Overview of Multiline Text

You can create a multiline text (mtext) object by entering or importing text.

You can create one or more paragraphs of multiline text (mtext) in the MTEXT ribbon contextual tab (if the ribbon is active), or the In-Place Text Editor (or an alternative text editor, if the ribbon is not active) You can also use Command prompts. You can insert text from a file saved in ASCII or RTF format.

Before entering or importing text, you specify opposite corners of a text bounding box that defines the width of the paragraphs in the multiline text object. The length of the multiline text object depends on the amount of text, not the length of the bounding box. You can use grips to move or rotate a multiline text object.

NoteMultiline text objects and imported text files are limited to 256 KB in size.

The MTEXT ribbon contextual tab and In-Place Text Editor display the bounding box with a ruler at the top. If the ribbon is not active, the Text Formatting toolbar is also displayed. The editor is transparent so that, as you create text, you can see whether the text overlaps other objects. To turn off transparency while you work, select Opaque Background on the Options menu. You can also make the background of the finished multiline text object opaque and set its color.

You can also insert fields in multiline text. A field is text that is set up to display data that might change. When the field is updated, the latest value of the field is displayed.

Text Style

Most characteristics of the text are controlled by the text style, which sets the default font and other options, such as line spacing, justification, and color. You can use the current text style or select a new one. The STANDARD text style is the default.

Within the multiline text object, you can override the current text style by applying formatting such as underlining, boldface, and different fonts to individual characters. You can also create stacked text, such as fractions or geometric tolerances and insert special characters, including Unicode characters, for TrueType fonts.

NoteNot all SHX and TrueType text fonts support Unicode characters.

Text Properties

In the Properties palette, you can view and change the object properties of a multiline text object, including properties that apply specifically to text.

Justification determines where text is inserted with respect to the bounding box and sets the direction of text flow as text is entered.
Line space options control the amount of space between lines of text.
Width defines the width of the bounding box and therefore controls where the text wraps to a new line.
Background inserts an opaque background so that objects under the text are masked.

Procedure

To create multiline text

Click Home tabAnnotation panelMultiline Text. At the Command prompt, enter mtext.
Specify opposite corners of a bounding box to define the width of the multiline text object.
If the ribbon is active, the MTEXT ribbon contextual tab displays. If the ribbon is not active, the In-Place Text Editor is displayed.
To indent the first line of each paragraph, drag the first-line indent slider on the ruler. To indent the other lines of each paragraph, drag the paragraph slider.
To set tabs, click the ruler where you want a tab stop.
If you want to use a text style other than the default, on the ribbon, click the Annotate tab, Text panel. Select the desired text style from the drop-down list.
Enter text.
NoteText that would otherwise be difficult to read (if it is very small, very large, or is rotated) is displayed at a legible size and is oriented horizontally so that you can easily read and edit it.
To override the current text style, select text as follows:
- To select one or more letters, click and drag the pointing device over the characters.
- To select a word, double-click the word.
- To select a paragraph, triple-click the paragraph.
On the ribbon, make format changes as follows:
- To change the font of the selected text, select a font from the list.
- To change the height of the selected text, enter a new value in the Height box.
  NoteThe MText height value is reset to 0 if its default height is not modified during creation.
- To format text in a TrueType font with boldface or italics, or to create underlined or overlined text for any font, click the corresponding button on the ribbon. SHX fonts do not support boldface or italics.
- To apply color to selected text, choose a color from the Color list. Click Other to display the Select Color dialog box.
To save your changes and exit the editor, use one of the following methods:
- On the MTEXT ribbon contextual tab, in the Close panel, click Close Text Editor.
- Click in the drawing outside the editor.
- Press CTRL+ENTER.

To insert symbols or special characters in multiline text

If the ribbon is active, double-click a multiline text object to open the MTEXT ribbon contextual tab. If the ribbon is not active, the In-Place Text Editor is displayed.
On either the ribbon contextual tab or expanded toolbar, click Symbol.
Click one of the options on the menu, or click Other to display the Character Map dialog box.
To access the Character Map dialog box, you must have charmap.exe installed. See Microsoft^® Windows^® Help for information about adding programs to your system.
In the Character Map dialog box, select a font.
Select a character, and use one of the following methods:
- To insert a single character, drag the selected character into the editor.
- To insert multiple characters, click Select to add each character to the Characters to Copy box. When you have all the characters you want, click Copy. Right-click in the editor. Click Paste.
To save your changes and exit the editor, use one of the following methods:
- On the MTEXT ribbon contextual tab, in the Close panel, click Close Text Editor.
- Click in the drawing outside the editor.
- Press CTRL+ENTER.

To add an opaque background or fill to a multiline text object

If the ribbon is active, double-click a multiline text object to open the MTEXT ribbon contextual tab. If the ribbon is not active, the In-Place Text Editor is displayed.
On the ribbon contextual tab, click Background Mask. In the editor, right-click. Click Background Mask.
In the Background Mask dialog box, select Use Background Mask.
Enter a value for Border Offset Factor.
The value is based on the text height. A factor of 1.0 exactly fits the multiline text object. A factor of 1.5 (the default) extends the background by 0.5 times the text height.
Under Fill Color, do one of the following:
- Select the Use Drawing Background Color option.
- Select a color for the background, or click Select Color to open the Select Color dialog box.
Click OK to return to the editor.
To save your changes and exit the editor, use one of the following methods:
- On the MTEXT ribbon contextual tab, in the Close panel, click Close Text Editor.
- Click in the drawing outside the editor.
- Press CTRL+ENTER.
The opaque background is applied when you exit the editor.

To change the Windows font smoothing setting to improve visibility of text in the Multiline Text editor

Quick Reference

Commands

System Variables