Draft Text
Draft Text |
Menu location |
---|
Annotation → Text |
Workbenches |
Draft, Arch |
Default shortcut |
T E |
Introduced in version |
0.7 |
See also |
Draft Label, Draft ShapeString |
Description
The Draft Text command inserts a multi-line textbox at a given point. It uses the Draft Linestyle set on the Draft Tray.
To insert a text element with an arrow use the Draft Label command.
Single point required to position the textbox
Usage
- There are several ways to invoke the command:
- Press the Draft Text button.
- Select the Annotation → Text option from the menu.
- Use the keyboard shortcut: T then E.
- Click a point on the 3D view, or type coordinates and press the Enter point button.
- Enter the desired text, pressing Enter between each line.
- Press Enter twice to finish the command.
Options
- To enter coordinates manually, simply enter the numbers, then press Enter between each X, Y and Z component. You can press the Enter point button when you have the desired values to insert the point.
- Hold Ctrl while placing the text to force snapping your point to the nearest snap location, independently of the distance.
- Press Enter or ↓ Down arrow to enter a new line of text.
- Press ↑ Up arrow to edit the previous line of text.
- Press Enter or ↓ Down arrow twice to finish editing the text.
- Press Esc or the Close button to abort the command.
Notes
- Draft Texts created with FreeCAD version 0.18 are not backward compatible.
Properties
See also: Property editor.
A Draft Text object is derived from a App FeaturePython object and inherits all its properties. The following properties are additional unless otherwise stated.
Data
Base
- DataPlacement (
Placement
): specifies the position of the text in the 3D view. See Placement. - DataText (
StringList
): specifies the contents of the text. Each item in the list represents a new text line.
View
Annotation
- ViewAnnotation Style (
Enumeration
): specifies the annotation style applied to the text. See Draft AnnotationStyleEditor. - ViewScale Multiplier (
Float
): specifies the general scaling factor applied to the text.
Display Options
- ViewDisplay Mode (
Enumeration
): specifies how the text is displayed. If it is3D text
the text will be displayed in a plane defined by its DataPlacement. If it is2D text
the text will always face the camera. This is an inherited property.
Graphics
- ViewLine Color (
Color
): specifies the color of the lines belonging to the annotation object. Since a Draft Text does not contain linework it is not used by this object. - ViewLine Width (
Float
): specifies the width of the lines belonging to the annotation object. Since a Draft Text does not contain linework it is not used by this object.
Text
- ViewFont Name (
Font
): specifies the font used to draw the text. It can be a font name, such asArial
, a default style such assans
,serif
ormono
, a family such asArial,Helvetica,sans
, or a name with a style such asArial:Bold
. If the given font is not found on the system, a default font is used instead. - ViewFont Size (
Length
): specifies the size of the letters. A text can be invisible in the 3D view if this value is very small. - ViewJustification (
Enumeration
): specifies if the alignment of the text:left
,right
, orcenter
. - ViewLine Spacing (
Float
): specifies the factor applied to the default line height of the text. - ViewText Color (
Color
): specifies the color of the text.
Scripting
See also: Autogenerated API documentation and FreeCAD Scripting Basics.
To create a Draft Text use the make_text
method (introduced in version 0.19) of the Draft module. This method replaces the deprecated makeText
method.
text = make_text(string, placement=None, screen=False)
- Creates a
text
object, atplacement
, which can be aFreeCAD.Placement
, but also aFreeCAD.Rotation
, or aFreeCAD.Vector
. string
is a string, or a list of strings. If it is a list, each element is displayed on its own line.- If
screen
isTrue
, the text always faces the camera, otherwise it aligns with the scene axes, and lies on the XY plane.
The view properties of text
can be changed by overwriting its attributes; for example, overwrite ViewObject.FontSize
with the new size in millimeters.
Example:
import FreeCAD as App
import Draft
doc = App.newDocument()
t1 = "This is a sample text"
p1 = App.Vector(0, 0, 0)
t2 = ["First line", "second line"]
p2 = App.Vector(1000, 1000, 0)
text1 = Draft.make_text(t1, p1)
text2 = Draft.make_text(t2, p2)
text1.ViewObject.FontSize = 200
text2.ViewObject.FontSize = 200
zaxis = App.Vector(0, 0, 1)
t3 = ["Upside", "down"]
p3 = App.Vector(-1000, -500, 0)
place3 = App.Placement(p3, App.Rotation(zaxis, 180))
text3 = Draft.make_text(t3, place3)
text3.ViewObject.FontSize = 200
doc.recompute()
- Drafting: Line, Polyline, Fillet, Arc, Arc by 3 points, Circle, Ellipse, Rectangle, Polygon, B-spline, Cubic Bézier curve, Bézier curve, Point, Facebinder, ShapeString, Hatch
- Annotation: Text, Dimension, Label, Annotation styles, Annotation scale
- Modification: Move, Rotate, Scale, Mirror, Offset, Trimex, Stretch, Clone, Array, Polar array, Circular array, Path array, Path link array, Point array, Point link array, Edit, Subelement highlight, Join, Split, Upgrade, Downgrade, Wire to B-spline, Draft to sketch, Set slope, Flip dimension, Shape 2D view
- Draft Tray: Select plane, Set style, Toggle construction mode, AutoGroup
- Snapping: Snap lock, Snap endpoint, Snap midpoint, Snap center, Snap angle, Snap intersection, Snap perpendicular, Snap extension, Snap parallel, Snap special, Snap near, Snap ortho, Snap grid, Snap working plane, Snap dimensions, Toggle grid
- Miscellaneous: Apply current style, Layer, Manage layers, Add a new named group, Move to group, Select group, Add to construction group, Toggle normal/wireframe display, Create working plane proxy, Heal, Show snap toolbar
- Additional: Constraining, Pattern, Preferences, Import Export Preferences, DXF/DWG, SVG, OCA, DAT
- Context menu:
- Layer container: Merge layer duplicates, Add new layer
- Layer: Activate this layer, Select layer contents
- Text: Open hyperlinks
- Wire: Flatten
- Working plane proxy: Write camera position, Write objects state
- Getting started
- Installation: Download, Windows, Linux, Mac, Additional components, Docker, AppImage, Ubuntu Snap
- Basics: About FreeCAD, Interface, Mouse navigation, Selection methods, Object name, Preferences, Workbenches, Document structure, Properties, Help FreeCAD, Donate
- Help: Tutorials, Video tutorials
- Workbenches: Std Base, Assembly, BIM, CAM, Draft, FEM, Inspection, Material, Mesh, OpenSCAD, Part, PartDesign, Points, Reverse Engineering, Robot, Sketcher, Spreadsheet, Surface, TechDraw, Test Framework
- Hubs: User hub, Power users hub, Developer hub