Can someone please explain text sizing to me

[Anonymous]

I am using AC11. Ive noticed that some of the time when entering the size of text it will want it in mm or inches and some of the times it will want it in pt. I found that when changing the text size in dimensions it you enter it in pt- which i have no idea how big a pt is. All I want is the text to be a 3/32" when shown on the layout page. I guess im not getting the use of the pt. My guess is that pt are used when the text size is fixed and mm or inch is used when its scaleable. Could someone please explain this to me- and how i can get my dim text to show up at 3/32"?

Thanks

[Anonymous]

1 inch = 72 pt

The units used by an object are determined by the programmer that created it. It seems the library objects you are using are a mixture of metric and Imperial units. Deep inside, Archicad uses meters. The behaviour of objects also is dependent of the programmer-some scale with the view, others don't. If you put a sign text on an elevation, you would like it to keep the same size in relation to the model.

Anssi

[Anonymous]

Thanks- thats useful but is there a way i can just type in 3/32" in my dim. dialog box to get text that is always 3/32"?

[Anonymous]

So there is no way to make dim text scale when the scale of the drawing changes is what I am finding out. Is this correct? Another question then is when am working on a plan you can control the "current scale" down on the lower left side of the window. How is this used? Do you always have it set to the scale the drawing will be on the layout? Does the current scale control the scale of text/ dim?

[Jere]

3/32" = 6.75 pts. The system of using points (similar to a word processor) comes from more of a graphics background than a drafting one. Why ArchiCAD still uses this system is beyond me.

The basic rundown is this: if you want your text (whether it's text or dimensions) to be 3/32", set it to 6.75 pt. To have it print exactly at the proper size, the drawing scale (set in the lower left corner) should be the same as the output scale (the scale you print it at.) When you change the drawing scale, it will automatically resize your text so that it will still print at 3/32" of an inch. Whether you use mm or pts depends solely on the current units of the drawing.

Have you done the step-by-step tutorial yet?

[David Maudlin]

HAL9000:

Only the Text Tool (via the Scalability options, lower right hand corner of the dialog box) has the option to change between Scaled and Fixed text, all the other places you find text (Dimension Tool, Label Tool, etc.) has only Fixed text (in points), so you might as well work with the Fixed option. This means the scale of the drawing is critical to your text size, so the same scale should be used when placing text items, for your drawing settings in the view map, and when the drawing is placed in the layout to ensure WYSIWYG.

HTH

David

[Anonymous]

Thanks guys that explains it. I havent done the step by step tutorials... might have to run through those... on that note how do people learn this software I found that graphisoft doesnt offer a whole lot in the educational section besides from tutorials and such... which from what Ive seen doesnt touch on how to actually put together a construction document among a lot of other things

[Jere]

HAL9000 wrote:
Thanks guys that explains it. I havent done the step by step tutorials... might have to run through those... on that note how do people learn this software I found that graphisoft doesnt offer a whole lot in the educational section besides from tutorials and such... which from what Ive seen doesnt touch on how to actually put together a construction document among a lot of other things

I only consider myself an intermediate user at best. I've been solely self-taught by reading through tutorials, the manual, and of course be ready many threads on this site. Out of all of them, I'd say this site has been the most helpful. Definitely do the Step-by-step, it's a quick and dirty run down on the program that gives you an introduction of most of the tools.

[Anonymous]

HAL9000 wrote:
...how do people learn this software I found that graphisoft doesnt offer a whole lot in the educational section besides from tutorials and such...

What other kind of help were you expecting other than tutorials and such? I think you will find that ArchiCAD has some of the best help files and documentation of any cad software, but I agree, they are still not enough.

The interactive training guides are quite good for a complete beginner. (here)

To really get the best of of ArchiCAD you need professional training with someone who knows what they are doing. Normally the reseller who you brought the software from are the people to ask.

[Laura Yanoviak]

Jere wrote:
Definitely do the Step-by-step, it's a quick and dirty run down on the program that gives you an introduction of most of the tools.

This is a must.