Configuring Draftsman Text Object Properties in Altium Designer

Parent page: Text

Select a Text Box object in the Draftsman workspace to view or edit its property fields in the Properties panel.

Draftsman object properties are definable options that specify the visual style, content and behavior of the placed object. The property settings for each type of object are defined in two different ways:

• Pre-placement settings – most Text box object properties, or those that can logically be pre-defined, are available as editable default settings on the Draftsman - Defaults page of the Preferences dialog (access from the  button at the top-right of the workspace). Select the object in the Primitive List to reveal its options on the right.
• Post-placement settings – all Text box object properties are available for editing in the Properties panel when a placed Text box is selected in the workspace.

    The Text object default settings in the Preferences dialog and the Text mode of the Properties panel

Location

• (X/Y) – the X-axis and Y-axis values of the Text box reference location (bottom-left corner position).
• Rotation – the horizontal/vertical orientation of the Text box. Use the drop-down menu to select from the 90° sequence of rotation angles.

Properties

• Width – the width of the selected Text box.
• Height – the height of the selected Text box.
• Clip Text To Bounds – when selected, the box text string will be automatically wrapped to remain constrained within the Text box perimeter.
• Text – the target field for the text string that will appear in the displayed Text box. Select the associated  button to open Draftsman's Document Parameters dialog where any of the available parameters may be selected for inclusion in the Text box.
• Font – sets the font used for the Text box string (the Text).
  • Use Document Font checkbox selected – the font used is that defined by the document options. See the Document Font entry in General section of the Properties panel when in Document Options mode.
  • Use Document Font not selected – use the drop-down menus to choose the desired font type and size and select the lower buttons to enable text attributes. The associated color button () opens the color selector where the font color can be specified by RGB or HEX value, by freeform selection, or from a range of presets. Note that the slider control sets the color Opacity level, where 0% represents full transparency.

  Alignment

• Horizontal – use the left, center and right buttons to set the horizontal text alignment and positioning within the Text box.
• Vertical – use the top, middle and bottom buttons to set the vertical text alignment and positioning within the Text box.

• Fill Style – displays and sets the Text box fill pattern and color. Use the associated color buttons () to specify colors for the fill and/or hatch pattern, and the associated button to set the fill pattern attributes in the drop down options menu.
  • Pattern – the graphic pattern for the Text box fill. Select Solid fill or an ANSI pattern from the drop-down menu. Select a no-fill preset or an opacity level of 0% to set the color as transparent.
  • Scale – the relative line spacing of the applied ANSI hatch pattern.
  • Rotation – the angle of the ANSI hatching lines, where a value of 0 is equivalent to 45°.
  • Hatch Thickness – the line weight of the ANSI pattern lines.