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Substitute Fonts in Inserted Tables
Tip# 3499 By Dallas Leinweber On 04-Oct-2010
4
Rated By 1 users
Categories : Table Styles
Software type : AutoCAD 2011
Rename File To : No Files to download.
Define fonts for use when inserting text objects.

Coworkers Dallas Leinweber and Debra Maloney-Bolsinger collaborated on this method to ensure that when you insert a text object (such as a table) that uses a font that's not available, AutoCAD knows which font to use instead.

"I have discovered a few tricks to use with tables when we insert them using fonts that aren't in AutoCAD. To get the proper font, in AutoCAD, go to Options > Files tab > Text Editor, Dictionary, and Font Names. Expand the Alternate Font File and enter Simplex (or some other desired font name).
 
"Next, copy and paste the Excel file you want to insert into AutoCAD with Special Paste, then Paste Link, and select AutoCAD Entities. Make sure the source Excel file was created in a non–True Type font, such as System. When you close and save the Excel source file, a message appears in AutoCAD notifying you that data links have changed; click on Update Table Link, and the font changes to the desired font.
 
"To change the text size, select a cell, then hold Shift and drag to select all other cells. With all cells selected, go to Properties and change the text height."

Notes from Cadalyst Tip Patrol: Getting your drawings to look the way you want them to can be a pain. Sometimes you can "cheat" and create your table in a spreadsheet (like Excel or Open Office), then select the table, copy it, and paste it into AutoCAD. If you use the Paste Special option, you can data-link the AutoCAD table with the spreadsheet: if one is altered, both will be updated.

The issue here is getting the font you want into the table. True Type fonts can give you problems; using the Alternate Font setting tells AutoCAD which font to use as an alternative. You can go through the Options menu, or just type FontAlt on the Command line and tell AutoCAD which font to use.
 

 

Average Rating:
4


User comments
Comment by Erway,Stephen
Posted on 2010-10-04 16:32:30
This could solve a problem I have struggled with, however, when I Paste Special, and click on Paste Link, my only option is MS Excel Spreadsheet. The AutoCAD Entities option appears for Paste, but not for Paste Link.
Comment by Anil,Lewis
Posted on 2010-10-15 12:29:26
The Tip Patrol mentioned using Open Office to create your table in a spreadsheet. I do not have Excel, only Open Office and AutoCAD Architecture 2009. When I try and link a table to an Open Office file I get an error because I do not have Excel. Did this get fixed in AutoCAD 2010? Or perhaps I missed an update to Open Office that fixed this.