• AutoCAD

Multiline text in AutoCAD

Quickly add detailed notes to your drawings with multiline text.


00:03

Multiline, or paragraph text, consists of one or more lines of text or paragraphs that fit within a boundary that you specify

00:12

—essentially, a text box.

00:14

All the lines of text within the boundary are treated as a single object,

00:19

regardless of the number of individual paragraphs or lines of text it contains.

00:24

From the ribbon, Home tab, Annotation panel, select Multiline Text.

00:29

This tool can also be found on the Annotate ribbon, Text panel.

00:34

First, you create the boundary of the text by specifying the opposite corners of a rectangle.

00:41

Click to select the first point.

00:44

You are then prompted to select the opposite corner.

00:47

But before you do, you can choose other options.

00:50

For example, you can set the height, justification, line spacing, rotation style, or width of the text,

00:57

or you can even create multiple columns of text.

01:01

In most cases, though, it is easier to click the opposite corner to finish creating the text boundary and then set the text options after.

01:09

As soon as your text box is created, you are ready to start typing.

01:14

The ribbon changes to the Text Editor contextual tab,

01:17

which contains numerous options for adjusting the style, formatting, and paragraph settings.

01:23

There are also tools for controlling text columns, inserting symbols and fields,

01:27

checking spelling, and more.

01:30

The controls in the Text Editor should look familiar to anyone who has used a word processor.

01:35

For example, from the Style panel, you can select the style and set the text height.

01:40

From the Formatting panel, you can make the text bold or italic,

01:44

create underlined text, and change the text color.

01:47

From the Paragraph panel, you can change the text justification, create numbered or bulleted lists,

01:54

adjust line spacing, and more.

01:55

In the Drawing area, you see the MTEXT editor.

01:59

A ruler extends across the top of the editor.

02:02

On the Text Editor contextual tab, in the Style panel, Text Height field, type 1 and then press ENTER.

02:10

This changes the text height to a value of one unit.

02:15

Type the following: "This is an AutoCAD multiline text entry."

02:19

Word wrap is automatically applied as you type;

02:22

therefore, don’t press ENTER unless you want to start a new paragraph.

02:27

If you don't like where the lines break, drag the right end of the ruler to change the right margin.

02:32

You can automatically change the text into multiple columns.

02:37

Click and drag the right edge of the first column.

02:40

You can then adjust the height of each column individually.

02:44

You can also make changes to individual letters or words, similar to a word processor.

02:51

Double-click to select the word "multiline".

02:55

In the Formatting panel, click Italic.

02:58

Select "AutoCAD" and click Bold.

03:01

With "AutoCAD" still selected, use the Color drop-down to change the color to red.

03:07

Also with multiline text, you can automatically create numbered or bulleted lists.

03:13

Move the cursor the end of the sentence and press ENTER.

03:16

Type the number 1, add a period then a space, and type “Red”.

03:22

An icon appears, indicating that you just started a numbered list.

03:26

Click the icon to see options for controlling the numbering.

03:30

With the cursor at the end of “Red,” press ENTER to start a new numbered line.

03:36

On the second line, type “53in”.

03:39

Select the 3, and in the Formatting panel, click Superscript to turn the entry into five cubic inches.

03:46

When you are finished entering your multiline text, you can close the Multiline Text editor.

03:52

On the ribbon, click Close Text Editor to end the MTEXT command and close the Text Editor ribbon contextual tab.

04:00

You can also press ESC to exit the multiline text entry,

04:04

but you will need to confirm that you want to save any changes.

04:09

When you hover the cursor over a closed multiline text entry,

04:14

the text highlights, and you can see that it is a single MTEXT object.

04:19

Click to select it.

04:21

You can see a blue square grip indicating the insertion point.

04:25

Click and drag it to move the multiline text box.

04:29

There are also blue arrow grips denoting the right and bottom bounding areas of the text.

04:35

Use these to adjust the size of the text box horizontally or vertically.

