The text entry dialog allows you to define a few properties of adding text to your diagram:
- How shapes grow when you add text
- The gap or margin between the text and the edge of a shape
- How the Enter key works
- Spell check
- How to enter text editing mode
To modify the Text Entry properties of any shape, first select it, then click on Text Entry in the Design tab.
There are a few options to choose from:
Text Position
When you enter text, you can have that text appear inside the shape (the default option for most common shapes), above the shape, or below the shape. Usually symbols that don't have room for text entry like network diagram symbols, it makes more sense for text to appear as a label above or below the shape instead of inside it.
By default, most text in SmartDraw is centered. The three options will appear like this:
If you want to change the alignment, go to the Design tab and click on one of the Text Align options.
Shape Sizing Rules
There are three different ways shapes can grow as you add text.
Horizontally and Vertically
This is the default for most shapes. As you enter text, the shape will grow and maintain its proportions.
Horizontally
This is the default for background text objects and the text that appears below or above image objects and symbols. New text is added on the current line. New lines occur only when the Enter Key is typed.
Vertically
Text "wraps" within the width of the shape, like a word processor does when the text reaches edge of the page. The shape grows vertically as new lines are added.
Text Editing Behavior
The "Text Editing Behavior" section allows you to set whether a single-click or a double-click on a shape opens it for text editing, or whether it can be opened for text editing at all.
The default behavior is double-clicking a shape will open it for text editing. In this setting, a single click is used to move and select them. The exception to this rule is shapes that contain tables that normally require only a single click to begin editing.
Sometimes it is useful to require a single click for editing normal shapes. This is intuitive for any shape where you want text-entry to feel like filling out a form.