AC Label to Autocad Leader DWG Conversion Problem

[MSotero]

The attached image illustrates the result of converting AC11 files to Autocad 2007 DWG files.
The situation stems from using the ArchiCAD "Label" tool and converting to Autocad "Leaders" in the DWG xml conversion setup.

The font used is Arial for both softwares (not an autocad shx font).
The top image being ArchiCAD and the lower image the result in Autocad.

The text "Plywood SSD" generates an undesired text "wrap." Yet the text block itself is the same length as in archicad. So it as if the letter spacing is extended or something.

The text "Wood siding over 2 layers of bldg paper" also creates an undesired text wrap but also stacks the text on top of itself in the process. This text does have a "return" within the archicad text between the words "layers" and "Bldg" (it is not an automatic return created by the text block length itself).

We've tried numerous things to overcome this type of thing but can't find a way. We've even created a direct text to text conversion to ensure that Arial becomes Arial.

Any help appreciated!
Even knowing if this is simply a bug of some sort?

[GOBA]

Hi Minh!

No problem! In this forum the subscription to topics you participate is not automatic, as in other forums, it’s easy to forget

You can download it from this link:
https://we.tl/t-Au4GSFYTXD

Thanks!

GOBA

[Minh Nguyen]

Hi GOBA,

Thanks for the file! I got it now! I'll dive into it as soon as I can!

Best regards,
Minh

[Minh Nguyen]

Hi GOBA,

Thank you for the file! Now I have understood what is causing the issue!

After a consultation with our expert in DWG-DXF export/import, I found out that this is the issue of how text is handled differently in AutoCAD and ARCHICAD. In AutoCAD, you can have a text box that is higher than the total height of the whole paragraph/sentence, while in ARCHICAD, you cannot set the text box wider, but not higher than the paragraph/sentence.

In short, I would say this is the limitation of ARCHICAD's Text tool, unfortunately

Thank you for your understanding, and thank you for raising the issue! I myself have learned a lot from this!

Best regards,
Minh

[GOBA]

Hi Minh!

I was expecting that answer, don’t worry!

And the other issue regarding the width, that it seems ArhchiCAD is not taking from DWG?

Regards,

GOBA

[Minh Nguyen]

Hi GOBA,

I forgot to include the part about Width factor in my previous reply, did I? I’m very sorry for that!

In short, I would say this is, once again, a difference in how AutoCAD and ARCHICAD handle text (unfortunately!).

In AutoCAD, the highlight option is called Tracking. From my understanding, this modification will make the text stay closer to each other, therefore, you can only decrease this value down to a limit, depending on the font type and the spacing between each character of the font.

In ARCHICAD, there is no such option in the Text tool settings. We have the Width factor, but by changing this value, the look of the font’s characters is also modified, either narrower or wider (as if you squeeze/stretch the text). The ratio of the spacing between each character remains unchanged, but the font does not look exactly the same as original.

In the end, it all comes down to how each software handles each element differently. We always aim for WYSIWYG, but due to certain limitations, it may not be achievable without the loss of information.

I hope I have answered all your questions! Feel free to ask me again if you have any further issues. I’m always happy to help (and learn new things along the way!)

Have a great Monday!

Best regards,
Minh

[GOBA]

Hi Minh!

It seems important to me to know this kind of things, in order to know how to work. Thank you very much.

Regards,

GOBA

[Anonymous]

On the subject of leaders in AC23- In Autocad you can create a leader and add text or not, BUT you can add multiple leaders onto one!
Is there a way to make leader (In archicad "text Label") with out text AND how do you add multiple leader heads?

[Minh Nguyen]

Dyana wrote:
On the subject of leaders in AC23- In Autocad you can create a leader and add text or not, BUT you can add multiple leaders onto one!
Is there a way to make leader (In archicad "text Label") with out text AND how do you add multiple leader heads?

Hi Dyana,

Thank you for your question! I'll answer each question one by one:

1. Although all Label in ARCHICAD must come with texts, we can "workaround" this issue by entering a " " (space character) into the label's text. The label will appear as if it does not contain any text.

2. With the default Label tool, it is not possible to create a multileader label. There is an object in ARCHICAD, called Multileader Label that can help you with this issue:



The downside is that this is not an associative label, therefore it will not follow the object that is being annotated. We have an existing wish in our Database to implement this into the Label tool already.

I hope this will help you with the issue. Let me know if there is anything you would like to ask!

Have a nice day, and take care!
Best regards.
Minh

[Anonymous]

Thank you so much ! This worked perfect once I figured it all out