Insert annotations in AutoCAD Map 3D with templates

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Annotation templates are essentially blocks of annotation—dimensions, notes,

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and other types of explanatory symbols or objects—that are saved and then inserted into drawings.

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Once you define an annotation template, you can insert annotations into your drawing.

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A common example is labeling drawing objects with data values.

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This exercise uses an existing annotation template to add labels to a group of parcels.

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Each parcel has an Object Data Table attached to it, which includes several fields of information.

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The template uses the information in the APN field for the annotation.

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From the ribbon, Annotate tab, Map Annotation panel, click Insert.

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The Insert Annotation dialog opens with a list of Annotation templates defined in the drawing.

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In this case, there is only one template, Parcel_Map.

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Click the Advanced button, and the dialog expands to display the Insert options and Insert properties group boxes.

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These settings override the insertion information specified in the annotation template.

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For this example, click Basic to hide these options.

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Under Annotation template, select the checkbox next to Parcel_Map, and then click Insert.

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You are prompted to select the objects you want to annotate.

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You can either select a group of objects, or type "All" and press ENTER to select all objects.

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For this example, click and drag to select a group of parcels in the view.

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You can also click to add additional objects, but for now, press ENTER to add the annotations.

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Each of the selected parcels now has a label value, based on the APN field of the attached Object Data Table.

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Click one of the parcels, and in the Properties palette, you can see that it is simply a block reference.

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At the bottom of the Properties palette, notice that the Block attribute associated with this block is the APN number.

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To deselect the parcel annotation, on your keyboard, press ESC.

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Now, select one of the parcel boundaries.

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At the bottom of the Properties palette, review the information in the Object Data Table.

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The APN value appears here as well, because it is the source of information for the parcel annotation.