Plant Labels Coming In Away From Plants, In Wrong Location, and/or Not Appearing Correctly

Updated on: August 03, 2022

Issue

When you try to label a plant in your drawing, the label, leader, or arrow is coming in incorrectly.

The label may be coming in at an incorrect location, away from the plant – or even off the site entirely.

Plant label coming in at incorrect location

The arrow may be extending in a strange direction from the leader line, or missing entirely.

Plant label leader arrow bent in a strange direction

Plant label leader arrow missing from leader

The label itself may also simply not look right.

Cause

The plant you're trying to label may have a Z elevation set to it. If so, this setting is interfering with the label's ability to "read" the correct location of the plant. As a result, the label comes in a the incorrect location.

In addition, your current Dimension Style (DimStyle) may be set to Annotative, which can also cause this type of issue.

Solution

Step 1: Correct the elevation

Type Properties (or just Prop) in the Command line, and press Enter. The Properties palette will open.

Now click the plant you're trying to label.

The plant's properties will be listed in the Properties panel. Check the Position Z setting. If you see any number besides 0 here, the plant has an incorrect Z elevation.

Properties panel, change Position Z setting to 0

Change the Position Z setting to 0.

Now try to label the plant again. The label should now come in correctly.

Repeat these steps for any other plants in your drawing that are causing the issue.

Step 2: Check for a DVIEW twist

Labels still appearing incorrectly? You might have a DVIEW Twist applied. (A DVIEW Twist is an incorrect rotation in your view of your drawing.)

Follow our steps to remove a DVIEW Twist from your drawing.

Step 3: Set the current Dimension Style (DimStyle) to Standard

Labels still don't look right? It's time to check whether your current DimStyle is set to Annotative, which could also be causing the problem. Open the Dimension Style Manager:

AutoCAD Manage ribbon, DimStyle button

CAD Dimension menu, Dimension Style option

or type DimStyle in the Command line

The Dimension Style Manager will open.

Select Standard in the Styles pane, then click Set Current.

Dimension Style Manager, Styles pane, Standard option, Set Current button

Close the Dimension Style Manager. you should now be able to place labels normally.

Plant labels still acting or appearing strangely? You may simply need to redefine your plant label blocks. See our Redefine Block documentation for further information.