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Metric Units in DM Photometrics

By default, Design Master Photometrics uses Imperial units: feet, inches, and foot-candles. However, by making a few changes to your customization, you can easily convert your current and future projects to metric units.

Changing Units on Current Projects​

To convert the current project from Imperial to metric, follow these steps:

  1. Go to the Units section of the Options command.

  2. Set Project is metric ▾ to Yes. For more information about what this does, see The Project is Metric ▾ Option below.

  3. Set Distance unit ▾ to the base unit of your drawing; meter, centimeter, and millimeter are available for metric units. See the Base Units and Photometrics Calculations article for more information about determining the right setting.

  4. Set Illuminance unit ▾ to Lux. The illuminance levels displayed in your calculation areas and calculation schedules will be in lux rather than foot-candles.

  5. Press the button to save your changes and close the dialog box.

  6. Run the Calculate command.

  7. Press the Boundary Areas button. The General Photometric Schedule Label Display and Order dialog box will open.

  8. Modify the Label rows to reference lux rather than foot-candles.

  9. Press the button to save your changes and return to the Calculate Photometrics dialog box.

  10. Repeat Steps 7-9 for the Boundary Lines button.

If you have any calculation schedules already inserted on the drawing, their labels will update when you recalculate.

Setting Units on Future Projects​

When you start a new project, you can use the Standards Database ▾ field to set the database that will be used to populate the default values for the project. By default, we include the following standards databases for different units of measurement and drawing base units:

  • Imperial -- Foot Base Unit
  • Imperial -- Inch Base Unit
  • Metric -- Centimeter Base Unit
  • Metric -- Meter Base Unit

If you have standards databases that were present before we added metric functionality to the software and don't want to lose any changes you've made, you can modify them to use metric by following these steps:

  1. (Optional) Copy one of your existing standards databases using the Manage Standards Databases command. Having a copy will make it easier to switch between projects in Imperial and projects in metric, and you'll have a backup in case something goes wrong.

  2. Run the Options->Edit Standards List command and select the standards database you want to modify. Go to the Units section of the Options->Edit Standards List command.

  3. Set Project is metric ▾ to Yes. For more information about what this does, see The Project is Metric ▾ Option below.

  4. Set Distance unit ▾ to the base unit of your drawing; meter, centimeter, and millimeter are available for metric units. See the Base Units and Photometrics Calculations article for more information about determining the right setting.

  5. Set Illuminance unit ▾ to Lux. The illuminance levels displayed in your calculation areas and calculation schedules will be in lux rather than foot-candles.

  6. Press the button to save your changes and close the dialog box.

  7. Run the Edit Calculation Area Schedule Standards List command and select the standards database you want to modify.

  8. Modify the Label rows to reference lux rather than foot-candles.

  9. Press the button to save your changes and return to the Calculate Photometrics dialog box.

  10. Repeat Steps 7-9 for the Edit Calculation Line Schedule Standards List command.

The Project is Metric ▾ Option​

When the Project is metric ▾ option is enabled, this setting will allow you to view and set distances and elevations in meters rather than feet and inches. Any measurements already set will be converted; for example, if your default calculation area grid spacing is 10', it will be converted to 3.048 m.

The following commands and fields are affected: