Paul, I am with you - I haven't got a whole view of the units/grid/margins/pagesize, etc. I do have a way of operating that suits my needs (and where I mostly know what I am doing). I will try to explain it an maybe I will understand better and you will benefit.
The base units of Dia are cm. My default set up is like this: Page Setup: Letter size, portrait Units of inches, margins set to 1.000 inch all 4 sides Scale 100% Grid: White Background, pale Grid Lines, dark Page breaks Grid Spacing 0.254 Grid Visible Spacing 1 Dynamic Grid Off Here is what I see: Ruler is measuring in cm The grid is showing inches, but you have to mentally convert the ruler (cm) to tell this is true. 0.254cm = 0.1in The grid lines are spaced just so, where each inch is 2.54 cm (check it on the ruler) The the page displays the working area according to my 1 inch margins so that the page working area is 6.5in x x9in. ((8.5 - 1 - 1) x (11 - 1 - 1)). The ruler shows this to be the distance between page breaks shown in cm. In Preferences/Grid the "lines per major line" is set to 10. The bolder grid lines make it easy to see where the inches are even though the ruler is cm. The page breaks mark out the real extents of a page in inches. Look at one of the pages near the ruler origin (0,0) to see ruler numbers that make sense. If you change the margins they will correctly shift - smaller margins get you a larger working area in inches; larger margins means smaller working area. I use this setup as my default, and sometimes have to go back to it for reassurance. Everything makes sense this way so when I change things I can refer back to this as a frame of reference. Good luck, M On Thu, Sep 2, 2010 at 1:03 AM, <[email protected]> wrote: > These are basic questions. I searched the Dia help and the web and > could not find anything. > > I would like to display the rulers around the diagram surface borders > in inches. I set File > Preferences > User Interface tab > Length > unit: to "Inch". However, the rulers still appear to display in > centimeters. I created a new drawing and they still display in cm. > The help does not say anything about ever being able to display in > other units. > > What is the meaning and purpose of File > Preferences > User Interface > tab > Length unit:? Is it possible for the rulers to display in units > other than cm? > > When I use a Network object such as Storage or Computer, using Tools > > Edit text (F2) allows an annotation label to be edited below the > object. However, if I use a UNIX workstation, switch, or router > object, there does not appear to be a label that can be edited. Is > this correct? What decides if an object has a label or not? > _______________________________________________ > dia-list mailing list > [email protected] > http://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/dia-list > FAQ at http://live.gnome.org/Dia/Faq > Main page at http://live.gnome.org/Dia > > -- Michael E. Ross NC Solar Center Test Laboratory ================================= (919) 585-5118 best (919) 513-0418 desk [email protected] [email protected] ============================= NC Solar Center : www.ncsc.ncsu.edu Professional Directory : www.greenprofessionals.org "The information in this email is provided by the NC Solar Center at NCSU as a public service. The Solar Center strives to provide accurate information, but does not warrant or represent the accuracy, usefulness or reliability of this information. For specific advice, we always recommend that you consult with a professional in the appropriate profession for your needs." Email correspondence to and from this address may be subject to the North Carolina Public Record Law NCGS, Ch 132 and may be disclosed to third parties
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