Michael’s Corner

Michael's Corner is a monthly publication written by Michael E. Beall, Autodesk Authorized Author and peripatetic AutoCAD trainer. Michael travels all over the USA, bringing his fantastic experience and great understanding of AutoCAD to his clients. Michael's Corner brings together many of the tips, tricks and methods developed during these training sessions for the benefit of all users.

Michael's Corner provides something for every AutoCAD user. Every month, a number of articles cover a wide range of topics, suitable for users at all levels, including "The Basics" for those just starting out. Essentially, the aim of Michael's Corner is to help all AutoCAD users work smarter and faster.

This month…

From the Vault

Originally published March 2007

Arc-Aligned Text

Given the alternative to "bending" text yourself, the Express Arc-Aligned Text command is pretty powerful. There are several elements to the ArcAligned Text Workshop dialog box (seriously; that's the name). I'll take a look at some of the key features just to get you going.

Setup: This is easy; you have to have an arc. Not a polyline arc, a good old fashioned arc. Hence the name.

Easily Overlooked Settings: Text Height & Offset From Arc. The default values are very small, so be sure to set them appropriately for your drawing.

Buttons: Thankfully, the tool tips on the buttons give you all the insight you need. There are a couple that are the key players in specifying how the text is placed along the arc.

Fit Along The Arc. If you use this, the "Char Spacing" item under Properties is grayed out, leaving AutoCAD to make the necessary adjustments.

Center Along The Arc. When you use this setting, you make the necessary adjustments to the "Char Spacing". The default value is usually pretty small, so you will probably need to finesse this setting a wee bit, too; I would start with 1 and gently go up or down from there.

The group of four buttons in the middle, Convex/Concave and Outward/Inward, pretty much speak for themselves. The nice thing is, after entering the desired text string and clicking OK, you can re-launch the command, select the text, then click one of these buttons to see the result.

TIP: Double-click the Arc-Aligned text and you can edit it in the Properties window.

Editing the Arc-Aligned Text: Click the arc along which the text is aligned to display the grips. Use either the normal object grips or the placement (arrow shaped) grips to modify the arc. With each edit, the arc-aligned text adjusts to accommodate.

After playing with this awhile (I am confident that some of you out there probably have no useful application for it, you'll just play with it), you will get the hang of where to make the appropriate edits and tweaks to make the result work for your drawing. Truly a fun, albeit powerful, tool.

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