Text Note Improvements

[bclarch]

The following list represents some changes that I would like to see made to text notes. The list is not in any order of preference or importance. I am posting this in the general forum to get some feedback before making a wishlist post. Feel free to agree, disagree or add on.

1. Underline, bold, italics & transparency should be instance parameters so that we don’t need four text types (or more if you use combinations) for each font size just to use these properties.
2. Underline, bold, & italics should be able to be assigned to portions of text within a text note. Sometimes just a word or phrase in a larger note needs to have one of these attributes.
3. There needs to be more advanced formatting options than just tabs. At a minimum we need paragraph indents and lists like this one where the lines following the first line can be set to be indented.
4. Text notes should be able to be aligned to model or detail features. The alignment point of the text should be user controllable and should be independent of the justification of the text itself.
5. Text should be able to be rotated to a specific angle. It seems to me that allowing the rotate command to control text instead of the current icon control should be sufficient.
6. When editing a text note, the active typing box should pop up to screen size so that you can see what you are typing. This allows for easy editing of numerous notes while zoomed out to extents. As it is now you have to zoom into each note as you edit so that you can read the text as you type.
7. There should be a keyboard escape from the dialog box instead of having to always mouse click outside of the box.
8. When adding leaders to existing notes, the end of the leader should appear within the borders of the current field of view. It is annoying to have to zoom out just to grab the shape handle of the arrow.
9. There need to be more options for where the leader line attaches itself to the body of the text. I don’t know if we need infinite attachment points via a shape handle or just more built-in snap points (perhaps every ¼ point of each side).
Edits
10. (Added from Greg Cashen's post.) I would love to see an option whereby you can attach the arrow to the object it calls out. This way, if geometry changes in the model, annotations in the plans and elevations won't end up unattached to the model.
11. (Added from Scott Hopkins' post.) I would also like to add that the bounding box for text is too large. I am always selecting text when I don't mean to. Also when stretching the text bounding box it should be able to "highlight align" to other text bounding box edges so that if you need to change the width of a column of notes all of the edges and arrows will line up correctly. Right now the text bounding box still works by eyeball mode.
[/list:u:a92b4df44e]

[gregcashen]

I would love to see an option whereby you can attach the arrow to the object it calls out. This way, if geometry changes in the model, annotations in the plans and elevations won't end up unattached to the model.

I also agree with bclarch. :wink:

[Steve_Stafford]

Great list Robert!! I'm on board!

[Scott Hopkins]

bclarch - Yes! Yes! Yes!
A well thought out list.

I would also like to add that the bounding box for text is too large. I am always selecting text when I don't mean to. Also when stretching the text bounding box it should be able to "highlight align" to other text bounding box edges so that if you need to change the width of a column of notes all of the edges and arrows will line up correctly. Right now the text bounding box still works by eyeball mode.

[Dean Camlin]

I agree: this is a good wish list for text. Why isn't this thread among the "wish list" category?

Dean...are you okay?...it is in the Wishlist forum :twisted: "Q"

Huh . . . musta' been asleep!

[bclarch]

Since this topic has not received any new posts in a while I am treating the list as being complete enough to meet most people's needs. As such, I have submitted an official request for these improvements to revit support. Even though Revit staffers do frequent this bulletin board, I urge anyone who agrees with the requested improvements to send a formal email request to them as well. The Revit staff has told us that they prioritize their programming based in part on how many requests they receive for an item. To make things simple you can click revitsupport@autodesk.com then cut and paste the list from my initial post into the email. (Feel free to edit and/or add as you wish of course.) Let's hope that these improvements can still make it into Release 6.0.

[christo4robin]

Just did a code summary for a cover page and boy, am I wishing we had boldface, italic, etc. functionality within a text object. Also, when I'm listing code exceptions or code sections and I indent the line under the heading, I would love to have an indent paragraph type of feature. Currently I end up putting in a hard return, then tabbing everything.

On some jobs, because I don't have the functionality above in Revit, I end up making a pdf file out of word, then turning the pdf into a jpg, then importing the jpg to a drafting view, then placing the view on the page.

