Autocad LT Text

How does one get Autocad LT to recognise text as a shape? I'm using the program to try to do laser cut steel and I cannot get letters to cut unless I draw each letter individually.

Any Help/Tips would be greatly appreciated!

Pigpen

out

In express tools (if you have them installed) under text, select Explode text and that will do the job for you.

If LT has Wmfout, try and export the text, then import using Wmfin, then explode the block. I think that will explode the text into plines.

In express tools (if you have them installed) under text, select Explode text and that will do the job for you.

Unfortunately, ACAD LT does not have express tools.

I'm sorry, I am really new at this, what is wmfout & wmfin? Export the files to where? I don't see an import command either.

I do appreciate your patience and help!

Pigpen

out

WMF is a Windows Metafile. You can enter the commands WMFOUT and WMFIN at the command line. As for where to save them, that is up to you. Since it is a quick out and in you may want to save them to your Desktop or My Documents folder. Just be sure to delete them once finished to keep things tidy. For more information on these commands, run a search for the bolded terms in the AutoCAD Help file. Be sure to check the Concept and Procedure tabs.

I tried that, thanks! However, there only appears to be one "node" on the blocked text. As such the text still is not usable, I think.... Sorry for my ignorance, I am self taught on AutoCad and as a result I'm learning as I go.

Pigpen

out

[font=Times New Roman][font=Times New Roman]1) Setup the text style to use an width other than exactly 1. It can be [/font]
[font=Times New Roman].9999 or 1.000001 or etc.[/font]
[font=Times New Roman]2) Create the text or use property painter to 'paint' the new info to [/font]
[font=Times New Roman]existing text[/font]
[font=Times New Roman]3) Some where in the drawing, create a line that will be used for [/font]
[font=Times New Roman]reference later[/font]
[font=Times New Roman]4) At the command prompt, type WMFOUT[/font]
[font=Times New Roman]5) Select the text and the reference line (real easy if you have the text [/font]
[font=Times New Roman]on a separate layer)[/font]
[font=Times New Roman]6) Erase (or freeze) the 'real' text but keep the reference line[/font]
[font=Times New Roman]7) At the command prompt, type WMFIN & select the wmf file you created[/font]
[font=Times New Roman] Notice the wmf doesn't come in at the same scale - the reason for the [/font]
[font=Times New Roman]reference line[/font]
[font=Times New Roman]9) After selecting the base point, use the default scale & rotation[/font]
[font=Times New Roman]10) Now, move the block made by importing the WMF so one endpoint of the [/font]
[font=Times New Roman]wmf's ref line matches up with the corresponding endpoint of the original [/font]
[font=Times New Roman]ref line[/font]
[font=Times New Roman]11) At the command prompt, type SCALE and select the wmf block[/font]
[font=Times New Roman]12) For the base point, select the endpoint you used to match up ref lines [/font]
[font=Times New Roman]with - the common endpoint[/font]
[font=Times New Roman]13) At the command prompt, type R for reference[/font]
[font=Times New Roman]14) Pick the 'common' endpoint[/font]
[font=Times New Roman]15) Pick the other endpoint of the wmf's ref line[/font]
[font=Times New Roman]16) Lastly pick the other endpoint of the original ref line[/font]
[font=Times New Roman]17) Now you can explode the block and the text should be lines[/font]


[font=Times New Roman]If you're using True Type fonts, you'll get lots of little lines. To clean [/font]
[font=Times New Roman]it up easily do this:[/font]
[font=Times New Roman]18) After the explode, do a Change and select objects = previous[/font]
[font=Times New Roman]19) Put the objects on a layer by themselves for easy removal[/font]
[font=Times New Roman]20) Draw a rectangle around the text[/font]
[font=Times New Roman]21) Use the Boundary command and pick a point between the rectangle and the [/font]
[font=Times New Roman]text[/font]
[font=Times New Roman]22) Freeze or lock every layer but the layer the text is on & erase it[/font]
[font=Times New Roman]23) Change the boundary you created to that layer for easy removal later[/font]
[font=Times New Roman]24) Use the boundary command again and pick "inside" the outline of the [/font]
[font=Times New Roman]text[/font]
[font=Times New Roman]25) Freeze or lock every layer but the layer the first boundary is on & [/font]
[font=Times New Roman]erase it[/font]
[font=Times New Roman]You now have the text in a outline and can solid hatch it for a fill.[/font]
[/font]

Pigpen

out

I tried that, thanks! However, there only appears to be one "node" on the blocked text. As such the text still is not usable, I think.... Sorry for my ignorance, I am self taught on AutoCad and as a result I'm learning as I go.

 

Pigpen

out

When you import using Wmfin, the entities come in as a block. Explode the block (like I suggested previously)