Help Database

There are several ways to create text that allow you to annotate your drawings.

To add text without an arrow

1. Select CAD> Text> Text  or Rich Text  from the menu, then click at the location in your drawing where you would like to place a text object.
   
   
   • Text can be created in floor plan view, cross section/elevation views, in CAD Detail windows, and on layout pages.
     
     
   • In Chief Architect X1 and newer, you can also select CAD> Text> Leader Line  to create a Rich Text object in the same manner - by simply clicking once in the drawing area. 
     
     
     
2. On the Text tab of the Text Specification dialog, type the text that you would like to create.
   
   
   
3. Make any changes that you may want throughout the dialog, then click OK to close the dialog and create your text object. 
   
   
   
4. As with other objects in Chief Architect, once a text object is created it can be moved, resized and otherwise edited at any time using its edit handles, edit toolbar buttons and/or specification dialog.

To add an arrow to existing text

There are two ways to add an arrow to existing text.

1. Click the Select Objects  button, then click on the text object and click the Open Object edit button.  On the Text tab of the Text Specification dialog, check the box beside Add an Arrow and click OK.
   
   
   
2. Select CAD> Text> Text Line with Arrow , then click near the text object and drag a line with an arrow towards the object that the text refers to.
   
   In Chief Architect, once a Text Line with Arrow is created, it can be edited just as a CAD line can: using the edit handles, edit toolbar buttons, and/or the Line Specification dialog, and you can add as many Text Lines with Arrow to a text object as you wish.
   
   
   
   

To use the Leader Line tool
In Chief Architect X1 and newer, you can use the Leader Line tool to first specify the path of a text polyline with arrow, and then place a Rich Text object.

1. Select CAD> Text> Leader Line  from the menu.
   
   
   
2. Click at the point where you would like the leader line arrow to be located and drag to draw the first segment of the leader line polyline.
   
   
   
3. Release the mouse button and move the cursor to the place where you would like the text object to be located.
   
   
   • The initial number of leader line segments is set at 2 on the Text & Page Setup panel of the Preferences dialog.
     
     
     
4. Click to open the Rich Text Specification dialog, where you can type the desired text and click OK.
   
   
   

In Chief Architect X4 and newer, you can specify whether the Leader Line tool creates Text or Rich Text on the Text & Page Setup panel of the Preferences dialog. Select Edit> Preferences  from the menu to open this dialog.

If you want, you can specify a relatively large number of leader line segments, such as 20, on the Text & Page Setup panel of the Preferences dialog.

When you use the Leader Line tool, you can click to create as many segments as you want, then double-click when you are ready to create the text object.