SolidWorks 2010 Bible

Chapter 22: Using Annotations and Symbols ..............................................................................

on the drawing to provide a placeholder for future text. The blank text box has a rectangular bor-

der that contains an X, both of which are removed when you add text. If spaces are added to a text

box, the text box becomes invisible, although you can select it if you know where it is. When you

move the cursor over the text box, the cursor displays the note symbol.

While typing a note, it is not possible to make the note box smaller using the middle handle on

the right end of the box; you can only stretch it larger. Using any corner handle, as shown in

Figure 22.2, you can make the box taller, wider, or narrower. The note box will not resize smaller

if the text string it contains does not contain spaces.

FIGURE 22.2

Resizing a text box using the lower-right corner handle

Use corner handle to resize

Do not resize with middle handle

If a custom property value is used to populate a note and you select the Annotation Link Variables

option in the Views dialog box, when you activate the text box to resize it, the text value will go

away and the link variable will be displayed. This makes it difficult to dynamically resize the box

to fit the note, so it might be best to deselect the Annotation Link Variable option before placing

and sizing notes.

Placing notes and leaders

When you start to place a note, a preview shows the text box with or without a leader depending

on the position of the cursor. If the cursor is over a blank section of the drawing, the note is placed

without any leader. If the cursor is over a face, edge, or vertex, then a leader is added using the

arrow found in the Attachment dialog box at Tools ➪ Options ➪ Document Properties ➪ Arrows ➪

Attachments. By default, a leader attached to a face uses a dot as an arrow, and a leader attached to

an edge, sketch entity, or nothing at all uses a regular arrow. You can change these defaults at the

options location mentioned previously, and you can change individual note leaders in the

PropertyManager that becomes available when you select a note. These settings can also become

part of a custom drafting standard.

Figure 22.3 shows the preview that is displayed by the cursor when you place a note over a face,

an edge, and blank space on the drawing.