Lesson 10: Annotate

Annotate

Add notes, labels, bubbles, and callouts to explain your drawings clearly. You can also save your text styles to use again later, which helps keep your work clean and consistent.

Create General Notes (Multiline Text)

To write general notes in your drawing, use the MTEXT command:

• Type MTEXT or just MT in the command line,
• Or click the Multiline Text tool in the Annotation panel.

Once you start the command, AutoCAD will ask you to click two diagonal points to create a text box.

Don’t worry about getting the size perfect—once the box is made, you can change its size before, during, or after typing your text.

After you place the box, the In-Place Text Editor opens. This is where you type your note. You can also format your text here—add tabs, bullet points, columns, and more.

The ribbon at the top will change automatically to show you all the text editing options, like font style, size, alignment, spell check, and more.

Finish or Edit Your Text

• When you’re done typing, just click anywhere outside the text box to close the editor.
• If you want to edit the note later, double-click it and the editor will open again.

Tip: Want to make multiple notes use the same font and style? Select the notes, open the Properties palette, and change the Text Style for all of them at once.

Create a Text Style

If you often use the same text settings (like font, height, and spacing), it’s a good idea to create your own text style.

Here’s how:

1. Click the Text Style button in the Annotation panel,
   
2. Or type STYLE in the command line.
3. Click New, give your text style a name.
4. Choose your font and font style from the list.

Tip: Save your custom text styles in your drawing template files. That way, they’re already available every time you start a new drawing. It saves time!

Multileaders (Text with Arrows)

A multileader is a piece of text with a line (or arrow) pointing to a part of your drawing. Use it for labels, reference notes, bubbles, and callouts.

Create a Multileader

To create one:

• Click the Multileader tool in the Annotation panel
• Or type MLEADER (or MLD) in the command line

Follow the prompts: Click where the arrow should point, then where the text goes, and type your note.

Once it’s placed, you can click and drag the blue grips to move the arrow or the text.

Hover over the grips to see more options, like adding extra leader lines or changing direction.
To edit the text, just double-click it—just like regular notes.

Create a Multileader Style

If you want your labels to look the same each time (same arrowhead, font, spacing, etc.), create a multileader style.

For example, to create a “detail callout”, Here’s how:

1. Open the Multileader Style Manager
   • Type MLEADERSTYLE
   • Or use the drop-down list in the expanded Annotation panel
2. Click New, give your style a name like “Detail Callout”
3. Go to the Content tab
4. Under Multileader Type, choose Block
5. Then choose Detail Callout

This is helpful for making detailed references, section marks, or custom label blocks.

Tip: Just like text styles, save your multileader styles in your template files so you can reuse them easily in all new drawings.