Most of objects in ConceptDraw Project (but for pictures and OLE objects) may contain texts. ConceptDraw Project has various tools for manipulating texts.
In ConceptDraw Project you can assign a text to an object, and also create you own text objects. ConceptDraw Project allows to control a text box to change the position of the text relatively to an object.
To add a text to an object, select this object and start typing text. Thus, an automatic activation of the text editing mode is made (it is also possible to use the F2 key).
If the font size with which the text is typed is too small, the editing mode zooms in automatically for improving the text visibility. Such behaviour is set by default.
Upon termination of typing click the F2 or Esc keys to exit from the editing mode.Note: if a text contains a hyperlink (to a web-site or an e-mail), this hyperlink will be automatically assigned to the object. To learn more about this function and about hyperlinks see in the Using Hyperlinks section.
A Text Object is an object which contains the text only and anything more (the text placed separately).
To creating a Text Object:
A text object can be considered to be a transparent rectangle with hidden lines. It behaves as any other object - you can select it, resize, position, assign its fill and its shadow, attach connectors, etc.
To select a Text object, click on the text.
Frequently it is more convenient to group a Text object with other objects and work with them together.
You can also use a Text object for adding a text to objects to which you cannot assign the text - to pictures, OLE-objects (in Windows). For this purpose you may create a Text Object, type in the required text, and then group with a desirable object(select both of them and use the Figure/Group command).
You can reposition the text in relation to an object by manipulating its Text Box.
The Text Box for typing some text appears at selected objects when you switch to the Text Mode. Any text is positioned in relation to its Text Box, uses its sizes, position, turning angle.
While zooming an object, the size and the position of its text block also change. For new objects the size of their text boxes coincides with the size of their object boxes.
To select an object
Text Box, activate the Text Box Mode
(using the toolbar or the
Tools/Draw/Text Box menu) and click on the object or its
text.
To reposition the selected text box, grab it by its side, its center or its text with the mouse cursor and drag it to the required location.
You may also use arrow keys for repositioning, then the Text Box will move along the screen with the box advance of a pixel per a keyboard stroke.
To rotate the selected text box in the rotation mode, drag rotation handles (round control points at corners) with the mouse cursor. The text box will start to rotate around its rotation center (a grey circle with a point inside it).
You can resize the selected text box, moving its resize handles: these are square points on the sides of the text box that are responsible for its size. The mouse pointer changes its form while dragging.
Note: The Text box is a part of an object, though you can move it independently, it is inseparable from the object. If you select and delete a text box, you will delete the whole object.
For quick deleting some text within a selected object click the F2 key (the click results in selecting this text ) and then delete the text.
ConceptDraw Project enables to edit the text assigned to objects both with the help of tools and the keyboard.
In ConceptDraw Project you can activate
Editing Text Mode when you need to edit some text of an
object and then return to the previous mode. To work in this mode
permanently, switch on the Edit Text tool .
For editing text assigned to an object you need to select it and activate the Editing Text Mode using one of the following ways:
a) to press the F2 key;
b) To use the menu Tools/Draw/Edit Text;
c) To double-click the selected object (if it has no hyperlink).
Then you can type or change the text of the object. If there is a selected text block when you start to type a new text, the old text will be replaced with the new one. To avoid replacing, click the old text or press any arrow key. To finish editing, press the Esc or F2 keys or click the object.
To work permanently in the text editing mode, use the
Edit Text tool from the
toolbar, or activate this tool in the Tools/Draw/Edit
Text menu.
This tool lets you work in the editing mode as long as you need, and it is particularly useful when you need to edit the text in several objects, selecting them one after another. Switch to this tool and simply click the object to start editing its text.
If you click in the text of the object directly, the cursor will be inserted into this position in the text. If you click in the other place of the object, the text becomes selected and you can replace it having started to type a new text.
To quit the Edit Text tool mode , switch to another mode on the toolbar - for
instance, to the Select mode
.
Note: For objects
bearing a hyperlink of any kind (the mouse cursor turns into a pointing
hand), a double-click opens that hyperlink but not editing text. Therefore
it is necessary to edit the text of such objects using the
F2 key or the Edit Text tool .
When editing text you may use standard commands for working with the selected blocks: Cut, Copy and Paste.
For selecting a block use the mouse, or keys with arrows, holding the Shift key.
The Copy command copies the selected text in the
clipboard.
The Paste command inserts the text from a clipboard into the
cursor position if the text editing mode is on. In other modes the program
creates a Text object and inserts the text from a
clipboard into it.
The Cut command deletes a selected block of a text and places it
in the clipboard.
These commands are also available in the Edit menu or from the keyboard:
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Ctrl+C, Ctrl+Ins | Cmd+C | Copy |
Ctrl+V, Shift+Ins | Cmd+V | Paste |
Ctrl+X, Shift+Del | Cmd+X | Cut |
A group, unlike other objects, has no independent text. When you choose
a group and start to type the text, this text belongs to the uppermost in
order object in a group. If you need to modify the text in any object
within a group, select the needed object and or press F2
(or switch to the Edit Text tool ).
