AutoCAD Tip: Useful Text Editing Tool

By Dennis Collin

Editing and replacing text is a common task in many types of drawings, from building services drawings to labelling up site plans. By making use of Lisp this sometimes-tedious task can be make a lot easier. In the example image below, some door numbers need to be set.

To save time, a user has copied a reference text from a nearby object but the text representing the door numbers need to be changed quickly. With the standard text editing tools each text needs to be selected and then edited in the conventional text editor environment. However, by making use of the Change Text add-in from the App store this task is much easier.

On the add-ins tab, select the CHANGETEXT command and select the elements using typical methods (window, crossing etc.) The App will then highlight the text to be edited in order left to right, top to bottom allowing each text string to be changed. If the return key is pressed, no change is made and the routine will go to the next item in the list until the it is finished.

When performing tasks like circuit labels for wiring or numbering bore hole positions using routines like Changetext makes for a much smoother and efficient workflow.

This free add-in can be found here on the App store (Login required).

https://apps.autodesk.com/ACD/en/Detail/Index?id=5130171347294009699&appLang=en&os=Win32_64

It is available for full AutoCAD versions 2018-2022.