Text Frame

Modified by Jason Howie on Feb 15, 2015
Contents
Other Related Resources
Text Frame (Object)
Text String (Object)

Parent page: Sch Dialogs

The Text Frame dialog.

Summary

This dialog allows the designer to specify the properties of a Text Frame object. A text frame is a non-electrical drawing primitive. It is used to define an area on a schematic to contain textual information. The frame is a resizable rectangular area that can contain multiple lines of text and can automatically wrap and clip text to keep it within the bounds of the frame.

For information on how a placed text frame object can be modified graphically, directly in the workspace, see Graphical Editing.

Access

The Text Frame dialog can be accessed during placement by pressing the Tab key.

After placement, the dialog can be accessed in one of the following ways:

  • Double-clicking on the placed text frame object.
  • Placing the cursor over the text frame object, right-clicking and choosing Properties from the context menu.

Options/Controls

  • Border Width - the width of the border used to draw the outline of the frame, provided the Show Border option is enabled. Available widths are: Smallest, Small, Medium, and Large.
  • Text Color - click the color sample to change the color used for the actual text entered into the frame, using the standard Choose Color dialog.
  • Alignment - specifies the alignment of the text contained within the frame. Choose from Center, Left, and Right alignment.
  • Location X1/Y1 - the current X (horizontal) and Y (vertical) coordinates for the bottom-left corner of the frame. Edit these values to change the position of this corner in the horizontal and/or vertical planes respectively.
  • Location X2/Y2 - the current X (horizontal) and Y (vertical) coordinates for the top-right corner of the frame. Edit these values to change the position of this corner in the horizontal and/or vertical planes respectively.
  • Show Border - enable this option to have the text frame enclosed in a border drawn in the current Border Color, and in accordance with the specified Border Width.
  • Border Color - click the color sample to change the color used for the border around the frame, if shown, using the standard Choose Color dialog.
  • Draw Solid - if this option is enabled, the frame is filled with the color set in the Fill Color field. If this option is disabled, the rectangle is drawn in outline only.
  • Fill Color - click the color sample to change the fill color for the frame, using the standard Choose Color dialog. The Draw Solid option must be enabled for the rectangle to be filled.
  • Text Margin - the amount of space (padding) between the text and the frame border. The value specified applies equally to Left, Top, Right and Bottom margins for the frame.
To benefit from the text margin functionality within the area of the frame, ensure that the Clip to Area option is enabled. Ideally, the Word Wrap option should also be enabled.
Negative margins are also possible, using the minus prefix (-).

Properties

  • Text - click the Change button associated to this field to access the TextFrame Text dialog, from where text for the frame can be entered as required.
  • Font - this control serves two purposes. Firstly, it reflects the currently chosen font – applied to the text entered within the frame - in terms of Font Name, Font Size and Font Style. Secondly, when clicked it provides access to the standard Font dialog, from where to change the font as required.
Effects are also displayed when enabled (Strikeout, Underline). If Regular is used for the font's style, this will not be displayed visually in the control's string.
  • Word Wrap - enable this option to have the text within the frame area automatically wrap to fit the width of the frame.
  • Clip to Area - this option comes into play if word wrapping is disabled. With this option enabled, text will be kept within the bounds of the frame. When disabled, text will spill out of the frame onto the schematic sheet.
  • Locked - enable this option to protect the frame from being edited graphically.
An object that has its Locked property enabled cannot be selected or graphically edited. Double click on the locked object directly and disable the Locked property, to graphically edit the object.

 

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