In the text editing mode you can also select and format the text assigned to this object, using formatting tools or the Text Properties dialog (in the Format/Text menu).
In ConceptDraw Project you can change text properties
using Text Formatting Tools:
and the Text Properties dialog
(from the Format/Text menu).
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Changes are applied:
If you want to change formatting for a text
section, you should select this section. Switch on the text editing mode
having pressed the F2 key or with the help of the
Edit Text tool , then
select the required portion using the mouse or keys with arrows together
with the pressed Shift key.
You can format the font type and size, text color and background color, text style and alignment by using either formatting tools or the Text Properties dialog. Additional properties, such as margins and indents, are available from the Text Properties dialog only.
Note: Formatting text parameters for new objects are taken from last changes which you have made. This lets you preserve a unified text formatting style in the document.
Only
commands Increase Font Size and Decrease Font
Size
are applied
locally to selected objects or blocks of the text without changing global
options of formatting.
You can change a font and its size for
selected objects or texts portions using the Font tab of the Text
Properties dialog (Format/Text) or the
toolbar:
To change the font, click to open the Font Name box and then select the needed font in the list.
To change the font size, click the down arrow in the Font Size box and
select the needed font size in the list. Another way is just to type a
custom size in the Font Size field.
Clicking the Increase
Font Size and
Decrease Font Size
tools you can increase/decrease the
size by stepping.
![]() | ![]() |
Ctrl+">" | Cmd+">" |
Ctrl+"<" | Cmd+"<" |
To change Text Color select the Text
Color tool . In the drop-down
menu you can click any of 16 colors.
If the required color is not present, select the Color menu item. The Chose Color dialogue appears where 256 colors of the current palette of the document are submitted.
Such attributes of a font as Bold,
Italic, Underline or
Strikeout can be changed, using a toolbar, or from the
keyboard: ,
,
.
![]() | ![]() | |
Ctrl+B | Cmd(Ctrl)+B | Bold |
Ctrl+I | Cmd(Ctrl)+I | Italic |
Ctrl+U | Cmd(Ctrl)+U | Underline |
In Mac OS versions of the program
additional styles of the text are also available: Contour
(Ctrl+O), Shadow
(Ctrl+S) and Compressed
(Ctrl+C).
By default, text has no background and text boxes are transparent (except for text boxes of connectors). You can assign the background color for the text in the selected object(s) in two ways:
In the Text
Block bar click the Text Background button and
select the required color from the graphic palette. To make the background
transparent, click the Transparent checkbox. Click
OK to apply changes.
Each text always consists of one or more paragraphs. Paragraphs start with a new line and are separated from each other by the character of line feed (the result of pressing the Enter key). For each paragraph, you may set alignment and indentation.
Horizontal alignment can be used only
for paragraphs. The paragraph can be aligned left, right or center of an
operating text box. Place the cursor in the text of the paragraph and
select one of tools in the toolbar: Align Left , Align Center
, Align Right
or use the keyboard.
![]() | ![]() | |
Ctrl+L | Cmd(Ctrl)+L | Align Left |
Ctrl+E | Cmd(Ctrl)+E | Align Center |
Ctrl+R | Cmd(Ctrl)+R | Align Right |
Several selected paragraphs can be aligned likewise (select them with the mouse or use Shift + Arrows).
In the Mac OS version of the program, the
results of paragraph alignment appear only when you quit the text editing
mode.
If no paragraph is active, the alignment will be applied to the whole text of the selected object(s).
Vertical
alignment determines the position of the whole text with respect
to its Text Box. You can align the text at the top,
middle or bottom of the Text Box. Select the object(s)
and use the following toolbar buttons: Top Align Text
, Middle Align
Text
or Bottom
Align Text
.
Note: The text alignment can also be set in the Text Properties dialog (Format/Text): you can specify the horizontal alignment in the Paragraph tab, and the vertical alignment in the Text Block tab.
You can set the margins for the whole text with respect to the Text Box borders. Open the Text Properties dialog (Format/Text). In the Text Block tab, modify the values in the Margins fields: left, right, top and bottom. The values you input are taken either in the current or arbitrary units(if so, specify proper abbreviation after the number (e.g. 2.4 pt, 3.3 in, etc.).
Indents belong to the paragraph properties. For each paragraph, you can set the right, left and first line indents. For this purpose change values in the Indents group of fields (the Text Properties dialog in the Format/Text menu) and use them.
The values you input are to be taken in the current measurement system by default. If you need to use another unit, specify a proper abbreviation after the number (e.g. 2.4 pt, 3.3 in, etc.).
In editing mode changes will affect only the paragraphs in which the cursor or the selected text were.
In the Mac OS version of the program the
results of paragraph alignment appear only when you quit the text editing
mode.
Note: a common indent for a line is the sum of indents for the text (or its fields) and for a paragraph.