How to use Multiline MTEXT Objects

Free course how to use Multiline MTEXT Objects in AutoCAD

You can create entire paragraphs (multi lines) of text as a single MTEXT object and each character can be formatted separately.

use the Mtext command to create MTEXT objects.  Mtext lets you format characters individually using familiar Windows techniques in the Multiline Text Editor.
select the desired text in the editor & select the desired format from the Character tab to change the selected characters. You can change settings for an entire MTEXT object from the Properties and Line Spacing tabs in this editor.

use Find/Replace tab to find and replace characters in the MTEXT object that is currently loaded in the editor.

Pick two points to use the default Mtext options and define opposite corners for a bounding box of the new MTEXT object.

Command: MTEXT ↵
Current text style: “Layout Notes” Text height: 0.1250
Specify first corner: (P1)
Specify opposite corner or [Height/Justify/Line spacing/Rotation/Style/Width]: (P2)
(create & format MTEXT in the editor)

The bounding box is displayed only while you are picking the two corners of this box or when you edit an MTEXT object with grips.

characters are allowed to flow out of the bounding box as you type more lines for the current MTEXT object.
justification determines how characters are aligned with this box & whether text flows out of the top or the bottom of the box.

You can right-click in the drawing area at the prompt for the opposite corner and select Justify from the shortcut.

right-click again and select a two letter abbreviation for the desired justification in another shortcut.
for example, BR is the abbreviation for Bottom Right.

Word Wrapping And Width

The Width of an MTEXT object determines how long a line of text can be before the next line begins automatically.

width is calculated from the opposite corners of the bounding box (the horizontal distance) if you pick two corner points.

You can also pick one corner point & right-click in the drawing area to select Width from a shortcut instead of picking the other corner.

use this approach when you know the required width or it is not convenient to pick another corner point to control the width.
you can also use this approach to enter a value of zero for Width to explicitly turn word wrapping Off.
when word wrapping is Off you must press the <enter> key to begin new lines (as new paragraphs) in the current MTEXT.

The default Height of MTEXT is controlled by the same TEXTSIZE system variable that sets the default TEXT height for Dtext.

the current height is displayed on the command line when you invoke Mtext.
right-click in the drawing area at the prompt for the opposite corner & select Height from the shortcut to change TEXTSIZE.

Free tutorial: using MTEXT in AutoCAD

Close the drawing from the previous exercise if it is open.
Open the T110_5.dwg drawing in your personal folder.
Make sure the OSNAP status bar button is Off (left-click on it if it is On).
Pick Draw + Text + Multiline Text. Then pick near P1 and P2 to specify the corners of bounding box by eye as shown.

Type the word NOTES and press <enter> to start a new line. Then press <enter> again to create a blank line. Type the first note shown and press <enter> only after typing the period at the end of the note (let word wrapping determine when to begin a new line). Then type the second note but do not leave the Multiline Text Editor (yet).

If you picked the bounding box as shown above, the width for this MTEXT object will not be wide enough for an entire note.

Scroll bars will appear as required if there is not enough room to display an entire MTEXT object in the editor.

– you can drag the edges of the Multiline Text Editor to enlarge this dialogue box.

6- Double-click on the word NOTES to select these characters. Pick the Bold, Italic and Underline buttons to turn these format options on for the selected characters. Type 0.2 as the new height and then pick OK.

Double-click on any character in a word to select the entire word. – tripple-click on any character in a paragraph to select an entire

paragraph (you begin new paragraphs when you press <enter>). – you can also left-click between any 2 characters and drag to select individual characters adjacent to those characters.

7- With no command running, left-click on the new MTEXT object to select it. The bounding box grips will appear.

8- Left-click on the upper right corner grip to make it hot and then pick a point to the right near P1 below to Stretch the bounding box. Then press <Esc> twice to clear the grips.

9- Right-click in the drawing area to invoke a shortcut and select Pan. Drag the view so the new MTEXT object is near the center of your screen. Then right-click in the drawing area again and select Zoom from the shortcut.

10- Drag your cursor upwards to Zoom in for a closer view of the new MTEXT. Press <Esc> to complete the command.

You applied formatting to individual characters of this MTEXT object to make the word NOTES more obvious.  - this is one object even though there are three lines of text.
You made similar notes (on page 10) using Dtext but those notes  were created by three separate TEXT objects.
1. -TEXT is more practical to use when there is only one line (e.g. room numbers in a floor plan)
2. -MTEXT is more practical to use when there are several lines of related text or when you must format characters individually.

More practice?

11- Save the changes to this drawing and Close the file.

12- Open the T110_6.dwg drawing in your personal folder.

13- Rectangles have already been created in this drawing so you can use Endpoint osnaps to specify the corner points of the bounding boxes to create the MTEXT objects shown. You can use your own words for each object but use the justification described for each MTEXT. You can use the defaults for all other parameters.

14- Save the changes to this drawing and Close the file.