Text, Notes, and Labels

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Text, Notes, and Labels

You can add notes, labels, and other text to your drawing using DataCAD’s Text tool. You can control text appearance and justification and even save these settings as a text style that you can use in any drawing. To place text in your drawing, simply click in the Drawing Area to select a justification point or define an area to fit the text into.

With either method, you can position notes quickly and precisely.

Text can be imported into your drawing or even exported from it.

DataCAD uses text (.TXT) files in each of these processes.

You can use Windows TrueType fonts to enter text in your drawings.

You can also add room, door and window labels using some of DataCAD’s macros. Descriptive attributes can even be assigned to door and window labels and later applied to schedules and reports.

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In this chapter:

Drawing text and arrows

Editing text Importing and exporting text Using TrueType fonts Drawing room labels Drawing door and window labels

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Drawing Text

Text can be entered and edited anywhere in your plan. DataCAD has 23 text fonts you can use, and you can add your own fonts to your DATACAD\CHR folder. You can also use any true-type fonts (TTF) that you have installed on your computer.

When the Text menu is displayed, the text cursor replaces the standard drawing crosshairs. This cursor appearance represents the current text height, angle, slant, and aspect ratio settings. To change the appearance of text already in your

drawing, you must select Change\Text\FontName to open the Set Text

Parameters dialog box. This lets you change text parameters. See “Changing Text Attributes” in the “Editing Drawings” chapter.

To add text to your drawing:

1. Click on Text in the Create pull-down menu, or click on Text in the Edit menu in the Menu Window. The Text menu is displayed in the Menu Window.

2. Customize the appearance of text by clicking on each setting option in the Text menu or clicking on FontName to change all the settings at once:

• Click on a font in the Font Name list box. Keep in mind that the fonts displayed under Font Name are determined by the Font Type

selection in the lower-left corner of the dialog box. You can display true-type fonts (TTF), DataCAD fonts (CHR), or both in the list. You are limited to using 32 fonts in a drawing session.

• To set the text’s actual size in your drawing, type a height value or click on one in the Height list box. With TxtScale toggled on, text is entered in the drawing relative to the current plot scale setting. For example, if you set Height to 1” and the plotting scale to ¼”, text entered in your drawing would appear 4’ high.

• To set the angle of the lines of text, type an angle value or click on one in the Angle list box.

• The aspect ratio of text is the height relative to the width of each character. An aspect ratio of 1 represents the normal character style, while an aspect ratio of 5 produces text that is taller and narrower. To set the height of each character relative to its width, type an aspect ratio value or click on one in the Aspect list box.

• When using a DataCAD font, you can set the angle of each character of text, as measured from the base of the character to its top. Type a slant value or click on one in the CHR Slant list box.

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• When using a DataCAD font, you can set a text weight from 1 to 99, with “1” being the default weight setting. To triple the weight of text, for instance, set Weight to 3. To set the line weight of the text, type a weight value or click on one in the CHR Weight list box. Another way to produce heavy text on a drawing is to place it on a separate layer and then define a unique color for that layer. When you plot the drawing, you can assign a thicker pen to that layer. See “Using Pen Tables” in the “Printing Your Drawing” chapter for details on how to set pens for plotting.

• When using a true-type font, you can select a font style. Click on a style in the TTF Style list box.

• When using a true-type font, you can set the properties for the font using the TTF Properties options. Select Fill, Outline, or Both and then set the colors for the Fill and Outline, as necessary.

3. Click on OK to save the text parameter changes and close the dialog box.

4. Set the space between lines of text by clicking on Factor. Use the value menu or type a factor for your text, and right-click to return to the Text menu. DataCAD calculates the amount of space between lines of text by multiplying the text height by the factor.

5. Toggle Dynamic on to enter text directly into the drawing as you type it.

Toggle Dynamic off to enter the text only in the Message Area; you will have to press (Enter) to add the text to the drawing.

Hint: With Dynamic on, your cursor must remain in the drawing window if you want carriage return to work when you press (Enter).

6. Toggle TxtScale on to size your text by using the Size setting relative to the plot scale. If you toggle TxtScale off, the text size displays and plots, according to the Height setting in the text parameters dialog box.

7. Toggle AllCaps on to enter your text in capital letters; toggle AllCaps off to enter text as you typed it.

8. Decide on how you want to justify the text. To left justify text, toggle Left on; to center justify text, toggle Center on; to right justify text, toggle Right on.

9. Click in the Drawing Area or use coordinate entry to select the point where text should be entered in your drawing. This point is the point of justification for the text you enter.

