You can set dimension placement to free or fixed, and control the space between parallel dimension lines and the location of the dimension in relation to the object it is dimensioning. You can also select whether to place short dimension text inside or outside the dimension.

1. On the Drawing tab, click Properties > Dimension.
2. Go to the General tab in dimension properties.
3. In Dimension lines spacing, enter the desired space between two parallel dimension lines.
4. Select whether to place short dimension text inside or outside of the dimensions from the Short dimensions list.
5. Click Place..., and define the desired placing settings:
   • Set Placing to free to let Tekla Structures decide the location and direction of the dimension based on the Direction settings.
   • If you set Placing to fixed, you can place the dimension in any location. When you use the setting fixed, the dimension stays where you place it even though you update the drawing, whereas with free, Tekla Structures tries to find the optimal place for the dimension.
   • The option Direction defines where Tekla Structures places dimensions relative to the dimensioned object. You can select either positive or negative, or both. Positive places the dimension further away and negative closer to the dimensioned object. This setting affects the Placing: free setting.
6. In Minimum distance, enter the closest distance Tekla Structures uses to place the dimension.
7. In Search margin, enter the empty margin that you want to have around the dimension. If Tekla Structures cannot place the dimension at the minimum distance, it moves the dimension by the value you enter in the Search margin box. Tekla Structures tries to place the dimension using the Search margin value until it finds a place for the dimension.
8. Click OK to close the dimension placing dialog box.
9. Save the dimension properties using Save, or save them in another file using Save as.
10. Click Modify to modify the dimension properties in the open drawing.