HNC CAD: 2D CAD Concepts -
Text
CAD drawings need text to convey information about the drawing detail and text is treated as any other object in the CAD
toolkit.
Originally, each text character was made up of short line segments and were, in effect, small drawings in their own right.
The were acceptable when printed at normal text size of say 3 or 4 mm high, but when printed as headings or titles they
looked very artificial and computer generated.
The main constraint in developing and using more modern bit-mapped or scaleable fonts was that CAD plotters were of the pen
type. They simply picked up a pen from a carousel of about eight differing in colour and possibly thickness. The plotter
was only able to draw simple shapes like those of the drawing itself.
CAD programs use the same fonts as the main stream computer applications of word processing,
Desk Top Publishing, etc. They are scalable fonts with well defined outlines that are filled with what ever colour you want.
The fonts are able to be printed only on devices that are bitmapped, like laser or inkjet printers. Pen plotters are unable
to handle these types of fonts.
All of the other textual information on the browser displaying this page use scalable bitmapped fonts.
Unlike word processing or desk top publishing programs, CAD programs specify the size of text in real world units. For example.
If you were drawing a circle to represent the earth, about 7,500 km diam, and wanted to place some text, so that it could
be read when the whole earch is viewed, it would be necessary to set the height of the text to about 50 km. The text sizing
is dependent upon the object you are drawing.
The text you add to your drawing can be BOLD, ITALICS or UNDERLINED, or any combination of these.
The text sample you see below was produced in AutoCAD and the image was clipped from the screen to be included here.
Text can also be aligned with other text and placed at any angle. It is important that you use text well. It can be used
effectively in drawings but can also, if poorly selected, sized and placed, be unsightly.
Select a text that is clear and easily read. In technical CAD drawings text is there to convey information, not to act as a
graphical effect!
Entering Text
There are essentially two types of text input methods.
Single line; Ideal for use as one word or one liners.
text Block (or Multiple Lines); Ideal for a paragraph of text that needs to be aligned accurately.
This example shows the positioning of single line text.
Exercise
Draw the line shape below and include the text as shown. You will have to estimate the size of text to get the proportions right.
Before you add the text, select Format/TextStyle and change the font name to Arial. Click Apply, then Close.
