What "Unit width" controls
Unit markers — created with the Count Symbol tool — appear on the canvas as small filled shapes. The width of a Unit group is the size at which those shapes are rendered. It's purely visual:
- It doesn't change the count in the sidebar or Excel export.
- It doesn't change where the marker sits on the drawing.
- It only changes how big each click looks on the screen.
The default size works for most drawings. You'd change it when markers are either:
- Too small to see on a dense drawing — increase the width.
- Too big and obscuring nearby markup — decrease the width.
Changing the width
The width slider lives in the group's appearance dropdown:
- 1
In the sidebar, click the colour swatch at the left of the Count Symbol group's row.
- 2
In the dropdown, find the Width slider. Range: 1 to 20.
- 3
Drag the slider — the canvas preview updates live as you drag.
- 4
Click Apply to commit, or Cancel to discard.
Every Unit marker in the group updates to the new size.
Width vs scale
It's worth being precise about the distinction:
- Scale (Linear / Area groups) — converts pixel measurements into real-world distances. Affects the reported value. See The scale system.
- Width (Unit groups) — the visual size of each marker on the canvas. Doesn't affect any value.
A Unit group counts items; it doesn't measure anything. So the width is a presentation choice, not a measurement parameter.
Why some Detection groups also have width
Detection groups containing ellipse-style markers (the default for Auto Count Symbol) expose two extra sliders:
- Manual Detection Width — the radius of manually-added detection markers.
- Manual Detection Opacity — the opacity of manually-added detection markers.
These are similar in spirit to Unit width — purely visual. See Group appearance.