10. Type the text. If you toggled Dynamic on in step 5, the text is displayed in the drawing as you type; if Dynamic is toggled off, the text is displayed in the Message Area and you must press (Enter) to add the text to the

drawing.

Text can include many other characters in addition to those found on the keyboard. These extended characters are typed by pressing (Alt) + a character number. See the Appendix for a complete list of extended characters.

11. Click on Exit in the Menu Window or right-click when you’re finished entering text.

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Justifying Text

You can change the justification of text after you enter it in your drawing. Text can be justified to the left, center, or right of a justification line that you define.

To justify text in your drawing:

2. Click on Justify in the Text menu. You are prompted to “Select first point on justification line”.

3. Click in the Drawing Area or use coordinate entry to enter the first point of the justification line. You are prompted to “Select second point on justification line”.

4. Click in the Drawing Area or use coordinate entry to enter the second point of the justification line. The Justify menu is displayed in the Menu Window.

5. Decide how you want to justify the text. To left justify text, toggle Left on;

to center justify text, toggle Center on; to right justify text, toggle Right on.

6. Click on a selection method in the menu. You are prompted to select the text you want to justify. For more information on using selection menus, see “Selection Menus” in “The Drawing Board” chapter.

7. Select the text you want to justify. The text is aligned with the justification line, according to the justification setting you chose in step 5.

8. Continue selecting text to justify it to the same justification line; click on NewLine to define a new justification line and continue with step 3 above; or right-click to return to the Text menu.

Fitting Text into Defined Areas

Another way to enter text in your drawing is to define the height and width of the area where you’d like to place a line of text. The text size and aspect ratio are automatically calculated so that the text you type fits into the area you defined.

To fit text into an area:

2. Click on FitText in the Text menu. You are prompted to “Select text start point”.

3. Click in the Drawing Area or use coordinate entry to enter the point where you want the text to begin. You are prompted to “Select text end point”.

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4. Click in the Drawing Area or use coordinate entry to enter the point where you want the text to end. You are prompted to “Select point to mark text height”.

5. Click in the Drawing Area or use coordinate entry to enter a point; this point and the end point you selected in step 4 define the height of the area. You are prompted to “Enter text”.

6. Type the line of text that you want to fit in the defined area.

7. Press (Enter). The aspect ratio and size is calculated, and the text you typed is fit into the area you defined. The Aspect and Size settings in the Text menu are actually changed to the values calculated in step 7. To return them to their original settings before FitText was used, click on Reset in the Text menu.

8. Enter additional lines of text using the same aspect ratio and size calculated in step 7 by simply typing the additional text.

9. Right-click to return to the Text menu.

Importing and Exporting Text

You can export text in your drawing to a text (.TXT) file as well as import a text file into your drawing.

To import text into your drawing:

1. Click on Text File in the Insert pull-down menu. A dialog box is displayed, listing all text files in your DATACAD\PLT folder.

2. Click on the text (.TXT) file you want to import to select it, and then click on Open. The dialog box closes, and the FromFile menu is displayed in the Menu Window.

3. Use the menu options (as described earlier in this chapter in the

instructions on adding text to your drawing) to customize the appearance of the text you want to import. You are prompted to “Position text using cursor”.

4. Click in the Drawing Area or use coordinate entry to enter the upper-left point of the block of text being imported. The text is added to the

drawing.

WrapLen option uses a value menu to set the number of characters allowed per line; characters over this number are wrapped to the next line.

5. Continue selecting points to copy the imported text to other parts of your drawing, or right-click to return to the Text menu.

To export text from your drawing:

1. Click on Export in the File pull-down menu, and then click on TXT in the submenu. A dialog box is displayed, prompting you to “Enter the name of the text file to create”.

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2. Type a name for the text file that your text will be exported to, and then click on Save. The dialog box closes, and a selection menu is displayed in the Menu Window.

3. Click on a selection method in the menu. You are prompted to select the text you want to add to the text file. For more information on using selection menus, see “Selection Menus” in “The Drawing Board” chapter.

4. Select the text you want to export. The text is exported to the text file you created in step 2.

5. Continue selecting text to export to the text file, or right-click to display the dialog box again and save another text file. If you don’t need to save another text file, click Cancel to close the dialog box and display the Text menu in the Menu Window.

Using Text Styles

You can save your Text menu settings as a text style, and then use them to quickly apply those settings before adding text to a drawing.

To save a text style:

2. Click on TxtStyl in the Text menu. The TxtStyl menu is displayed in the Menu Window.

3. Click on SaveCurr in the TxtStyl menu. A list of existing text styles is displayed in the Menu Window, including the default style. You are prompted to “Enter name to save current text style to”.

