2) When prompted for a start point, select somewhere in the screen just left of centre
3) When asked for a height, enter 3
4) When asked for a rotation angle, hit enter to accept the default of 0.
5) Now simply enter your text. Type: Autocad Central then hit return to start a new lineType: Lesson 8
6) Hit return twice to exit the text command.
The text should be on two separate lines as shown below:
Try selecting the text. Notice how each line is separately selectable and independent of the previous line? Although the text command is simple to use, as each line is separately editable, modifying notes on a drawing can become a nightmare! This text type is called single line text.
Multiline Text
Multiline text is the more advanced text tool within Autocad. It can be chosen from the 'draw' toolbar by this icon:
. The multiline text command has its own editor, with all the options available that you'd expect to see in a word processing program. Also, all text on separate lines is treated together, so editing notes and sentences is simple.
1) Select the multiline command button 
2) We are prompted to select a first corner then second corner. This invisible boundary sets the horizontal extent of the text. When text is entered into the multiline text editor, it will automatically start a second line when it comes to the edge of the text box we specified. Similar to getting to the right hand margin in a text editor. Select a box roughly a quarter of the drawing area.
3) The Multiline Text Editor then appears:
The main character tab of the text editor box is where we choose the font style, text height, colour and also add symbols such as diameter or degrees symbols.
The Properties tab is where we can change the text rotation and paragraph justification settings.
Change the text style to 'Arial'
4) Set text height to 3
5) Enter the following text into the text editor window: Autocad Central
6) Hit enter for a new line, then enter: Lesson 8
7) Press the ok button to place the text into the drawing (The text placement will be justified as set in the properties-justification setting in the text editor, relative to the text area box we selected in step 1)
Notice how when the text is selected, it is treated as one entity rather than separate lines? This makes it much easier and quicker to edit. To edit the text in the drawing area, simply double click the text with the cursor to open up the text editor.
Text in Autocad is treated like every other object, it can be rotated, mirrored, exploded, moved layers etc.
When setting the text height, it is important to remember that it is relative to the units you are using. For example, if you decide that 1 Autocad unit is equal to a metre, then setting a text height of 3 would result in 3m high text, and would tower over the drawing! A text size of somewhere around 0.02 would probably be more appropriate. When first using text, a small amount of trial and error is required to get the text height to a suitable size. Try to aim for a text height which measures between 2 and 3mm in paperspace for general notes.
Hatching is used to add shaded patterns to objects and shapes within an Autocad drawing. Hatch patterns can be used to indicate a material to be used, such as a concrete hatch. Alternatively it could be used to make an area of a drawing stand out.
A foundation detail with the Autocad default AR-CONC hatch pattern applied.
The hatch command can be found on the draw toolbar, or the draw drop down menu. When entered, a dialogue box appears as shown below:
Type - Custom hatch patterns can be created in Autocad. Leave it set to predefined to use Autocad's built in hatch patterns.
Pattern - This is where we select a hatch pattern from Autocad's default list. Select to view more patterns. The hatch pattern palette appears, with hatch patterns arranged under the categories: ;ANSI', 'ISO', 'Other Predefined' and 'Custom'. The most common hatch patterns required are under the 'Other Predefined' Tab.
Angle - This sets the angle of the hatch pattern, the default value is 0.
Scale - This sets the size of the hatch pattern. This must be set correctly dependant on if you are drawing in metres or millimetres. A little trial and error is required to obtain a suitable scale (See Preview below).
Pick Points & Select Objects - These are Autocad's two different methods of hatching an area. Using pick point, clicking inside an area (such as a rectangle) will result in the hatch pattern being applied to all blank space within the boundary. Select object simply hatches within a selected object.Great care must be taken to ensure that the area to be hatched is closed, and all line endpoints are meeting each other. If a small gap is left open, the hatch command will fail, usually with the error: Unable to hatch boundary.
Preview - Enables a quick preview of the hatch before applying it, letting us quickly change and preview settings before we ok them. Very useful when trying different hatch scales.
Inherit Properties - This command enables the hatch settings of a hatch already in use in the drawing to be brought into the boundary hatch dialogue box.
Composition - This is how Autocad is to treat objects to be hatched. For the moment, leave it set to Associative.
Pick Point
The above hatch was created by using the pick point method. The hatch stays within all the solid lines.Select Object
The above hatch was created by using the select object command. The rectangle was selected, and as a result all of the rectangle becomes hatched. Interestingly, if both the hexagon and rectangle were selected (i.e BOTH boundaries) then the hatch pattern would have had the same result as in the above 'pick point' exampleBe careful to ensure that there are no gaps in the boundary to be selected (zoom in if required). Usually, this results in either unexpected results, or a hatch error as shown below.
Have a go with the hatch command with the following Autocad drawing file:Use the select object method to apply the hatch pattern AR-CONC (found in Other Predefined in the hatch pattern palette) to the concrete foundation. Use a hatch scale of 1 and angle 0.
Use the pick point pattern to apply the hatch pattern ANSI32 (Found in ANSI in the hatch pattern palette) to the bricks. Use a hatch scale of 3 and an angle of 0. Note:separate multiple areas can be selected with the pick point method, all in one go!
Your finished drawing should look like the one below:
