Using Annotative Objects and Annotation Scaling

Do you often need to output your drawings at multiple scales or do your drawings contain viewports with multiple scales?

Designing with efficiency can require a bit of time and planning. As the drawings you work on become larger and more complex, you will likely need to draw more section and elevation views along with connection and foundation details. These design elements often utilize reusable content and may require them to be displayed at different scales based on the drawing.

There are three different approaches that can be used to show annotation objects at different scales:

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Note: Steps, images, and videos may differ slightly from your version of the product.

Manually Manage Annotation at Multiple Scales with Layers

Layers have been a common approach to managing the visibility of annotation objects that are displayed at multiple scales. For example, the A-DETL-DIMS layer might normally be used for all dimensions. If you need dimensions at multiple scales, you would add the scale factor value to the end of the layer name, such as A-DETL-DIMS-24 and A-DETL-DIMS-48 for 1/2"=1'-0" and 1/4"=1'-0" respectively.

With multiple layers defined, you would then control the visibility of the layers to display the dimensions that correspond to the scale of the viewport. For example, if the viewport has a scale of 1/2”=1'-0” (1/24), you would thaw the layer A-DETL-DIMS-24 and freeze the layer A-DETL-DIMS-48.

In the previous image, the A-DETL-DIMS-48 layer is thawed on the left while the A-DETL-DIMS-24 layer is thawed on the right; both layers are thawed in the middle.

What Are Annotative Objects and Styles?

Annotative objects are annotation with one or more representations at different scales, and not separate annotation objects of which you change their height/scale or freeze/thaw their assigned layer to control final size and visibility within a viewport. Annotative styles are similar to non-annotative styles except they manage the creation of annotative objects which controls how the final height/scale of an annotation object is calculated.

The following annotation objects can be annotative:

Note: Table objects and styles are not supported as annotative objects.

Here is an example of a model using annotative objects with two different scales; 1/4"=1'-0" and 1/2"=1'-0".

When the model is displayed in a viewport, the scale of the viewport controls which representation of the annotative object is displayed. If the scale of a viewport doesn’t match that of the annotative objects in the viewport, then those annotative objects are not displayed. In the previous image, text, dimension and multileader objects are assigned the scales 1/4”=1'-0” and 1/2”=1'-0”. This is why not all annotation is displayed at the same time or in a viewport altogether; the first two viewports are assigned scales that match those of the annotative objects while the third viewport has a different scale.

Preparing for the Exercises

Getting the most from the exercises in this topic requires the downloading of a dataset. The dataset contains curated drawing files that assist in learning the workflows or features being demonstrated.

Download: Sample files used for the exercises in the following sections.

Trying Annotative Objects

Before you learn how to create and modify annotative objects, let’s get a sense for how annotative objects work in viewports. In this exercise, you enter an existing viewport in the sample drawing and change the scale of the viewport which also changes the annotation scale. Once the scales are changed, the objects in the drawing appear at scale and the representations of each annotative object that matches the scale are only made visible. Representations of each annotative object that don’t match the new scale are made invisible.

  1. Open architectural_-_annotation_scaling_and_multileaders.dwg from the downloaded dataset.

    See the Preparing for the Exercises section earlier in this topic for where to download the dataset from.

  2. On the layout tabs, located in the lower-left corner, make sure SECTIONS AND DETAILS is current. If not, click that layout tab.

  3. On the layout, locate the viewport labeled STAIR DETAIL 1 and zoom in around it.

  4. Double-click within the border of the viewport to enter its view of Model space.

    The viewport's border should now be thicker to reflect Model space is now active.

  5. Once inside Model space, move the cursor over the text, dimensions and multileaders. You should notice a badge cursor that looks like the end of an architectural scale ruler.

    This badge cursor indicates the annotation is annotative.



  6. On the status bar, click the Viewport Lock button to unlock the viewport.

    The viewport must be unlocked before we can change its scale.



  7. With the viewport unlocks, click the Viewport Scale button on the status bar and select 1/4"=1'-0" from the list.

    Notice after the viewport scale is changed, the view is zoomed out and the annotation that was visible has changed. The annotative objects with an annotation scale of 1/4"=1'-0" are now visible, while those with an annotation scale of 1/2"=1'-0" are invisible.



  8. On the status bar, click the Viewport Scale button and select 1/2"=1'-0" from the list.

    The previous scale of the viewport is restored along with the visibility of the annotative objects with an annotation scale of 1/2"=1'-0".

  9. On the status bar, click the Viewport Lock button.
  10. Double-click outside of the viewport's border to return to the layout and Paper space.

In this exercise, you saw how annotative objects can be used to control the visibility and height/scale of annotation in a viewport. In the next sections, you will learn how to create annotative text and control its visibility in the STAIR DETAIL 1 and STAIR SECTION 1 viewport.

