Modifying Our Updated Detail Callout Sub-Blocks
- Anatomy and General Rules
- How to Modify the Updated Detail Callouts
- Customizing the Layer Colors
- The Detail Title Attribute
- Testing a Customized Detail Callout Block
The Detail Callout and Placeholder Callout tools in our plugin for AutoCAD, F/X CAD, and Civil 3D is an advanced dynamic block. As such, these callouts offer similar controls to a multileader (MLeader), allowing you to move them around easily and even flip them left or right without needing to place the callout again.
Such an advanced dynamic block is quite delicate, however. Some things can be customized and some can't, but even for customizable items, you'll need to take extremely special care to avoid breaking the dynamic parameter links. Without this care, you can easily break the callout and cause it to function incorrectly.
Broken callout behavior includes:
- Text flipping upside-down
- Text not in the correct position relative to the rest of the callout
- Text not flipping left and right with the callout correctly
- The scale of certain elements of the callout being incorrect
- Attributes not filling out correctly
- Arrow not rotating correctly.
- Placeholder callout not changing when assigned to a detail
- Block not behaving like an MLeader when placed (not all items moving as they should)
Are you seeing backward text in your callouts? Try setting the MIRRTEXT system variable to 0. (Type MIRRTEXT in the Command line and press Enter, then type 0 when prompted to enter a value.
Note that we don't currently include a default square style for Detail Callouts. We do accept and prioritize feature requests via our Community forum and development backlog. If enough users ask for a square style, it's more likely to be scheduled. In the meantime, you can edit or create your own callout source block to look square instead of circular.
Anatomy and General Rules
When you open the LAFX-DETAIL.dwg, LAFX-DETAIL-M.dwg, LAFX-DETAIL2.dwg, or LAFX-DETAIL2-M.dwg source blocks in the folder LandFX\Blocks\Graphics\Callouts, you'll be asked whether you want to open the file in the Block Editor. Always click Yes.
LAFX-DETAIL.dwg and LAFX-DETAIL-M.dwg source files:
LAFX-DETAIL2.dwg and and LAFX-DETAIL2-M.dwg source files:
General rules:
- Never open the DWG, click No when asked whether you want to open the file in the Block Editor, then save the DWG. Doing so will break the dynamic parameters.
- Always click Yes to opening in the Block Editor before customizing.
- Do not move, copy or delete any elements in these blocks.
- Do not add any new objects or elements to these blocks.
- Do not edit the shape or appearance of the circle callouts in these blocks. These are edited in the LAFX-DETAIL-C.dwg and LAFX-DETAIL-PLACE-C.dwg files.
- Do not change the text style of the TITLE attribute.
- You can change the layer name or color of any elements.
- Do not edit the -C block files to be any larger or smaller than they currently are. The overall blocks are precisely calibrated to the width and height of these blocks.
- A larger callout would require adjusting the parameter selection windows. This process is not easy, and requires an extremely advanced knowledge of dynamic blocks to accomplish. Our technical support does not cover helping you learn this or customize this, due to the advanced skillset required.
When in Block Editor mode, the Block Editor context ribbon will appear.
Here, you can toggle to see all the available visibility states in this block.
How to Modify the Updated Detail Callouts
To modify or customize the detail callouts, start by opening and editing the associated callout sub-blocks.
These sub-blocks are located in the following directory: LandFX\Blocks\Graphics\Callouts
Start by opening the following drawing files:
- LAFX-DETAIL-C.dwg
- LAFX-DETAIL-PLACE-C.dwg.
Ensure that you're editing the blocks with the -C suffix, which are the correct sub-blocks used in the callout structure. Avoid modifying the -R or -L versions, which are no longer used in our detail callouts.
The LAFX-DETAIL-C and LAFX-DETAIL-PLACEHOLDER-C blocks (pictured below) form the visual components of the detail leader callouts. You may adjust these sub-blocks to meet your office standards or personal preferences.
LAFX-DETAIL-C
LAFX-DETAIL-PLACE-C
If your modifications involve only visual or stylistic changes – such as removing or altering the background mask, changing layers, or adding a drop shadow – no further steps are required beyond updating and saving the blocks. You can then begin placing detail callouts in CAD as usual.
HOWEVER: If your changes alter the size or shape of the sub-blocks, or add an attribute, additional configuration will be necessary. The detail callout blocks that contain these sub-blocks are complex dynamic blocks with the names LAFX-DETAIL.dwg and LAFX-DETAIL2.dwg. The image to the right shows which callout styes are dictated by which blocks.
If you need to make customizations beyond visual changes of the sub-blocks, please reach out to our tech support team for assistance.
The Circle Callout Detail Number and Sheet Number
Do not customize the circle callout in the following source blocks:
- LAFX-DETAIL.dwg
- LAFX-DETAIL-M.dwg
- LAFX-DETAIL2.dwg
- LAFX-DETAIL2-M.dwg
Instead, customize this callout style in the following files:
- LAFX-DETAIL-C.dwg
- LAFX-DETAIL-PLACE-C.dwg
Rules:
- Maintain the exact same height and width as the extents of your circle.
