specific color.

To set that specific color, set the variable DimTFillClr (via dialog box)."

Notes from Cadalyst Tip Reviewer Brian Benton: Dimensioning a drawing can tricky. The annotations have to present the details of the design project correctly, and in a way that can be understood by the people that need the information. That is why AutoCAD has so many settings for its dimensioning tools — so many, in fact, that it can be overwhelming.

The DimTFill setting determines whether the dimension text background is colored or not, and whether it matches the drawing background. Using the background setting (1) essentially creates a text mask, meaning that your dimension text will be seen regardless of the linework behind it. To highlight the text with a color, just set DimTFill to 2 and assign a color number. Use color number 0 to use a ByBlock setting, or color 256 for a ByLayer setting. These text fill settings can also be assigned to a dimensions style in the Text tab of the Dimension Style Manager.