EXPLODED TEXT ON AN ARC

[RobertBPrice]

I need to explode some text so I can make it a 3D entity to apply to a part that will be 3D printed.  I have no trouble doing that as long as the text is not on an arc. Why can't I explode the text that is on an arc?  Is it me or is it the software? 

AutoCAD 2013 on a Lenovo S-30 running Windows 7 SP1

Thanks

[Emmsleys]

@RobertBPrice 

I tested a generic file with using ARCTEXT, I created a video to demo that I was able to explode the text on a arc using SCREENCAST. 

Is this what you mean? 

I did this in AutoCAD 2013 on a WIN 7 environment as well. I also tested in AutoCAD 2014 - 2016. 

Can you provide a file you are working with to the thread? 

[RobertBPrice]

The screen shot shows the text on an arc but I had to create the text in a line and then explode it, clean it up so each letter could be made into a Region and then laboriously move each letter into place on the part.  The screen shot is actually a separate file which, after I turn the letters into a solid, will be inserted into the part. 

[RobertBPrice]

I just looked at your video and the method I tried to use was different.  I used the commond in Express Tools where there is a text on an arc button.  And just next to that button is an explode button.  That button breaks the letters into a profile which must be exploded a second time to reveal the individual sections of each letter. 

One must then remove those section lines and recreate each letter into a region.  That region can then be extruded and placed either on the surface of a part or insterted into a part.  One can then subtract the letters from the base solid to create a recess or leave them on the surface where a 3D printer will create them when the part is printed. 

Lots or work do all of that but I have been doing it for years while creating castings with raised lettering etc.   Hope this helps.

[RobertBPrice]

One more comment.  The item is part of the intake to the carburetor of a 1920 Hartford/Indian 35 HP outboard marine engine.  It was originally a die casting but I intend to have it 3D printed in a carbon fiber reinforced polymer that will look a like like the original part but with an order of magnitude greater strength than the orginal part. It is approximately 1.75 in. diam x 1.25 in. long and has a lot of crazy features.  The lettering allows the user to readily adjust the air/fuel mixture.

Thanks a bunch for the help.

Bob Price

[JDMather]

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@gearknox wrote:
....Lots or work do all of that but I have been doing it for years while creating castings with raised lettering etc.   ...

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If you can gain access to Autodesk Inventor - this is much easier in Inventor (I would say - trivial compared to AutoCAD, and parametric - change the text and all updates).

[Emmsleys]

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@gearknox wrote:

I just looked at your video and the method I tried to use was different.  I used the commond in Express Tools where there is a text on an arc button.  And just next to that button is an explode button.  That button breaks the letters into a profile which must be exploded a second time to reveal the individual sections of each letter. 

One must then remove those section lines and recreate each letter into a region.  That region can then be extruded and placed either on the surface of a part or insterted into a part.  One can then subtract the letters from the base solid to create a recess or leave them on the surface where a 3D printer will create them when the part is printed. 

Lots or work do all of that but I have been doing it for years while creating castings with raised lettering etc.   Hope this helps.

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Hi @RobertBPrice 

Thank you for providing such detailed information about the process you use. Could you provide a file for me to test? 

Would the lisp routine in this thread help with the issue?  

[RobertBPrice]

Hello Sara and thanks for passing on the Lisp routine - seems like I am not the only person who has been vexed by this problem.

Attached is a .BMP screen shot of the process that I use to turn the letters into a Region so that they can then be extruded. 

Do you or anyone else know if Autodesk has fixed this problem in later versions of AutoCAD?

Cheers

Bob

[Patchy]

There is a program that called TEXT TO GEOM that can get around the Flatten Text or TXTEXPLODE.

[RobertBPrice]

Hello Patchy and thanks for the links - but it does not address the issue of being able to explode text placed on an arc using that feature from the Express Tools library of features.   Making text into a solid is not the problem, getting it easily on a arc is.

Ciao

Bob

[RobertBPrice]

Sarah - I got your private email but cannot seem to answer it. When I tried to reply it bounced. And I do not know what an Express ID is or how to get one. :o(

[Emmsleys]

@RobertBPrice 

Not a problem, I can work around that.

Let me circle back to you on this issue. 

[Emmsleys · Accepted solution]

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@gearknox wrote:

Hello Patchy and thanks for the links - but it does not address the issue of being able to explode text placed on an arc using that feature from the Express Tools library of features.   Making text into a solid is not the problem, getting it easily on a arc is.

Ciao

Bob

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@RobertBPrice

After looking at this topic in AutoCAD releases 2013-2016 the reason you are unable to "explode text on a ARC" from Express Tools is due to the fact that it's ARC ALIGNED TEXT… Which AutoCAD identifies as an object not TEXT. 

You will have to use EXPLODE on ARCALIGNEDTEXT,  Then you can use Express Tools command EXPLODE TEXT if you wish to further customize the TEXT objects.

I created a SCREENCAST to show the differences referencing the properties. (Working on my audio for this clip, I hope to get that fixed and working for you soon.)

This is a As-Design feature, I recommend that you post your ideas/concerns to the Product feedback site. 

I hope this explanation helps.

[wai1954]

AutoCAD has an Express Tool that allows you to explode text.

[m_rogoff]

When I EXPLODE Arc Aligned Text, the font changes and the text mirrors itself. Why is this happening and how do I fix it? Thanks

AutoCad 2017

[Kent1Cooper]

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@m_rogoff wrote:

When I EXPLODE Arc Aligned Text, the font changes and the text mirrors itself. Why is this happening and how do I fix it? ....

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On the mirroring, I'm just wondering [without trying anything]:  Are you in the same Coordinate System in which the ArcText was drawn when you Explode it?

[m_rogoff]

I set UCS to World and tried recreating the Arc Text. I noticed the order you draw the arc matters with the start point and end point, depending on the text being arc'd concave or convex it would show correctly or inverted. However, it was still mirroring when I exploded it.

I think I found the issue of the font change when being exploded. I was using "Standard" text style with an overridden font