Creating Annotative Text

While the workflow of creating annotative text, dimensions, hatch and so forth is all similar, this article only focuses on creating annotative multiline text. Creating annotative and non-annotative (regular) text is similar; except for the use of an annotative text style and the final height of the text to be created. The height of text is calculated is based on the scale at which the text will be displayed.

The following explains how text height is calculated for placement in Model space based choosing to use non-annotative or annotative text:

The following steps explain how to create annotative multiline text (MText):

  1. Open architectural_-_annotation_scaling_and_multileaders.dwg from the downloaded dataset.

    See the Preparing for the Exercises section earlier in this topic for where to download the dataset from.

  2. On the layout tabs, located in the lower-left corner, click Model.

  3. On the ribbon, click View tab > Named Views panel > Named Views drop-down list and select Stairwell.

  4. On the ribbon, click Home tab > Layers panel > Layer drop-down list, verify the TEXT layer is current. If not, select it from the Layer drop-down list to set it current.

  5. On the status bar, click the Viewport Scale button and select 1/2"=1'-0" from the list.
    Note: The selected annotation scale will be assigned to any newly created annotative objects you create.


  6. On the ribbon, click Annotate tab > Text panel > Text Styles drop-down list and select ROMANS.

  7. Click Multiline/Single-line Text drop-down menu > Multiline Text. Find
  8. In the drawing area, specify the first corner (1) of the MText bounding box in the area under the stairs.

  9. At the Command prompt, enter h to set the text height.
  10. When prompted for the paper height, enter 0.125.
  11. Specify the opposite corner (2) of the MText bounding box.

  12. In the In-place Text Editor, type STORAGE.
  13. From the Text Editor tab, click Paragraph panel > Justification drop-down menu > Middle Center MC.

  14. Click Close Text Editor on the Close panel or click outside of the In-place Text Editor to create the MText object.

  15. On the layout tabs, located in the lower-left corner, click SECTIONS AND DETAILS.

    You should see the new MText object in the viewport labeled STAIR DETAIL 1 since its assigned the scale of 1/2"=1'-0". The text won’t be displayed in the STAIR SECTION 1 viewport since it is assigned the scale of 1/4"=1'-0".



In the next section, you learn to add an annotation scale to an annotative object which will also allow for the text to be displayed in the STAIR SECTION 1 viewport at a scale of 1/4"=1'-0".

Adding Annotation Scales to an Annotative Object

Once an annotative object has been created, you can add additional annotation scales to the object or remove scales that are no longer needed. New annotation scales impact how the object appears in Model space and in viewports on a layout.

The following steps explain how to add annotation scales to the annotative MText object created in the previous exercise:

  1. On the layout tabs, click Model.
  2. Select the MText object with the text string STORAGE created in the previous exercise.
  3. Right-click and select Annotative Object Scale > Add/Delete Scales.

  4. In the Annotation Object Scale dialog box, click Add.

  5. In the Add Scales to Object dialog box, select 1/4"-1'-0" scale from the list and click OK twice to add the annotation scales.

  6. On the layout tabs, click SECTIONS AND DETAILS.

    You should notice the MText object now appears in the STAIR SECTION 1 viewport and is displayed at 1/16" paper text height based on the viewport's scale of 1/4"=1'-0".



Important: When the AutoScale button ( Find) on the status bar is enabled, it can be used to automatically add the current annotation scale to all annotative objects in your drawing when the annotation scale changes. Use this feature sparingly to avoid adding too many representations of your annotation at different scales that might not be needed.

Controlling the Visibility of Annotative Objects

While annotative objects are placed on layers like any other object, it is best to place them on their own layers and control their visibility using the current annotation scale in Model space or viewport on a layout. The Annotation Visibility button ( Find) on the status bar controls whether all annotative objects are displayed regardless of the scales assigned to them, or only those that match the current annotation scale.

The following steps demonstrate the use of the Annotation Visibility button:

  1. On the layout tabs, click Model.
  2. Zoom to the extents of the drawing objects.
  3. On the status bar, click the Annotation Scale button and select 1/2"=1'-0" from the list.
  4. On the status bar, click the Annotation Visibility ( Find) button until it is grey, indicating it is off.

    You should notice all annotation objects have disappeared.



  5. Click the Annotation Scale button again and select 1/4"=1'-0" from the list this time.

    Notice now only the annotative objects with a matching annotation scale are displayed in the drawing.

  6. Click the Annotation Visibility button, it should be blue now.

    All annotative objects should be visible again no matter the current annotation scale.