4. Type a name for your new text style and press (Enter). The text style is saved, and you are returned to the TxtStyl menu.

To use a text style:

3. Click on Load in the TxtStyl menu. A list of text styles is displayed in the Menu Window, and you are prompted to “Enter name of text style to load”.

4. Click on a text style in the list. Settings for Text menu options are changed to those of the text style you chose; any text you draw now will use those settings.

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To delete a text style:

3. Click on Delete in the TxtStyl menu. A list of existing text styles is

displayed in the Menu Window, and you are prompted to “Enter name of text style to delete”.

4. Click on the name of the text style you want to delete. The text style is deleted.

5. Return to the TxtStyl menu by either clicking on Exit in the Menu Window or right-clicking.

To display the settings for a text style:

3. Click on ShowVals in the TxtStyl menu. A list of text styles is displayed in the Menu Window, and you are prompted to “Enter name of text style to show”.

4. Click on the name of the text style you want to view. The values of the selected text style are displayed in the Message Area.

5. Return to the TxtStyl menu by clicking on Exit or right-clicking.

Drawing Text Arrows

You can draw arrows from text in your drawing to the parts of the drawing the text refers to. The size, style, aspect, weight, and color of the arrowheads are fully customizable.

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OPEN 4:1

CLOSED 3:1

BRIDGE 2:1

DOT 1:1

TICK

Arrowhead styles

0.5:1

Variable aspect ratios

Figure 13.1: Examples of different styles and aspect ratios for text arrowheads

To draw a text arrow:

2. Click on Arrows in the Text menu. The Arrows menu is displayed in the Menu Window.

3. Choose an arrowhead style. Click on Style in the Arrows menu. A list of five arrowhead styles is displayed. (See Figure 13.2 for examples.)

4. Click on the name of the arrowhead style you want to use, and right-click to return to the Arrows menu. For Open and Closed arrowheads, Size sets the length of the arrowhead base. For Bridge arrowheads, Size sets the radius of the curve of the arrowhead. For Dot arrowheads, Size sets the diameter of the dot. For Tick arrowheads, Size sets the length of the tick mark.

5. Indicate the size of the arrowhead. The size of the arrowhead is the measurement of its widest point. Arrowhead size is relative to text size; if the Size setting in the Text menu is 1 and the Size setting in the Arrows menu is 3, the arrowhead size will be three times the height of your text.

To set the size of the arrowhead, click on Size. A value menu is displayed.

6. Use the value menu or type a number for the size, and press (Enter). This setting, “Relative arrow size”, is displayed in the Message Area whenever you are in the Arrows menu.

7. Set the aspect ratio for arrowheads by clicking on Aspect in the Arrows menu. A value menu is displayed.

8. Use the value menu or type a number for the aspect ratio, and press (Enter). (See Figure 13.2 for examples of aspect settings.) An ANSI- standard arrowhead has an aspect ratio of 6.

9. Set the line weight for arrowheads by clicking on Weight. A value menu is displayed.

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10. Use the value menu or type a number for the line weight, and press (Enter).

11. To set the color for arrowheads, click on Color. A color menu is displayed. For more information on using color menus, see “Color Menus” in “The Drawing Board” chapter.

12. Use the color menu to select a color for arrowheads. You are prompted to

“Draw arrow”.

13. Draw arrows. Arrows are drawn from the end of the arrow to the point of the arrowhead. Click in the Drawing Area or use coordinate entry to enter the end of the arrow.

14. Continue entering points to draw bends or angles in the arrow if necessary. The last point you enter will be the point of the arrowhead.

15. Right-click to complete the arrow; the arrowhead is drawn, according to the settings specified in the steps above.

Using TrueType Fonts Instead of .CHR Fonts

In addition to single and multi-stroke, vector-based DataCAD .CHR fonts, you can use Windows TrueType fonts in your drawings. You can convert TrueType fonts to 3D for signage in architectural models. If you are using an earlier version than DataCAD 10, TrueType fonts will appear in your drawing as DataCAD CHR fonts.

To use TrueType fonts:

1. Select Text from the Edit menu. Then, click on FontName in the Text menu. The Set Text Parameters dialog box appears.

Figure 13.2: Control the appearance of TrueType fonts

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2. Type something in the small box at the lower right corner of the Font Preview area. For example, in Figure 13.3, HapPenInc is the name of the Hap company that manufactures pens. The larger display shows what the text will look like, depending on the font you highlight in the FontName section of this dialog box.

3. Go to the Font Type section and click Only TTF if you want to display just the TrueType fonts in the Font Name section of this dialog box.

4. Change the settings in the Font Name, Height, Angle, Aspect, CHR Slant, CHR Weight, and TTF Style sections until the sample in the Font Preview window is correct.

