To Create an Ordinate Dimension

Ordinate dimensions measure the perpendicular distances from an origin point called the datum, such as a hole in a part. The datum is established by the current location of the UCS origin.

1. Move the UCS origin to the datum.
2. Click Annotate tabDimensions panelDimension. Find
3. At the prompt, enter o (Ordinate).
4. If you do not want jogs in the ordinate leaders, turn on Ortho mode [F8].
5. Specify a point for the feature location.
6. Specify a leader endpoint.
   Note: You can also specify an X- or Y-datum to determine the orientation of the dimension location and dimension text.

   You can use polar tracking to line up the text of the ordinate dimensions.