- Going smaller will result in the leader lines not touching your customized shape.
- Going larger will extend beyond the bounds of the stretch, move, and flip parameters in the main blocks, preventing them from grabbing your customized callout anymore and breaking the callout blocks.
- You can change the Text Styles, but changing them from Callout Title style will mean Land F/X will no longer change the font and height automatically to match the current settings in the General Preferences.
- Changing the font or size of the Callout Title style here will do nothing. Change this style in the General Preferences instead. Use our Print Preferences tool to see which tools use the Callout Title style.
- You can change the layer of anything.
- You can change the color of anything.
- You can delete the mask hatch. See our article on background mask visibility to learn more about how this mask plots opaque white.
- You can delete, move, or add attributes, as long as they do not extend out beyond the height and width extents of the original circle shape.
Customizing the Layer Colors
Customizing the colors of the lines, text, arrow, and masks in these callouts is the easiest customization step, and doesn't require opening the block files at all.
All you need to do is change the incorrect colors to your preferred colors in the General Preferences screen, following our steps to change the Land F/X block layer colors.
Ideally, change each color to a color in your CTB that will plot the same intended lineweight. Our steps for changing block layer colors, linked above, include a link to download a worksheet that will serve as a guide in this process.
The Detail Title Attribute
- Do not flip or change justification – the text must remain left aligned
- The text in the callout must remain as our Callout Text Text Style.
- Text height must match the current setting in the General Preferences screen for the height of Callout Text.
- When placing a detail callout, Land F/X automatically adjusts the length of the underline of the first line of the title to perfectly match the length of those words if using the font, point size, and width of Callout Text as specified in the current preferences.
- Land F/X automatically adds Callout Text as a Text Style to the drawing with these Preferences settings if it does not already exist in the drawing.
- If the font for Callout Text in the DWG where the callout is placed doesn't match the font currently set in General Preferences, the length of the detail underline will be off.
- If the text height of the TITLE attribute in the LAFX-DETAIL.dwg or LAFX-DETAIL-M.dwg source file doesn't match the current point size height in the General Preferences, the length of the detail underline will be off.
- You can open the LAFX-DETAIL.dwg or LAFX-DETAIL-M.dwg source blocks in the folder LandFX\Blocks\Graphics\Callouts and adjust the attribute text height of the TITLE attribute and save it.
- Do not move the TITLE attribute
- Do not change the left justification of the TITLE attribute
- Do not change the TITLE attribute to be any Text Style other than Callout Text.
Point size of 10 in the Text Manager correctly matching 0.1 text height in the Properties panel
Adding a Background Mask to Your Detail Title
To add a mask to your detail title, open the LAFX-DETAIL.dwg or LAFX-DETAIL-M.dwg source blocks in the folder LandFX\Blocks\Graphics\Callouts.
Double-click on the
In the Edit Attribute Definition dialog box, click the button with three dots to the right of the Default field.
Click the down arrow button in the lower right corner of the Text Formatting dialog box, then select the Background Mask option from the menu that opens.
You can now configure your mask settings.
Select the Use background mask button option, set the border offset factor, and specify the mask color. Then click OK.
Save the block. It will now have a background mask with your configured settings.
The downside of creating a background mask for your detail title is that the mask will often cover the pink landing line by default. The landing line for a single-line title may not be covered, but it will be for multiline titles – that is, titles that are long enough to wrap to the second line.
If the landing line being covered is an issue for you, you'll need to address it manually. You can just simply draw a polyline to represent the covered portion of the landing line visually. Note that this polyline will be an independent object from the callout block itself and will need to be moved manually as well.
You can also choose to experiment with adding an underline to your title attribute. Doing this would make the underline part of the block, but you might struggle with alignment issues and some small gaps remaining. Note that the bottom or second line of text would also have an underline.
We're unable to offer an automatic background mask function because of the complex nature of the dynamic block. Our legacy detail callouts also did not have background masks.
Testing a Customized Detail Callout Block
1. Open a blank drawing.
3. Set the scale and units using our Scale tool.
4. Open the Detail Manager and add any detail to your project.
5. Place a Detail Callout in Paper Space.
6. Confirm that your edits saved successfully.
Not seeing your changes? Confirm:
- No LK- layers are already defined in your blank DWG.
- No LAFX- block names are already defined in your block DWG.
- The Callout Text and Callout Title Text Styles are not already defined in your DWG.
- You can run our Reload All Text Styles (REAT) tool to redefine these styles.
- You're testing with the correct Preference Set.
- You can run the REGEN or ATTSYNC commands on the block callout to fix some issues.
- Blank drawing tests are best done using the default acad.dwt (Imperial) or acadiso.dwt (metric) drawing template files.
Contact
- Land F/X
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