Changing Label Content in the Drawing Settings

In this exercise, you will change the default abbreviations that appear in geometry point labels.

This exercise continues from Exercise 1: Overriding Label Text.

Change label content in the drawing settings

Note:
This exercise uses Labels-3a.dwg with the modifications you made in the previous exercise.
1. Zoom and pan to the area between stations 0+000 and 0+080 of the West Street alignment.
2. In Toolspace, on the Settings tab, right-click the drawing name. Click Edit Drawing Settings.
3. In the Drawing Settings dialog box, click the Abbreviations tab.
   Note:

   In the Drawing Settings dialog box, you can use the Object Layers tab to change the default layer on which AutoCAD Civil 3D objects and their labels are created.
   The Alignment Geometry Point Text category lists the abbreviations currently in use for each type of geometry point.
4. In the Value column, change the geometry point abbreviation values to the following:
   • Alignment End: End
   • Tangent-Curve Intersect: Tan-Cur
   • Curve-Tangent Intersect: Cur-Tan
5. Click OK.
   The geometry point labels update to reflect the change in the drawing settings.
   Note:

   If the abbreviations in the geometry point labels have not updated to reflect the changes you made, enter REGEN on the command line.
   

   Geometry point labels with abbreviations modified in drawing settings

Overriding Label Text

In this exercise, you will override the text in a single label. Label text overrides are useful for adding text to an individual label to mark a point of interest without modifying all labels that share a style.

Override the text of a label

Note:
This exercise uses Labels-2b.dwg with the modifications you made in the previous exercise, or you can open Labels-3a.dwg from the tutorials drawings folder.
1. Zoom and pan to the area between stations 0+000 and 0+100 of the Main Street alignment.
2. Ctrl+click the geometry point label PC: 0+035.99. Right-click. Click Edit Label Text.
   Note:

   Using Ctrl+click selects only one label in a group. For this exercise, you will override the text of only the PC: 0+035.99 label, and not the other geometry point labels.
3. In the Text Component Editor - Label Text dialog box, place your cursor at the end of the equation in the preview pane. Press Enter.
4. Enter N: in the preview pane.
5. In the Properties list, select Northing. Click  to move the Northing formula, then place your cursor at the end of the equation and press Enter.
6. Enter E: in the preview pane.
7. In the Properties list, select Easting. Click  to move the Easting formula.
   The formula in the preview pane should look like this:
   <[Geometry Point Text(CP)]>: <[Station Value(Um|FS|P2|RN|AP|Sn|TP|B3|EN|WO|OF)]>
   N: <[Northing(Um|P4|RN|AP|Sn|OF)]>
   E: <Easting(Um|P4|RN|AP|Sn|OF)]>
8. Click OK.
   Notice that the label updates to show the Northing and Easting values at the point of curvature. The other labels at the points of curvature and tangency have maintained their original style settings. To apply this change to the entire group of geometry point labels, you would modify the style that is used by the entire group.
   

   Geometry point label PC: 0+035.99 with overridden text
9. To return the label to its original style settings, Ctrl+click the label. Right-click. Click Clear Label Text Override.

Working with Label Properties

In this exercise, you will use standard AutoCAD tools to control properties for both individual labels and group labels.

You can change the properties of:

• an individual label object
• a label object group

This exercise continues from Exercise 3: Selecting and Moving Labels.

Examine label properties

Note:
This exercise uses Labels-2b.dwg with the modifications you made in the previous exercise.
1. On the command line, enter LIST.
2. On the West Street alignment, click a station label and a bearing over distance label. Press Enter.
   The AutoCAD Text Window appears, displaying the object type, label type, and layer of the selected label objects.
   For example, in AECC_ALIGNMENT_STATION_LABEL_GROUP
   • ALIGNMENT is the object type
   • STATION_LABEL indicates that it is a station label object
   • GROUP indicates that the label object is part of a label group
   AECC_ALIGNMENT_TANGENT_LABEL is not followed by GROUP because it is an individual object label.
3. Close the AutoCAD Text Window.
   Next, you will change the label style of an individual label object.

Change the style of a single label

1. Click the curve label near station 0+040. Right-click. Click Properties.
2. In the Properties palette, change the Curve Label Style to Curve Label Style Design Data .
3. Press Esc to deselect the label.

