AutoCAD 2013/2014 DWG Format

[#1]

This was an on-going issue that many of us noticed after we observed an abrupt change in MText behavior going from ACAD 2010 to 2011.  In 2013, it appears that now, if I want, I can once again specify a spacing between paragraphs of a value less than 0.25" in an Imperial units drawing where the MText text height is say, 1/8", as an example.  What's interesting is that I came to notice that metric unit drawings did not suffer from this behavior, since, if you were using text with a height of 2.5mm, you then had the option of going all the way down to a minimum of 0.25mm in ACAD 2011 and 2012 without any ill effects.  Apparently, then, the program made no distinction between imperial and metric units for paragraph spacing, with the result being that metric users were "good to go", while the rest of us were needlessly restricted to a minimum of 0.25 GENERIC UNITS applied indiscriminately.  Anyway, it's nice to see that finally some action appears to have been taken at Autodesk.

[#2 · Accepted solution]

Toot our horn a bit here.  I remember receiving a support case where this issue was reported last year.  We logged a change request for the case and the developers fixed it.  We are glad you noticed that this was fixed in the new release.

[#3]

Sooo, how does one fix it if you can't go to 2013 for another 1-2 years?  Is there a fix for 2012?  We've only just now upgraded from 2009...  ( pls - don't say it : )

Thanks,

Mike

[#4]

Actually, when I made this statement, it was a bit premature.  I find that with 2013 I still have to use a work-around, which is as follows (this only applies to Imperial units, metric works fine):

Go to model space and pick a textsize that would correspond to a scale factor where, say, 1/8" text would multiply to no more than 4" - namely 3/8"=1'-0" or a scale factor of 32.  The size of 4 as a limit is important to remember, because that is what the error message tells us when we try to adjust the paragraph spacing (pick a size between 1/4" and 4").

Go ahead and set up your mtext with your paragraph spacing the way you like to see it.  Once you have it looking o.k., run the CHANGE SPACE (CHSPACE) command from within a paperspace viewport that shows your mtext.  This apparently fools ACAD into accepting a value (when moved from MSPACE to PSPACE and scaled down accordingly) that is now less than the lower limit (1/4") it was insisting you had to use before, when the mtext command was run in paper space.

Now, you can save this new paperspace mtext object as a template to insert wherever you wish.  A bit ridiculous, I agree, but I've had good luck with this so far. 

[#5]

OK, I was really suspicious - but sure enough, it worked!

Thanks lovecraft - you're right - a bit ridiculous, but certainly effective.

Mike

<edit - >

Also noticed, you can't modify the paragraph spacing if you need to change it for some reason.  You'll have to do this routine for each difference you'll want.

<- edit>

[#6]

I actually never had this happen until 2013.  I've been using the same text height for years in paper space and always was able to set paragraph spacing at just about anything (using imperial).  As far as I'm concerned this is just another thing that Autodesk broke that worked fine previously.

[#7]

We work in inches and in 2012 Mechanical we try to set our paragraph spacing to .100 on smaller drawings and .13 on larger drawings because the paragraph space is in addition to the default line space.  I still cannot set the spacing any smaller than .25".  That is not acceptable.  Is there a work around?  When will it be fixed?

regards,

Mark

[#8]

Did you take a look at my posting dated 7-27-2012?  I know this might seem an absurd workaround, but I have had pretty good luck with it.  BTW, I've just taken the plunge into 2014 this week and haven't tried paragraph spacing in this release as of yet.  I probably won't even try to set spacing the way we all could before.....it seems a waste of my time to keep testing whether this has been fixed ad nauseum.....good luck

[#9]

Sorry.....you don't get to toot your horn yet.  It's broke in 2012....you owe us a hotfix and then I'll toot your horn for you.

Regards,

Mark

[#10]

Thanks lovecraft, we'll give it a try.  I still say Autodesk owes us a hotfix......we will be on 2012 for at least a year....

Thanks again,

Mark