By default all elements of the drafting standard inherit their text height and color settings from the master settings of the drafting standard. If you change the master settings, the corresponding settings in each of the elements of the standard change. To prevent specific elements from following the master settings, override the text settings for that element.
The master setting for text height is the base height for text. By default, the text height setting for all elements of the standard is set to “By NameOfCurrentDraftingStandard.”
Annotations such as symbols that have their text height set to “By NameOfCurrentDraftingStandard” use the base height value. Annotations such as section line labels, detail view labels, balloons, and annotation view labels use a text height one size larger than the base height. This “size up” behavior enforces the rule that the text heights for labels are larger than symbol text.
The drafting standard validates any changes made to the text setting, preventing you from changing the text style or specifying non-standard text heights. To work around this validation, use a custom standard or link leader and text settings to a dimension style.
AutoCAD Mechanical toolset classifies text into five categories, based on height. The categories are:
| Category | Height range (mm) | Height range (inches) |
|---|---|---|
| Text very small | 0 – 2.2 | 0 - 0.0866 |
| Text small | 2.2 – 2.9 | 0.0866 – 0.1142 |
| Text medium | 2.9 – 3.6 | 0.1142 – 0.1417 |
| Text large | 3.6 – 5.1 | 0.1417 – 0.2008 |
| Text very large | > 5.1 | > 0.2008 |
AutoCAD Mechanical toolset enables you to specify properties such as color, linetype, and lineweight for each category, independently. If you change the text color in the master settings, the standard elements that have their text colors set to “By NameOfCurrentDraftingStandard” automatically use the new color.
If you change the text height in an element of the standard, the text color automatically uses the preset color corresponding to that text height. It does not matter if you have set the color to “By NameOfCurrentDraftingStandard,” if the text height changes, the text color automatically changes.
You cannot override the line weight and line height master settings for text objects.
If you link dimension styles to leader and text settings, the options in the Standard Settings dialog box apply across all annotations in a drawing. This is because the master settings now apply to AutoCAD Mechanical toolset-specific annotations as well as dimensions.
To ensure that the leader and text settings control all dimensions, clear the Link to the leader dimension style only check box. When you clear this check box, master settings become linked to the base dimension style. When you modify master settings, they apply to the base dimension style, which in turn causes dimension substyles to follow the changes.
The link to dimension styles is a bi-directional link. When you modify the linked dimension style, the master settings automatically react to the changes.