Change the style of a group of labels

1. Click station label 0+040.
   All station labels are highlighted, indicating that they are part of a label group.
2. Right-click. Click Properties.
   Note:

   Selecting Edit Alignment Labels from the context menu opens the Alignment Labelsdialog box, where you can change the alignment label set.
3. In the Properties palette, under Labeling, change the Major Station Label Style to Perpendicular With Tick .
4. Press Esc.

Flip a label to the opposite side of the alignment

1. Ctrl+click geometry point label PC: 0+018.54.
2. In the Properties palette, examine the properties that are available. Under General, change the Flipped property to True. Close the Properties palette.
3. Press Esc to deselect the labels.
   

   Alignment labels with modified properties

Selecting and Moving Labels

In this exercise, you will select labels and change their location in the drawing.

Your drawing currently contains many labels, some of which overlap one another. You will move them in the following steps.

Some label types, such as alignment station and geometry point labels, are part of a label type group that shares properties. When you click one label in the group, the entire group is selected. Properties for the group are controlled using the AutoCAD Propertiespalette, which is available when you select the group, right-click, and click Label Properties. You can select the group and then change the properties of all labels in the group simultaneously. Alternatively, you can use Ctrl+click to select and change label properties individually.

Other label types, such as segment labels, are not part of a group. Each of these labels is treated as an individual object.

Labels are distinct objects that are independent of the parent object that they annotate. Labels are dynamically linked to their parent object and automatically update when the parent object changes. However, labels reside on a separate layer and are not selected when you select the parent object.

If a label resides in an externally referenced drawing, the label cannot be edited in the current drawing.

Note:

Point, parcel area, corridor, and surface watershed labels are not label objects. They are sub-entities of a parent object and their properties are managed in the Label Propertiesdialog box.

This exercise continues from Exercise 2: Manually Labeling an Object.

Select labels in a drawing

Note:
This exercise uses Labels-2a.dwg with the modifications you made in the previous exercise, or you can open Labels-2b.dwg from the tutorials drawings folder.
1. Make sure that you are zoomed in to the area around the West Street label on the alignment on the left-hand side of the site.
2. Select the alignment.
   Notice that the alignment is highlighted, and grips appear along the alignment. The alignment labels, however, are not highlighted.
   In previous versions of AutoCAD Civil 3D, labels were sub-entities of their parent object. Now, most AutoCAD Civil 3D labels are independent objects that reside on their own layer. Although they are independent objects, labels are dynamically linked to their parent object and automatically update to reflect changes in the parent object.
3. Press Esc to deselect the alignment.
4. On the road alignment, click one of the station labels.
   Notice that all other station labels along the alignment are now highlighted.
5. Press Esc to deselect the station labels.
6. Click one of the curve labels.
   Notice that while that curve label is selected, the other curve labels are not.
   There are two distinct label object types:
   • Label type groups—When you select a label that is part of a label type group, such as an alignment station label, the entire group is selected. If you select a label type group and use the right-click menu to update the label properties, the properties of every label in the group update. To select a single label within a label type group, use Ctrl+click.
   • Single label objects—When you select a single label object, such as an alignment curve label, only that label object is selected. You can change the properties, including the label style, of single label objects without affecting the other labels of the parent object.
7. Press Esc to deselect the curve label.

Move labels in the drawing

1. Click the label showing bearing over distance near station 0+100. Grips appear on the label.
2. Click the  label location grip. The grip turns red. Drag the label down and to the left to move it to a clear location. Click to place the label. Press Esc to deselect the label.
   

   Label dragged with the label location grip
   A leader line is created from the label to the alignment.
3. Click the West Street label. Grips appear on the label.
4. Click the  label anchor grip. The grip turns red. Drag the label to the right. Click near station 0+100 to place the label closer to the center of the line segment. Press Esc to deselect the label.
   

   Label moved with label anchor grip
5. Pan and zoom to the cul-de-sac of the West Street alignment.
6. Use the  grips to drag each curve label away from the alignment.
7. Click the EP: 0+243.63 label. A grip appears on the label.
8. Click the grip. The grip turns red. Drag the label up and to the right to move it to a clear location.
   A leader line is created from the label to the alignment.
   Notice that the label displays without a border. The border is hidden because the dragged state of the label style specified a different format for when the label is dragged to a new location. You will learn about label style settings in the Working with Label Styles tutorials.
   

   Alignment end point label displayed in dragged state
   Note:

   You can reset a selected label by clicking the  circle grip.
9. Press Esc to deselect the EP: 0+243.63 label.
10. Ctrl+click station label 0+000. Press Delete.
11. Repeat these operations, moving and dragging labels to other locations where required. If you want to undo any flipping or dragging operations, select the labels in question. Right-click and click Reset Label.
    