5. Control the color of the font’s fill and outline in the TTF Properties section. Color choices are displayed in the Font Preview window.

• To choose colors, click Fill, Outline, or Both in the TTF Properties section.

• To use the active layer’s color for the fill and/or outline, check the Fill using current color and/or the Outline using current color boxes.

• To specify your own colors for the fill and/or outline, uncheck the boxes. Then click on the color swatch to the left of the unchecked box to display the Color Palette dialog box, where you can either select a standard color or mix your own. For more information on using the color palette, see “Color Menus” in “The Drawing Board” chapter and

“Customizing Colors” in the “Before You Draw” chapter.

6. Click OK when you are satisfied with your text parameters. When you return to the Drawing Window, the cursor changes to a text tool and you are prompted to “Select point to position text.”

7. Click where you want the text to appear in your drawing.

8. Type the text in your drawing. Notice that all your font settings are in effect.

9. Right-click when you are finished typing text.

Figure 13.3: Results of TrueType font decisions in the drawing To convert TrueType fonts to 3D:

1. Go to the 3DEdit menu and select Explode.

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2. Click on TTF2Plin in the Explode menu to convert the TrueType fonts to covered polylines.

You can now create 3D signage by exploding the polylines to slabs. To do this, use the ToSlab option in the Explode menu.

Drawing Labels

In addition to drawing standard text, you can add labels to rooms, doors, and windows using some of DataCAD’s macros. Descriptive attributes can even be assigned to door and window labels.

Drawing Room Labels

You can customize the appearance of both the text and the border of the label.

Room labels can have only one line of text per label.

To draw a room label:

1. Click on DCAD_AEC in the Macros pull-down menu. The DCAD AEC menu is displayed in the Menu Window.

2. Click on RmLabels in the DCAD AEC menu. The RoomLabl menu is displayed.

3. Indicate which of the three types of borders you want to use for the label.

Click on Box to draw a rectangle around the text; click on Capsule to draw a rectangle with rounded corners around the text; click on None to draw labels with no border at all. Of the Box, Capsule, and None options, only one can be toggled on at any one time.

4. Customize the appearance of label text with several options that use value menus:

• To set the label text’s size, click on TextSize. Use the value menu or type a size for your label text, and right-click to return to the

RoomLabl menu. If TxtScale is on in the Text menu, label text size will be determined relative to the current plotting scale.

• To set the angle of the lines of label text, click on TextAngl. Use the value menu or type an angle for your label text, and right-click to return to the RoomLabl menu.

• To set the line weight of the label text, click on TextWgt. Use the value menu or type a size for your text, and right-click to return to the RoomLabl menu.

• To set the angle of each character of label text, as measured from the base of the character to its top, click on TextSlnt. Use the value menu or type an angle for text characters, and right-click to return to the RoomLabl menu.

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• To set the height of each character relative to its width, click on TextAspt. Use the value menu or type an aspect ratio for your text, and right-click to return to the RoomLabl menu. The aspect ratio of text is the height relative to the width of each character. An aspect ratio of 1 represents the normal character style, while an aspect ratio of 5 produces text that is taller and narrower.

5. Choose a font to use for label text by clicking on TextFont. A dialog box is displayed, listing all the fonts available in your DATACAD\CHR folder.

Click on a font to select it, and click on Open.

6. Insert a symbol as part of your room labels by clicking on AddSymb. A dialog box is displayed. If necessary, change to your DATACAD\SYM folder, to list all your symbol folders. Open a symbol folder, select the symbol to be used with labels, and click on Open. The AddSymb option appears depressed, indicating that a symbol will be used with labels. To stop using a symbol in room labels, click on AddSymb again to turn that option off. The AddSymb option appears raised.

7. Set the text color for room labels by clicking on TextColr. Use the color menu to choose a color. If necessary, right-click to return to the RoomLabl menu. For more information on using color menus, see “Color Menus” in

“The Drawing Board” chapter.

8. Set the border color for room labels by clicking on BrdrColr. Use the color menu to choose a color. If necessary, right-click to return to the RoomLabl menu.

9. Place the room label by clicking in the Drawing Area or using coordinate entry to enter a point that will be the bottom left corner of the label. You are prompted to “Enter label text”.

10. Type the text for the room label and press (Enter). The label is added to your drawing.

11. Repeat steps 9 – 10 to continue adding labels to your drawing, or right- click to exit the RoomLabl menu.

Drawing Door Labels

You can add labels (or “tags”) for doors in your drawing.

Drawing Window Labels

You can add labels (or “tags”) for windows in your drawing.