Overview of Annotative Scaling

Overview of Annotative Scaling

This article’s purpose is to guide you through the process of properly placing and editing annotative text and dimensions in your drawings and paper space. A video has been included at the end of the article to provide further insights and demonstrations on the following topics.

Annotative scaling allows you to maintain consistent text style and dimensions, regardless of the scale of the object in the drawings. This not only helps to improve the presentation and organization of your drawings, but it also ensures that the dimensions remain accurate and consistent. By using annotative scaling, you can easily adjust the size of your annotations to match the scale of the objects in your drawings and in paper space, ensuring that all the elements of your drawing are properly proportioned and legible.

How to Turn Annotative Scaling On or Off

  1. Launch Toolbox.
  2. From the top menu, select "Toolbox Setup."
  3. From the drop-down menu, select "Options."
  4. Select the AutoCAD Tab and check the Use Annotative Scaling box. 


Text Style Interface

There are multiple ways to access the Text Style Interface:
  1. Select the arrow in the bottom right corner of the Text section in the AutoCAD navigation menu.
  2. Type the STYLE command into the command line. 


The Text Style Interface provides an option to view and change the different types of text that are available for dimensioning. This is also the location where you will want to set the height for your Paper Text. When making a change to the Paper Text Height, you may need to redraw products for the changes to be made.


Quick Menu

Not all dimensions will have all the annotative scales applied. Dimensions inserted by Toolbox will automatically come in with all the available drawing scales. But dimensions inserted through AutoCAD will only have the current annotative scale applied to them if add annotative scales to objects when annotative scale changes is ON.

 Other scales may be added by:

  1.  Selecting the dimensions and right-clicking to access the Quick Menu.
  2.  From the Quick Menu, expand the annotative Object Scale and select Add/Delete Scales.



Keep in mind that dimensions generated through the Toolbox feature will automatically adjust to changes in the annotation scale, but dimensions inserted through AutoCAD commands will need to have the appropriate scales added manually. Unless the "Add Annotative Scales to Objects When Annotative Scale Changes" is selected.

Properties

To view the properties of a dimension in AutoCAD, there are a few options:

  1.  Right-click on the dimension and select "Properties" from the Quick Menu.
  2. Select the dimension and type "PR" into the Command Line to open the Properties palette.
  3. Alternatively, you can go to the "Home" tab on the ribbon and click on the "Properties" button.

This will open the Properties palette, where you can view and edit the various properties of the selected dimension.



Changing Text Style in the Global Variables

 The Shop Drawing category in the Global File contains many settings where you can set up customized locations, styles, and sizes of text and dimensions at the project or library levels.

To access the Global File:

  1.  Launch Toolbox and then select Toolbox Setup in your Microvellum palette.
  2. Select either Project Specification Groups or Library Specification groups depending on if you want the changes to be made for one specific project or to your whole library.
  3. Select the Global File icon. 

In the 2D Elevation Drawings subcategory, you can customize the text styles used for finished ends, filler text, and shelf text. To switch to a different text style, such as a custom style you added using the AutoCAD Text Style Manager, you will need be sure to add it into the Text Style Options for it to show up as an option.

Commands

HPANNOTATIVE: Controls whether new hatch patterns are annotative in this session.

Value

Description

0

Nonannotative

1

Annotative

 

SELECTIONANNODISPLAY: Controls whether alternate scale representations are temporarily displayed in a dimmed state when an annotative object is selected. 0=Off and 1=On


MLEADER: Creates a multileader object.

A multileader object typically consists of an arrowhead, a horizontal landing, a leader line or curve, and either a multiline text object or a block.


MTEXT: Creates a multiline text object.

You can create several paragraphs of text as a single multiline text (mtext) object. With the built-in editor, you can format the text appearance, columns, and boundaries.

 

STYLE: Creates, modifies, or specifies text styles. The Text Style dialog box will appear.

​

PROPERTIES (PR): Opens the Properties palette. The Properties palette displays a list of all the important property settings. You can click any of the available fields to change the current settings.


DIMSTYLE: Creates and modifies dimension styles.

A dimension style is a named collection of dimension settings that control the appearance of dimensions. You create dimension styles to specify the format of dimensions quickly, and to ensure that dimensions conform to standards.

 


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