Repositioning Scale Representations of Annotative Objects

When you add an annotation scale to an annotative object, a new representation of that object is created and maintained. You can see each of these representations by selecting an annotative object. For example, the following image shows a multileader assigned the annotation scales of 1/4"-1'-0" and 1/2"=1'-0", with the current annotation scale of the drawing being set to 1/4"=1'-0".

While you can see all representations of an annotative object when it is selected, you can only modify the representation that matches the current annotation scale with grip editing. Standard editing commands, such as MOVE and SCALE, cannot be used to modify representations of an annotative object.

Tip: If you use grip editing to modify the representations of an annotative object, you can reset the position of all representations if needed.

To reset all representations of an annotative object:

  1. Select the annotative object to modify.
  2. Right-click and select Annotative Object Scale > Synchronize Multiple-scale Positions.

Creating an Annotative Text Style

Annotative text styles are not required to create annotative text, but they do help to simplify the process much like their non-annotative text style counterparts. The main difference between annotative and non-annotative text styles is the Annotative property. When the Annotative property is enabled and the style is current, any text created is annotative. The Paper Text Height property specifies the final text height of the text, while the Match Text Orientation to Layout property defines if the text is oriented to the layout and viewport in which it is displayed.



Making a Non-Annotative Annotation Object Annotative

Existing annotation and hatch objects in a drawing can be made annotative with in several steps. This can be beneficial to making the annotation in an existing model or details annotative without recreating the annotation or hatch objects.

Note: A block reference can only be made annotative if its block definition is updated to be annotative.

The following steps provide an overview on how to make a non-annotative object annotative:

  1. Select the annotation or hatch objects you want to make annotative.
  2. In the drawing area, right-click and select Properties. Find
  3. On the Properties palette, click the Object Type drop-down list if you selected multiple types of objects and select the object type to modify.

  4. Do the following based on the type of object selected:
    • Text and MText objects: Under the Text section, change the Style property to an annotative style and the Text Height property to the paper text height.
    • Dimension, Leader and Geometric Tolerance objects: Under the Misc section, change the Dim Style property to an annotative style.
    • Multileader objects: Under the Misc section, change the Multileader Style property to an annotative style.
    • Hatch objects: Under the Pattern section, set the Annotative property to Yes and change the Scale property value.
  5. Click the Annotative Scale property. Then click the Annotative Object Scale button and add annotation scales as needed.
  6. Repeat steps 3 through 5 as needed.
  7. Close the Properties palette.

Setting the Annotation Scale of a Viewport

The sample drawing used earlier already had annotation scales set for each of the viewports on the SECTIONS AND DETAILS layout which match the scale of each viewport. When you create a new viewport and set its scale, the annotation scale is automatically set to match the scale of the viewport. If the two scales don’t match, you can click the Viewport Scale Sync button () to match the annotation scale to the viewport’s scale. The Viewport Scale Sync button is blue when the two scales match. For more information on creating and scaling viewports, see Have You Tried: Pre-scale Layout Viewports.



Summary

If you work with section or elevation views, and details at multiple scales, annotative objects and annotation scaling can simplify annotating your designs. This is demonstrated by how easy it can be to ensure annotation is displayed at the correct size no matter the scale assigned to a viewport.

Annotative and Annotation Scaling Related Commands and System Variables

Here are the commands and system variables related to annotative objects and annotation scaling in a drawing.

Command Description
ANNORESET Resets the locations of all alternate scale representations of the selected annotative objects.
ANNOUPDATE Updates existing annotative objects to match the current properties of their styles.
OBJECTSCALE Adds or deletes supported scales for annotative objects.
SCALELISTEDIT Controls the list of scales available for layout viewports, page layouts, and plotting.
System Variable Description Default Value Saved in
ANNOALLVISIBLE Hides or displays annotative objects that do not support the current annotation scale. 1 Drawing
ANNOAUTOSCALE Updates annotative objects to support the annotation scale when the annotation scale is changed. -4 Registry
ANNOSCALEZOOM Determines whether the mouse wheel zoom in paperspace viewports is controlled by specific zoom scales or independent of viewport scales (legacy behavior). 0 Registry
ANNOTATIVEDWG Specifies whether or not the drawing will behave as an annotative block when inserted into another drawing. 0 Drawing
CANNOSCALE Sets the name of the current annotation scale for the current space. 1:1 Drawing
CANNOSCALEVALUE Displays the value of the current annotation scale. 1.0000 Drawing
DIMANNO Indicates whether or not the current dimension style is annotative. 0 Drawing
HPANNOTATIVE Controls whether new hatch patterns are annotative in this session. 0 Not-saved
SAVEFIDELITY Controls the visual fidelity for annotative objects in AutoCAD 2007 and earlier. 1 Registry
SELECTIONANNODISPLAY Controls whether alternate scale representations are temporarily displayed in a dimmed state when an annotative object is selected. 1 Registry

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