    Alignment with labels moved to improve readability

Select labels in an Xref

1. Click one of the station labels on the Main Street alignment.
   Notice that both the Main Street and East Street alignments and their station labels are selected. The labels were selected because the labels were created in the externally referenced drawing in which the alignments reside. When an object has been created through an Xref, you can edit its labels only in the source drawing.
2. Press Esc to deselect the Xref.

Manually Labeling an Object

In this exercise, you will add labels to specific areas on an alignment after it has been created and automatically labeled.

This exercise continues from Exercise 1: Adding Labels in Groups.

Label multiple alignment segments

Note:
This exercise uses Labels-2a.dwg with the modifications you made in the previous exercise.
1. Click Annotate tab Labels & Tables panel Add Labels menu AlignmentAdd Alignment Labels.
2. In the Add Labels dialog box, specify the following parameters:
   • Feature: Alignment
   • Label Type: Multiple Segment
3. In the three label style fields, accept the default styles.
   You can choose specific styles for each of the Line, Curve, and Spiral label styles. This alignment does not contain any spirals, so the Spiral Label Style setting is ignored.
4. Click Add.
5. On the left-hand side of the site, click the West Street alignment, which you created in Exercise 1: Adding Labels in Groups.
   The Multiple Segment label command places a label at the middle of each line and curve. This method can be convenient, but sometimes a few of the labels overlap other features of the drawing. In Exercise 3: Selectingn and Moving Labels, you will move some of these labels.

Label single alignment segments

1. In the Add Labels dialog box, specify the following parameters:
   • Feature: Alignment
   • Label Type: Single Segment
   • Line Label Style: Line Label Style Alignment Name
   Note:

   Notice that you can use either a General Line Label Style or Alignment Line Label Style. General Line and Curve label styles can be applied to lines and curves that are part of an Alignment or Parcel object.
2. Click Add.
   You are now ready to choose a specific location for a label on the alignment. Unlike multiple segment labels, single segment labels are placed exactly where you click.
3. On the West Street alignment, click near station 0+120 to place a line segment label. Be sure to click the line segment, and not the station label.
   Because you clicked a line segment, the label style specified in the Line Label Style list in the Add Labels dialog box was used. If you had clicked a curve, the label style specified in the Curve Label Style list would have been used.
4. On the Main Street alignment, which is the long alignment in the middle of the site, click a location between stations 0+140 and 0+160.
5. On the East Street alignment, which is the alignment with the cul-de-sac on the right-hand side of the site, click a location between stations 0+200 and 0+220.
6. In the Add Labels dialog box, in the Line Label Style list, select Line Label StyleBearing Over Distance . Click Add.
7. On the Main Street alignment, click a location between stations 0+100 and 0+120. A new label displaying bearing and distance information is created.

Examine label settings for other objects

1. In the Add Labels dialog box, in the Feature list, select Parcel.
   This selection changes the label type and style selections that are available. The Add Labels dialog box works in the same manner for all of the feature types shown in the Feature list. When you annotate objects in AutoCAD Civil 3D, you can switch the type of object you are labeling, as well as the label type and style of the various elements, as needed.
   Pay attention to the command line as you annotate objects. Some label types, such as span, slope, grade, and depth, annotate a range of data between two points. For example, if you want to label a grade or depth between two points, you must specify those points in the drawing.
2. In the Add Labels dialog box, click Close.
   

   Alignment with manually inserted segment labels

Exercise: Adding a Section View Grade Label

Add a section view grade label

1. Open Sections-Grade-Label.dwg, which is located in the tutorials drawings folder.
2. Click Annotate tab Labels & Tables panel Add Labels menu Section ViewAdd Section View Labels.
   The Add Labels dialog box is displayed. You will change the existing Grade Label Style to show a grade percentage between two points and the slope length between those points.
3. In the Add Labels dialog box, specify the following parameters:
   • Label Type: Grade
   • Grade Label Style: Grade_Slope
4. Click Add.
   On the command line, you are prompted to select a section view.
5. In the drawing, click a grid line of the section view.
   On the command line, you are prompted to pick a point.
6. In the section view, snap to a low point in the section. Snap to a higher point “up the hill”.
   The grade between the two points is displayed. If you wish, add more grade labels to other pairs of points anywhere in the section view.
7. Right-click or press Esc to end the labeling session.
8. In the Add Labels dialog box, click Close.