True length


In geometry, true length is any distance between points that is not foreshortened by the view type. In a three-dimensional Euclidean space, lines with true length are parallel to the projection plane. For example, in a top view of a pyramid, which is an orthographic projection, the base edges have true length, whereas the remaining edges in this view are not true lengths. The same is true with an orthographic side view of a pyramid. If any face of a pyramid was parallel to the projection plane, all edges would demonstrate true length.
Examples of views in which all edges have true length are nets.