Text Height Standardization

[mazmier]

How are you all dealing with automating/standardizing text heights? Have you a way to link text height with dimscale or are you setting up different text styles for each scale within templates? Anybody using annotative capabilities and how is that working for you?

M

[cadtag]

Once upon a time. I wrote a series of commands to set text heights, styles, and layers based on LeRoy equivalents. Typing in "L100" would set the text style LeRoy100 current, forcing the height to be 0.0875 * the plotting scale if in Modelspace, and * 1 if in Paperspace, with a custom font developed to mimic LeRoy characters and to be identical between uStn and Acad. Layers were automagically set to NCS annotative layers, and color for that layer set to company standards. For 100 LeRoy equivalents, that would be C-ANNO-L100 and yellow. th font was close to RomanS, with some modifications for visual clarity and to get the same results in both supported CAD platforms.

Nowadays, I leave my style defined with height 0, and simply set the text height to what I need to display. Easier to do on the fly in civil, since it's just multiplying by a simple scale factor like 10 or 30 instead of 96. Since my employer is staying with 2006, annotative is not an option yet (and given the way acad hardwired default scales and forced rampant propogation of scales in the dwg files, that may be a good thing)

[tatriest]

You could use tool palette commands, allowing you you to set the textsize then initiate the mtext command - see attached image.

you can create a tool for each textsize......

you can also set various properties.....

Terry

[york]

I am using Annotative text and dimensions and it is working awsome. I often have details that need to be shown as an overview and then a close up of the part. With anno text you can set the viewport to see the text based on the scale you want it to come in as with the buttons in the lower right corner. I can now have one line of text show up in any scale that I want. The realy cool part is that you can move the text around with the grips in different scales and it doesn't effect the positioning in a viewport of a different scale. I love annotative text.

[mazmier]

I've been considering the use of annotative text for the office but don't see that it will be useful outside its use in details. We divide our layers by discipline/category and so annotation follows suit. ie - a ceiling layer for dimensions related to RCP's and a a different layer for dimensions related to floor plans for example and we don't use dimensioning in paperspace. So that really leaves details.

Do you use annotative dims/text in your plans? Do you do you dimensioning within the model or in the layout in model space or in paperspace?

M

[Zuke]

I use this Routin and it works so good. If you want other scales just change all the ones in this routin to the scale size you want.

(defun c:S1 ()

(COMMAND "DIMSCALE" "1")
(COMMAND "SETVAR" "USERI1" "1")
(setq dwgscale (* 1 (getvar "useri1")))
(COMMAND "setvar" "ltscale" dwgscale) $s=xx $s=S
(cOMMAND "TEXTSIZE" (* 2 dwgscale))
(COMMAND "REGEN")
(command "TEXTSTYLE" "ISO3098b")


(princ) ;suppresses nil return
)

[dgorsman]

We use a small number of text styles with fixed text height so the designers don't have to memorize what height the text should be on the drawing. Most of our drawings are either not scaled or have the text in paper space, so scaling text height or using annotative text isn't required. For those drawings that do require scaling, a simple LISP to set the drawing scale sets everything up. Drawing set-up (including text styles) is handled through some complex automation - we have a number of different clients to support with different requirements.

[TerribleTim]

How are you all dealing with automating/standardizing text heights? Have you a way to link text height with dimscale or are you setting up different text styles for each scale within templates? Anybody using annotative capabilities and how is that working for you?

M
We are still on ACAD2007. Put the freakin' text in "paper space" where it goes and make it the height you want and there isn't a problem. :razz:

[michael.12445]

Most of the text on our drawings occurs either in a dimension string or at the end of a leader. We use a lisp file to get our dimensions to conform to a standard appearance. The user just has to enter the scale factor, which is the same number you would use for "Zoom XP" (i.e, 48 for 1/4" scale) and the lisp file force-feeds values to every dimvar and sets up the parent dimstyle with children for linear, aligned, and leader styles.

[tedg]

We have preset "Dimstyles" and "Textstyles" with the scales and heights assigned.
This keeps it simple for everyone so they don't have to do the math.

If you're working in model space on a drawing that is set to plot 1/4" = 1'-0", you should be using the dim style "DIM-14" and text style "STD-14".

We have one for paper space too called DIM-PS and STD-PS.

We're still in 2005, 2006 & 2007 so we don't (can't) use annotative scaling.

[d_lay123]

Personally, I think the annotative text/dimensioning is great, and use it exclusively now. Our office has routines that will force all text/dims/symbols based on the current drawing scale, but I override the settings now. The only downside to annotative objects so far is me having to explain for the fourth and fifth time to the same people why their dims don't show up in the viewport. :banghead: