AutoCAD® 2010 For Dummies®

Chapter 13. Text with Character

In This Chapter

• Creating annotative text

• Using text styles to control text appearance

• Creating 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 used to be said that "a picture is worth a thousand words." (What with inflation and cost of living increases, a picture is now actually worth 3,780 words!) 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. I show you how to take advantage of AutoCAD's annotative text objects and text styles, as well as how to find specific text and check your drawing for spelling errors. Chapter 14 covers text that's connected with dimensions.

Tip

In most cases, adding text, dimensions, and other descriptive symbols is something that you should do later in the drafting process, after you've drawn at least some of the geometry. In CAD drawings, ...