The tutorials in the next two sections cover various ways to add annotation objects to your drawing. Annotation objects include Text, Dimension, and Arrow (or "leader line") objects. The tutorials in this section cover Text objects. We'll cover Dimensions and Arrows in the next section.
In general, annotation objects are not part of your model, but rather provide information about your model. Annotation objects are created in "Paper space" as opposed to "Model space." When specifying size values for annotation object attributes (text height, arrow size, etc.) these values are defined in "paper units" (unscaled) rather than "model units."
Annotation objects can be drawn by locating points with your cursor (mouse, stylus or your finger), entering coordinates (absolute, delta or polar), or by using the arrow keys on your keyboard. Each of these techniques is covered in Drawing lines and entering points. In the tutorials that follow you will be asked to enter points at specific coordinates. You can use whichever input technique you prefer to enter the points.
The tutorials in this section assume that you have created a full-scale metric ISO A4 size drawing and have your device in the "landscape" orientation. You can review the steps to create this drawing in the Create a full-size metric A4 drawing sheet task.
In this exercise we're simply setting the view to show an enlarged area in the center part of your drawing. All of the exercises in this section will use this view.
(60, 80)
to (220, 150)
.
Text objects can be located using a single point or by using two points. When locating text objects using the "One point" mode, you will enter a single point, then enter a text string. The text will be positioned relative to that point according to the active "Alignment" option. The text will be horizontal (i.e. with no rotation). In this tutorial we will use the "One point" mode to enter nine text objects using each of the nine alignment options. We'll start by drawing a rectangle which we'll use to demonstrate the alignment options.
30
for the width and 10
for the height.
(100, 120)
.
You should now have a 30 mm by 10 mm blue rectangle cemtered at (115, 125
).
(115, 130)
.
CENTER-ABOVE
in the text box and hit the Enter
key two times.
You should now have the words CENTER-ABOVE
centered above the top edge of the blue rectangle.
Enter
key.
Two consecutive Enter
keystrokes will terminate the paragraph and dismiss the Edit text box.
CENTER-CENTER
at the center of the rectangle.
CENTER-BELOW
below the bottom edge of the rectangle.
LEFT-ABOVE
above the top-right corner of the rectangle.
LEFT-CENTER
next to the mid-point of the right edge of the rectangle.
LEFT-BELOW
below the bottom-right corner of the rectangle.
RIGHT-ABOVE
above the top-left corner of the rectangle.
RIGHT-CENTER
next to the mid-point of the left edge of the rectangle.
RIGHT-BELOW
below the bottom-left corner of the rectangle.
When text objects are created using the two-point construction method, the text will be aligned (justified) between the two points and rotated to match the orientation of the line connecting the two points. In this tutorial we will draw a multi-segment line and use the two point method to draw text that is aligned with each segment of the line.
(80, 80)
, (100, 90)
, (130, 90)
and (150, 80)
.
(80, 80)
.
Note that a rubber band line representing the axis of the text follows the cursor.
Move the cursor to the next vertex of the line (100, 90)
and enter a point.
LEFT-ABOVE
in the text box and hit the Enter
key two times.
CENTER-ABOVE
for the text.
RIGHT-ABOVE
for the text.
As you have seen in the previous tutorials, text can be located using one point or two points with similar results. In general, whether you use one point or two points to locate text is a matter of preference, however there is one important difference. When rotating text objects created with a single point, the location (origin) of the text object will change, but the text will not rotate. This is by design and ensures that text will be right-reading regardless of the orientation of the text object (or groups containing text objects). When rotating text objects created with two points, the text will rotate along with the rest of the model data as expected. In this tutorial we will explore this behavior.
20
for the width and 8
for the height.
(180, 130)
and (180, 120)
.
You should now have two 30 mm by 10 mm green rectangles stacked vertically.
(190, 134)
.
Enter ONE POINT
in the "edit text" box.
TWO POINT
in the "edit text" box.
TWO POINT
) rotates along with the rest of the selection
while the text inside the upper rectangle (ONE POINT
) always remains horizontal.
Text attributes such as font, size, offset and spacing are assigned to text objects using named Text Styles. Using text styles enforces a consistent style for each piece of text in your drawing or across a project. Text styles can be used to specify sizes (i.e. "small", "normal", "large") or classes of text ("title", "notes", etc.). These attributes can be changed globally (affecting all text drawing using a given style) by changing the Text Style Definition in settings. Attributes can be overridden for a single piece of text by setting new values in Properties.
(160, 80)
and enter the following text:No matter what people tell you,
words and ideas can change the world.
Enter
key. Terminate the paragraph with an additional Enter
key.
(160, 80)
and enter the following text:Robin Williams
Enter
keys.