Monday

MTEXT “Background Mask” feature

2 Comments Dec-01-2008 | Posted by Muharrem Koçyiğit | Printable Version | Level |

Hello friends,

AutoCAD 2005 has brought a new feature to MTEXT objects. I will be talking about “Background Mask“, i.e. adjusting the backgroung for MTEXT objects. You can see a little sample drawing that includes dimensioning and some annotations. (Fig.1)

Fig.1 -A sample showing the “Bacground Mask feature” using some  MText and DIMENSION objects.

It is crucial in architectural drawings that in a drawing everything (the drawing itself, annotations and dimensions) has to be clearly visible. Dimension lines are often placed beside the drawing, whereas in situations whereby you don’t ahve space left for it, you may have to place it inside the drawing. This is when “Background mask” comes in handy! Right click or use the CTRL+1 combo while the MTEXT object is highlighted and select “Properties”. You will see a window as in Fig.2

N O TE: You can also access this command from the Standard ve Standard Annotation toolbars, by pressing the Properties button.

Fig.2 – Background Mask -a Mtext feature.

Set the Background mas variable as “yes” to open a dialog box as in Fig.3. For the feature to work, leave the “use background mask” tick box as it is.

Tick the “Use drawing background color” box to use the same background color.

Border offset factor‘s value determines the distance between the letters and the edges of the background area. If you have selected  “Background color” , you will notice the effect in print-outs also.

Select another color from the drop-down menu if you wish so. The width of the ‘Headline‘ text you see in Fig.1 (defined width)is set as 40 (Defined width) with the background color as red. (Background color=red).

Fig.3 – Background Mask – MText object

For dimension objects (DIM* Objects) you need to select “Fill color” from the TEXT tab.  There will not be a menu like in Fig.4.

Fig.4 -  Background Mask – Dimension objects

All that I have talked about can be used for MTEXT and Dimension objects. You can’t use them for objects created with DTEXT command. Also keep in mind that MTEXT objects that have been edited with the EXPLODE command turn into simple TEXT objects, loosing any such feature they have.

For simple text objects, you can always use Text Mask (found in Express Tools toolbar..) Fig.5

Fig.5 – Express Tools: Text Mask

Also note that you may need to bring all the text objects to the front using the TEXTTOFRONT command.(Tools->Draw Order->Bring Text and Dimensions to Front)

Thank you in advance for your attention and comments..