Please...

[cogen]

I don't know if someone has already mentioned this, but I would like to see text justification included.

[Steve_Stafford]

...but I would like to see text justification included...

Are you asking for something different from this?

http://www.zoogdesign.com/forums/phpBB2/download.php?id=1898

[Wes Macaulay]

I agree: this is a good wish list for text. Why isn't this thread among the "wish list" category?

Dean...are you okay?...it is in the Wishlist forum :twisted: "Q"
It's OK Dean. I have whole days like this... (I am LMAO anyway)

[cogen]

Steve,

I'm looking for middle justification (both margins aligned) - the Revit toolbar only has options for left aligned, right aligned and centered. We've been building CAD notes that way for about 10+ years, so new notes that don't fit that format unfortunately throw off the look of the drawing.

[Steve_Stafford]

Sorry...I'm slow today I guess...but I still don't understand (not that it matters if I do..). Can you post an image of what you're after?

[christo4robin]

Steve,

I think cogen is after full justified text. I.e., the user sets the right and left boundaries and the spacing/kerning of the font adjusts such that text aligns on both sides, ala newspaper or magazine columns.

[cogen]

Bravo Christopher! Steve, do you still need an image? Thanks guys.

[Steve_Stafford]

Gotcha, you're talking word processor...I don't think any cadd software offers that yet, none that I've used...which one have you been doing this with for 10 years?

[cogen]

I used to align the text with hot grips. I would first establish a defpoints "margin" line, then snap to perpendicular.

[xwing_t651906]

Your list is great but I've got a few more to add. I'm new to Revit so I appologize if any of these have already been covered.

1. The ability to control the width of text like kerning (character or word spacing)
2. More justifications like in autocad, L, C, R, ML, M, MR, TL, TC, TR and the ability to use the justification point with object snaps for exact text placement.
3. The ability to insert symbols within text like diameter, degree & plus/minus symbols.

[Scott D Davis]

3. The ability to insert symbols within text like diameter, degree & plus/minus symbols.

You can do this already using the Character Maps for True Type fonts.

Examples:

° (Alt+0176)
± (Alt+0177)
Ø (Alt+0216)

Even this crazy symbol: £

HTH!

[beegee]

3. The ability to insert symbols within text like diameter, degree & plus/minus symbols.

Re Item 3, refer This Tip (www.zoogdesign.com/forums/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=2565&highlight=) from our Wishmaster - Greg.

The keystrokes work with many other fonts as well.

[robmorfin]

Not being able to format the text as bold, italic or underline is wrong, but not even being able to paste formatted text from a word processor is unexplicable (it pastes in Revit as unformatted text), "LET US PASTE", also be careful when pasting fraction numbers from the Mtext AutoStack inside AutoCAD or ADT, once pasted they become a blank space and you are not notified, so some of your valuable data can get lost in the transicion.

[TeamRPM]

I would also like to see a way of adding different types of leader heads. Something to seporate your firm from the next (the squashed fly arrow head haha)

[Persistance]

I would like for model text to stay justified when you edit it by parameter, ie if I build a fascia sign with the stores owners name as a variable and I justify the text to the right hand side (as the store owners name is on the right) when I change the variable of the store owners name I get an error because the text in revit reverts to left justified when it is being edited, I therefore cannot lock and alignment or a dimension to the end of the sign as if the store owners name is longer that the defult text it goes over the alignment line and if it is shorter it hangs back from the alignment line, either way I get an error and cannont align model text.

I would also like to be able to attach subtracktions to model text so when you want to have a curved sign you don't have to do the font line work in illustrator, then take it into autocad, then explode it, then import it into revit, extrude it. All so that you can put a curved subtraction on it

[Persistance]

Has anyone else had the problem where you put a couple of renders on a sheet and then try typing a text note on the sheet and it is like waiting for an IBM AT machine, you have to type one character at a time as it does not cache them. It quite literaly takes 2 seconds per letter. I had this problem in 5 and 6. I also have had this issue if I have 4 shaded elevations on a page and I activate one of them to type a text note on it, it again takes forever to write it as you have to do it one letter at a time with a 2 second gap in between each one. However if you go to the elevation and do it it is fine.

