The label button is used to create or modify a text label. Labels are abstract annotation objects which do not appear in physical output. For physical text, use the logo command button.
If a label is selected before pressing the label button, then the selected label can be edited. Multiple labels can be selected, and each will receive the new label text. In this mode, the command exits after the new text is entered on the prompt line. The Enter key terminates the label text.
If no label was initially selected, after the label text has been entered, the label will appear ghost-drawn, attached to the mouse pointer. The text will be rotated or mirrored according to the current transform, as set from the pop-up provided by the Current Transform button in the Edit Menu. Instances of the label are placed where the user clicks in a drawing window.
The size and justification of the label can be adjusted with the arrow keys, before it is placed. The arrow keys have the following effect:
Up | enlarge by 2 |
---|---|
Right | enlarge by 10% |
Down | reduce by 2 |
Left | reduce by 10% |
By default, the label is anchored at the lower left corner, though this justification can be changed by holding the Shift key while pressing the arrow keys. The Left and Right arrows cycle through left, center, and right justification. The Up and Down arrow keys cycle through bottom, center, and top justification. Finally, holding the Ctrl key while pressing the arrow keys will change the current rotation angle. The arrow keys implicitly cycle through the angle choices, with Up and Right cycling in the opposite sense from Down and Left.
Labels are scalable, and can be stretched with the Stretch button in the Edit Menu or with button 1 operations.
Newlines can be embedded in the label text by pressing Shift-Enter. The displayed label will contain line breaks at those points. The justification applies to the block, and line-by-line within the block.
Labels are shown in legible orientation (i.e., left to right or down to up) by default, independent of the actual transformation. If the Label True Orient button in the Attributes Menu is set, labels will be shown in their actual orientation.
Pressing the Delete key after the label text has been entered will repeat prompting for new label text. Labels have fixed size as compared with layout geometry.