Sketcher > Creating Sketcher Geometry > To Create Text in Sketcher
  
To Create Text in Sketcher
1. On the Design tab, click Text and select a start point to set text height and orientation.
2. Click an end point to set text height and orientation. A construction line and an arrowhead appear indicating the direction of the text. The Text dialog box opens.
 
* by default, the dimension that measures the length of the construction line, defining the height of the text, is a strong dimension.
3. To enter text, under Text, select one of the following:
 
* Use Parameter is available only in the 3D mode.
Enter text—Type a single line of up to 79 characters of text.
If required, click to insert special text symbols. The Text Symbol dialog box opens. Select the symbol that you want to insert. The symbol appears in the Enter text box and in the graphics area. Click Close to close the Text Symbol dialog box.
Use Parameter—Allows you to select a parameter that you have defined. The value of the parameter is displayed on the screen.
1. Click Use Parameter. The Select Parameter dialog box opens.
2. Under Look In, click the arrow next to Part and select an object type. The name of the object type you selected appears in the Look In box.
3. Select a parameter from the parameters table and click Insert Selected. The name of the selected parameter appears in the Use Parameter box and cannot be modified. The value of the parameter is displayed in the sketch.
4. To define the font type, under Font, select one of the following:
Select font—Select a type face from a list of PTC-supplied fonts and TrueType fonts.
 
* To make Open Type and True Type fonts available on UNIX, ensure that the filename extension for the font is in lowercase.
Use Parameter—Allows you to select a font from a parameter that you have defined. The value of the parameter is displayed on the screen.
1. Click Use parameter. The Select Parameter dialog box opens.
2. Under Look In, click the arrow next to Part and select an object type. The name of the object type you select, appears in the Look In box.
3. Select a parameter from the parameters table and click Insert Selected. The name of the selected parameter, defining a font, appears in the Use Parameter box and cannot be modified. The text font is updated in the sketch.
5. To define the position of the start point of the text, under Position, perform the following:
a. To define the horizontal alignment, click the arrow next to Horizontal, and select Left, Center, or Right.
b. To define the vertical alignment, click the arrow next to Vertical, and select Bottom, Middle, or Top.
6. To change the aspect ratio of the text, use the slide bar next to Aspect ratio.
7. To change the slant angle of the text, use the slide bar next to Slant angle.
8. To change the spacing between the characters of the text, use the slide bar next to Spacing.
9. To place the text along a curve, click Place along curve and select the curve on which you want to place the text. You can modify the horizontal and vertical positions of the start point of the text. The horizontal position defines the start point on the curve.
 
* When specifying the horizontal position for the start point of the text string, Center is available only for linear curves.
10. If required, click Flip to change the direction of the text.
 
* When you click Flip, the construction line and the text string are placed at the other end of the opposite side of the selected curve. This placement is based on the start point of the text.
11. To control the space between specific pairs of characters, click Kerning.
 
Kerning is not available for all fonts.
To automatically enable kerning for all new text strings, set the sketcher_default_font_kerning configuration option to yes.
12. Click OK to create the text.
13. Middle-click to exit the tool.