Unit 3: Text, Fields & Tables DT2510: Advanced CAD Methods

Adding Text to Drawings Adding Text to a Drawing Understanding Text Formatting in AutoCAD Organizing Text by Styles Adding Special Characters Checking Spelling Finding and Replacing Text Unit 3 : Text, Field & Tables

Adding and editing text in and AutoCAD drawing is fairly simple and straightforward. If you know how to use a word processor, you shouldn’t have any difficulty with AutoCAD’s text feature. To add text, Click the Multiline Text tool in the Annotate tab’s Text panel and then place a window, called a text boundary, around the area where the text is to appear. Unit 3 : Text, Field & Tables

Once the text boundary is placed, you see the Text Editor tab in the Ribbon. This tab gives you control over the formatting of the text. Unit 3 : Text, Field & Tables

Before you actually start to type your note, select a text height from the Text Editor tab’s Style panel. You can also add your text, select it then set the height. Unit 3 : Text, Field & Tables

The Text Editor tab offers the text formatting tools you usually find in word processors. Unit 3 : Text, Field & Tables

In addition, you have some commonly used symbols you can insert into your text using the Symbol tool in the Text Editor tab’s Insert panel. Unit 3 : Text, Field & Tables

Besides the tools in the Multiline Text tab, you also have text editor ruler. This is the ruled bar across the top of the text. Here you can set indents and tabs for your text. Unit 3 : Text, Field & Tables

Frequently in drafting projects, you will use just a few different fonts and sizes. You can set up some predefined AutoCAD text styles and call them up whenever you start to add text. You can set up text styles through the Text Styles dialog box. Choose Manage Text Styles from the Text Styles drop- down list in the Annotate tab’s Text panel to open this dialog box. You can also type St . Unit 3 : Text, Field & Tables

Click the New button to create a new style, select a font, font style and height in the Fonts group, then click Apply. Unit 3 : Text, Field & Tables

Once you’ve created a text style, you can select it from the Text Style list of the Text Editor tab’s Style panel before you start to enter text. The font and text height will adjust to conform to your selected Text Style. Unit 3 : Text, Field & Tables

Determining the text height is perhaps the more confusing parts of text in AutoCAD. In AutoCAD, the text height is dependant on the scale of the drawing you are working on, so you have to pay close attention to the relationship between scale and text height. You can use the Annotative text size feature to simplify the setting of text size. First create a text style using the Text Style dialog box, and make sure that the Annotative setting is turned on. Unit 3 : Text, Field & Tables

When you add text using a style whose Annotative feature is turned on, you can have AutoCAD Automatically adjust the text height to the drawing scale by using the Annotation Scale and Viewport Scale settings in the AutoCAD status bar. Unit 3 : Text, Field & Tables

If you decide not to use the Annotative feature, you will have to make use of scale factors to determine the size of your text. The scale factor is the multiplier you use to convert a text height from final printed size to the size you need in AutoCAD. For example, to have your text appear as 1/8 inch high in a ¼” = 1’ – 0” scale drawing, multiply 1/8 times a scale factor of 48. The resulting value of 6 is the text height you would use. Drawing ScaleScale FactorAutoCAD Drawing Height for 1 / 8 - High Text 1 / 16 = 1 ’ -0” / 8 = 1 ’ -0” / 4 = 1 ’ -0” / 2 = 1 ’ -0” / 4 = 1 ’ -0” = 1 ’ -0” / 2 = 1 ’ -0” = 1 ’ -0”40.5 Unit 3 : Text, Field & Tables

Other features you’ll want to know about are the Check Spelling dialog box and the Find and Replace dialog box. To open the Check Spelling dialog box, choose Check Spelling from the Annotate tab’s Text panel. For Find and Replace, enter the word you want to find in the Find input box in the Annotate tab’s Text panel, and then click the magnifying glass icon. Unit 3 : Text, Field & Tables

The Check Spelling feature will look at all of the text in the drawing. The Find and Replace feature gives you the option to search the entire drawing or just selected items. Unit 3 : Text, Field & Tables

Using Fields and Tables Using Fields to Associate Text with Drawing Properties Adding Tables to Your Drawing Adding Formulas to Cells Unit 3 : Text, Field & Tables

The text labels you worked with in previous sessions are static and do not change unless you edit them. Another type of text object, called a field, behaves in a more dynamic way. A field can be linked to the properties of other objects and will update itself automatically as the associated properties change. For example, you can have a field linked to the area defined by a closed polyline such as a rectangle. Unit 3 : Text, Field & Tables

When the rectangle changes in shape or size, the field text associated with the rectangle will update the area it reports. A field can be included within regular text like the room label in this drawing. Unit 3 : Text, Field & Tables

To add a field to existing text, double-click on the text to edit it. The Text Editor tab opens and the text appears in a text editor. Unit 3 : Text, Field & Tables

Select the text you want to turn into a field, or just place the cursor at a location for the field, then click the Insert Field tool in the Text Editor tab’s Insert panel. Unit 3 : Text, Field & Tables

The Field dialog box appears. Select Objects from the Field category drop down list, select object from the Field names list, then click the Select object button to the right of the Object Type text box. Unit 3 : Text, Field & Tables

In the drawing, select the rectangle that defines the area you want associated with the field. By the way, it doesn’t have to be a rectangle. It can be any closed polyline. Unit 3 : Text, Field & Tables

Back in the Field dialog box, make sure Area is selected in the Property list and Architectural is selected in the Format list. Click OK, then click Close Text Editor in the Close panel. Now whenever you change the shape of the rectangle, type Re  and the area value displaying the text will automatically update to report the new area. Unit 3 : Text, Field & Tables

Another feature related to text and fields are tables. Tables are often used in technical drawings to list features of a design and to help describe qualities that cannot be conveyed through the drawing alone. A room finish schedule in an architectural drawing is an example of such a table. A room finish schedule can identify a room by name and number, then describe the elements of that room through a series of codes that are described in a legend. Unit 3 : Text, Field & Tables

AutoCAD offers the Table command and tool that places a blank table in your drawing. Choose Table from the Annotate tab’s Tables panel to open the Insert Table dialog box. Unit 3 : Text, Field & Tables

The Insert Table dialog box lets you specify the number of columns and rows for your table. You can also select a table style that you have created. Unit 3 : Text, Field & Tables

Once placed in your drawing, the table appears with the top cell highlighted. The Text Editor tab also appears ready to help you format your cell text. Unit 3 : Text, Field & Tables

Click Close Text Editor in the Close panel after you’ve finished entering text. To add text to other cells, double click within the cell. The Text Editor tab appears again. Note that the alphanumeric row and column address labels along the top and left side of the table only appear when you are editing cells. Unit 3 : Text, Field & Tables

Cells can be formatted to display text vertically as in the Floor, Base, Wall, Ceiling columns shown here. Multiple cells can be combined to create a heading for multiple columns like the Finish heading in this example. Unit 3 : Text, Field & Tables

The lines of the table can also be controlled through the Cell Border Properties dialog box. Unit 3 : Text, Field & Tables

Using fields as cell text, you can add formulas to table cells to make the table function like a spreadsheet. Excel spreadsheets can be imported or tables can be exported to Excel. In this example, cell E5 is the sum of cells A2 and D4. Unit 3 : Text, Field & Tables

You can even add graphics to a cell in the form of a block or drawing file. Click in the cell, right-click and choose Insert > Block. The Insert a Block in a Table Cell dialog box appears. From here, you can select a block for your cell graphic and determine the alignment, scale and rotation for the block. Unit 3 : Text, Field & Tables