[Persistance]

Much like a rotation point it would be nice to be able to alocate where the tag leader originate from, when I tag some of my library objects the tag leader ends up a good 15mm (in printed space) away from the object.

Of course I could just be missing something.

[funkman]

Persistance, I just finished a sheet with 9 renderings and typed some scribble to test - no problem here.

[gregcashen]

[quote:504a5d6039="jtpark"]3. The ability to insert symbols within text like diameter, degree & plus/minus symbols.

Re Item 3, refer This Tip (www.zoogdesign.com/forums/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=2565&highlight=) from our Wishmaster - Greg.

The keystrokes work with many other fonts as well.[/quote:504a5d6039]

In truth, they work better with other fonts....there are a lot more symbols available with Arial, for instance, but the ones I posted are the only ones available for Architxt. I would be happy to use a similar hand lettered font that supported more stacked fractions, etc.

[Archimac]

We need the ability to insert and link Word and PDG documents. Autocad can link word documents.

Stan

[Scott D Davis]

AutoCAD can link Word documents, but have you ever tried it?? The results, at least for me, are never very predictable, and printing takes forver!

[Joef]

Just another vote for improvement to Revit's text handling. I just spent way too much time typing some general notes onto a sheet. What a frustrating experience. It wasn't enough to get the text looking right, keeping it that way was the major task. Just selecting the text would send everything akimbo. Revit is a great program, but if my first experience with it had anything to do with text, I'm not sure I would have taken it seriously.

Joe

[Mr Spot]

Just another vote for improvement to Revit's text handling. I just spent way too much time typing some general notes onto a sheet. What a frustrating experience. It wasn't enough to get the text looking right, keeping it that way was the major task. Just selecting the text would send everything akimbo. Revit is a great program, but if my first experience with it had anything to do with text, I'm not sure I would have taken it seriously.

Joe
I find that extremely annoying as well. You setup the crop box to the size you want and when you click on the text to edit it again the crop box seems to move...(if only a little - but its enough to screw the formatting)? What's up with that?

[bclarch]

There have been a number of posts lately asking for text note improvements of one sort or another. I would encourage people with text improvement wishes to add them here and to contact support directly with their wishes.

I'm going into minor rant mode here. This thread was started during Release 5. From the very beginning, one of the main uses for computers has been word processing. The Wordpad software included in Windows has more formatting options than the Revit text commands. Construction drawings are a form of communication that need to convey complicated information in as clear of a manner as possible. The formatting and presentation of the text portions of the documents has a great impact on the clarity and ease of understanding of the drawings. One reason that this seems particularly vexing is that in all other respects Revit is such a well designed piece of software. Hopefully I will be eating crow when 7.0 is released. Rant mode off.

[J. Grouchy]

I think it's safe to say anyone using Revit would agree that the text formatting and editing is far from adequate. I hate to say this because it's sort of the Godwin's Rule of this forum...but if only Revit could advance enough to match the text editing functionality that AutoCAD has, it would be a vast improvement and would save innumerable frustrations in the Construction Document phase. Lord knows I complained enough about AutoCAD's text editing abilities and how many of the options were cryptic, unstable or unnecessary...but compared to Revit, AutoCAD far ahead in the word processing game.

Also, I added this in another thread, but I would like to see the "match type" command work for text notes (matching font, size, text box extents, justification, etc.).

Other than that, I think the list is fairly complete regarding improvements I would like to see.

[SCShell]

Hi there,

<Reaching over to hand bclarch the salt and pepper so he can enjoy his crow dinner.>
We just had a local Revit User Group meeting here and had one of the Revit developers present to answer questions.
One of the main issues was text editing. He would not go into detail; however, it was "hinted" that release 7 will address some of our requests for text editing improvements.

Steve Shell

[bclarch]

<Reaching over to hand bclarch the salt and pepper so he can enjoy his crow dinner.>

Let's hope you're right. Sharpening my knife in anticipation..... :)