Text boxes appear too wide or do not fit text length in Archicad

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Efficient documentation relies on clear, well-positioned text annotations. When text boxes do not automatically fit the length of their content, they can appear oversized or awkwardly placed, making layouts less tidy and requiring extra manual adjustments. This article explains how flexible-width text frames and the Wrap Text option can be used so that text boxes automatically follow the length of the content.

Issue description 

Text boxes that do not resize to match the text length can appear oversized or awkwardly positioned, especially when used for annotations or labels. Manually resizing each text box is tedious and inefficient, particularly in projects with extensive documentation.

Solution

Method 1: double-click to place flexible-width text

Text can be placed with a flexible-width frame by double‑clicking with the Text Tool instead of manually drawing a text frame. This creates a text box whose width adapts to the entered text, so the frame automatically matches the text length.

This method is suitable for annotations and quick labels where the box size does not need to be defined upfront, because the frame adjusts to the content as it is typed.

 

Method 2: use “Wrap Text”

For text that has already been placed with a fixed-width frame, the text box can be switched to flexible width through the Text Selection Settings dialog. Select the text element, open Text Selection Settings (Ctrl+T/Cmd+T), and disable Wrap Text.

  

With Wrap Text turned off, the frame extends only as far as required by the text, which helps avoid oversized boxes and reduces overlap with surrounding elements.

 

Extra: adjusting multiple text boxes 

The same Wrap Text setting can be applied to several text elements at once. All required text elements can be selected together, then Text Selection Settings can be opened and Wrap Text toggled as needed. If the selection contains a mix of wrapped and unwrapped text, Wrap Text can be switched off for all, then turned on again to unify the setting across the selected text frames.

Outcome

After applying these methods, text frames follow the length of the text content more closely, which results in cleaner annotations and a more organized appearance of drawings. Repeated manual resizing is reduced, and documentation can be updated more efficiently across views and layouts.

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These techniques were originally shared by Community members, @Xandros and @kleiner Nick. If you’d like to explore the original discussion, click here to read the full thread!

This article is part of the ‘Tip of the Month’ series on Graphisoft Insights, highlighting valuable community-driven solutions for modeling challenges. Try these methods in your next project and experience the difference in model quality and efficiency.