04:40

You can also use these grips to make your text flow into additional columns, if needed.

Video transcript

00:03

Multiline, or paragraph text, consists of one or more lines of text or paragraphs that fit within a boundary that you specify

00:12

—essentially, a text box.

00:14

All the lines of text within the boundary are treated as a single object,

00:19

regardless of the number of individual paragraphs or lines of text it contains.

00:24

From the ribbon, Home tab, Annotation panel, select Multiline Text.

00:29

This tool can also be found on the Annotate ribbon, Text panel.

00:34

First, you create the boundary of the text by specifying the opposite corners of a rectangle.

00:41

Click to select the first point.

00:44

You are then prompted to select the opposite corner.

00:47

But before you do, you can choose other options.

00:50

For example, you can set the height, justification, line spacing, rotation style, or width of the text,

00:57

or you can even create multiple columns of text.

01:01

In most cases, though, it is easier to click the opposite corner to finish creating the text boundary and then set the text options after.

01:09

As soon as your text box is created, you are ready to start typing.

01:14

The ribbon changes to the Text Editor contextual tab,

01:17

which contains numerous options for adjusting the style, formatting, and paragraph settings.

01:23

There are also tools for controlling text columns, inserting symbols and fields,

01:27

checking spelling, and more.

01:30

The controls in the Text Editor should look familiar to anyone who has used a word processor.

01:35

For example, from the Style panel, you can select the style and set the text height.

01:40

From the Formatting panel, you can make the text bold or italic,

01:44

create underlined text, and change the text color.

01:47

From the Paragraph panel, you can change the text justification, create numbered or bulleted lists,

01:54

adjust line spacing, and more.

01:55

In the Drawing area, you see the MTEXT editor.

01:59

A ruler extends across the top of the editor.

02:02

On the Text Editor contextual tab, in the Style panel, Text Height field, type 1 and then press ENTER.

02:10

This changes the text height to a value of one unit.

02:15

Type the following: "This is an AutoCAD multiline text entry."

02:19

Word wrap is automatically applied as you type;

02:22

therefore, don’t press ENTER unless you want to start a new paragraph.

02:27

If you don't like where the lines break, drag the right end of the ruler to change the right margin.

02:32

You can automatically change the text into multiple columns.

02:37

Click and drag the right edge of the first column.

02:40

You can then adjust the height of each column individually.

02:44

You can also make changes to individual letters or words, similar to a word processor.

02:51

Double-click to select the word "multiline".

02:55

In the Formatting panel, click Italic.

02:58

Select "AutoCAD" and click Bold.

03:01

With "AutoCAD" still selected, use the Color drop-down to change the color to red.

03:07

Also with multiline text, you can automatically create numbered or bulleted lists.

03:13

Move the cursor the end of the sentence and press ENTER.

03:16

Type the number 1, add a period then a space, and type “Red”.

03:22

An icon appears, indicating that you just started a numbered list.

03:26

Click the icon to see options for controlling the numbering.

03:30

With the cursor at the end of “Red,” press ENTER to start a new numbered line.

03:36

On the second line, type “53in”.

03:39

Select the 3, and in the Formatting panel, click Superscript to turn the entry into five cubic inches.

03:46

When you are finished entering your multiline text, you can close the Multiline Text editor.

03:52

On the ribbon, click Close Text Editor to end the MTEXT command and close the Text Editor ribbon contextual tab.

04:00

You can also press ESC to exit the multiline text entry,

04:04

but you will need to confirm that you want to save any changes.

04:09

When you hover the cursor over a closed multiline text entry,

04:14

the text highlights, and you can see that it is a single MTEXT object.

04:19

Click to select it.

04:21

You can see a blue square grip indicating the insertion point.

04:25

Click and drag it to move the multiline text box.

04:29

There are also blue arrow grips denoting the right and bottom bounding areas of the text.

04:35

Use these to adjust the size of the text box horizontally or vertically.

04:40

You can also use these grips to make your text flow into additional columns, if needed.

Was this information helpful?