3D Distance vs 2D Distance

It appears that a 3D distance is calculated perpendicular to the axis of the second element if it's a 3D element, such as a plane or a cylinder.

For a circle or point, it's the direct distance between the centers of gravity.

You can also achieve this behavior in 2D mode for a plane or cylinder by selecting "Distance from element to element perpendicular to element" in the Distance menu.

No working plane is required here either.

I actually only use 2D distances because you can specify exactly along which axis the distance should be determined. Or width elements, if possible.

Thank you I had a debate recently about using 3D distance, but I didn't think to just switch the 2D distance to "Perpendicular To". That solves needing to manually toggle between work planes for dimensioning.

With 2D distance, there still could be a need to change workplanes.  You can only measure the distance along the other two axes relative to the workplane you are in.  If it's ZPlus for instance, you can't measure a 2D distance parallel to the Z axis.

With 2D distance, there still could be a need to change workplanes.  You can only measure the distance along the other two axes relative to the workplane you are in.  If it's ZPlus for instance, you can't measure a 2D distance parallel to the Z axis.