AutoCAD For Dummies, 17th Edition

Chapter 13

Text with Character

IN THIS CHAPTER

Creating annotative text

Employing text styles to control text appearance

Placing single-line and multiline text

Using fields and background masks with text

Making numbered and bulleted lists

Working with columns and paragraphs

Editing text contents and properties

Creating tables

Drawing multileaders

It has been said that “a word is worth one-one-thousandths of a picture.” On the other hand, the opposite is often true as well. Adding a few words to your drawing can save you from having to draw thousands of lines and arcs. It’s a lot easier to write Simpson A35 framing clip next to a simple, schematic representation of a clip than to draw one in microscopic detail and hope that the contractor can figure out what it is.

Most CAD drawings include some text in the form of explanatory notes, object labels, and titles. This chapter shows you how to add general drawing text and leaders (descriptive notes with arrows that point to specific drawing objects) to your drawings. In this chapter I show you how to take advantage of AutoCAD’s annotative text objects and text styles, how to find specific text, and how to check for speling erors. Chapter 14 covers text that’s connected with dimensions.

In most cases, adding text, dimensions, and other descriptive symbols is a task that you should do later in the drafting process, after you’ve drawn ...