Symbol notes

Symbol notes can be used to annotate symbols.  Notes can be hidden (ideal for very lengthy notes) or displayed on the schedule when symbol text is not sufficient or when an image needs to be used.  When shown on the schedule notes remain attached to the symbol but can be easily moved. 

Tutorial Lesson 3 - Work with text

Add a note to a symbol

1.  Click  (the toolbox Arrow tool.) 
2.  Click once on the symbol. This will display the Selection menu.
3.  Click the Notes tab.
4.  Enter a note.  Press the Apply Text Changes button.
5.   Highlight Symbols with Notes to display a small indicator on symbols containing notes.
6.   Show Note Numbers to number the symbols that contain notes.
7.   Display Note on Schedule to show the note on the schedule.
8.   Connect to Center of Note to move the connector to the bottom central point of the note box.
9.   Note is Circular to set the note frame to a circular shape.
10.  Change the Background Color, Target Color, Frame Color, and Shadow Color of the note. Use the Special Effects drop down option to fade colors from the background color to the target color.
11.  Choose the Connector Type from the drop down option below the text box. This connector will start at the symbol and end with the note. Also, choose the Color of the connector.  Connector types include lines, arrows and 
12.  Thicker Connector Lines if connectors aren't showing up well on lower resolution monitors.

Connector types:

Connector types include lines, bubbles and more:

Hide a symbol note

1. Click  (the toolbox Arrow tool.)
2. Click once on a symbol. This will display the Selection menu for that symbol.
3. Click the Notes tab.
4. (un-check)

To increase the formatting capabilities of symbol note display, a variety of markup codes can be inserted to modify the formatting of the text on a line by line basis. These codes are:

 <r> right justified. This command can be anywhere in the line and the justification is applied to the entire line.

 <c> centered. This command can be anywhere in the line and the justification is applied to the entire line.

 <b> bold. This command can be anywhere in the line and the bold is applied to the entire line.

 <i> italic. This command can be anywhere in the line and the italics is applied to the entire line.

 <image tag=”the tag of the image”>.  The tag value between the quotes must match the Automation Tag assigned to the image to be placed at this location.  The <Image… command needs to be on a line by itself, as anything else on the line is ignored. The image is displayed using its existing size.  Changing its size where it is placed elsewhere on the schedule causes its size in the note to change also.  So, if only images are to be shown in notes, it is still necessary to place and tag the original image somewhere on the schedule and then assign its page to some unused page. The new Manage Pictures option on the Tools menu makes it easy to find and move pictures from page to page.

 <rgb:r,g,b>, e.g. <rgb:80,192,80>.  This command causes the text in the line to be the color specified by the red, green, blue values embedded in the RGB command.  This command can be anywhere in the line and the color is applied to the entire line.

In addition to these codes, substitutable text can also be used.

Example code for above note:Example code for above note:

  Use hard line breaks to control line breaks in the displayed note.  Any single line is limited to 150 characters. Double-clicking on a symbol to get the Symbol Properties box displayed makes it easier to edit notes, since it has a larger entry area than the toolbar.

To change the position of a symbol note:

1. Click  (the toolbox Arrow tool.) 
2. Click and drag the note to reposition.

  - or -

1. Click  (the toolbox Arrow tool.) 
2. Click once on the symbol. This will display the Selection menu.
3. Click the Notes tab.
4. Use the arrows on the toolbar to move the note (hold shift down for faster movement.)

Convert all or some of the symbol text within the schedule to symbol note text.  

This option can be found on the Tools tab under Tools | Other Tools | Convert Symbol Text to Note Text.

Symbol note defaults

Convert all or some of the symbol text within the schedule to symbol note text.  This option can be found on the Tools tab under Tools | Other Tools | Convert Symbol Text to Note Text.