Manipulating annotations in the current viewport

To manipulate viewport arrow and text annotations, you must first select them. Use ViewportEdit Annotations from the main menu bar to select arrow or text annotations from the current viewport.

Note:

To manipulate the viewport annotations generated by Abaqus/CAE, use the Viewport Annotations Options dialog box (for more information, see Customizing viewport annotations”).

You can move, copy, edit, hide, or delete the selected annotations. You can also rearrange the order that Abaqus/CAE uses to display annotations; the order determines which annotation will be in front if viewport or model manipulations cause more than one annotation to appear in the same location.

Related Topics
What are arrow and text annotations?
The Annotation Manager

  1. From the main menu bar, select ViewportEdit Annotations.

    Tip: You can also edit an annotation by clicking in the Viewport toolbar.

  2. Click an arrow or text annotation to select it. To select additional annotations, ShiftClick instead of clicking. For more information, see Selecting objects within the current viewport.

    Abaqus/CAE highlights the selected annotations and their anchor points. Circular handles are the anchor connection points; they appear near each end of a selected arrow and at the reference point of a selected text annotation. Dashed lines indicate an offset between the anchors and the handles.

  3. Do one of the following:

    To move or copy annotations:

    If you selected text or multiple annotations, drag your selection to move it around the viewport. Press Ctrl before releasing mouse button 1 to copy the annotations instead of moving them. If you selected a single arrow annotation, drag the arrow shaft to move the arrow. You can drag annotations anywhere on the viewport, even outside the viewable area. Moving or copying annotations in the viewport does not change their anchor points.

    To move or copy the ends of an arrow annotation:

    If you selected a single arrow annotation, notice that the circular handles are larger than when you select multiple annotations; this indicates that you can move each end of the arrow independently. Drag one of the circular handles to lengthen, reduce, or reorient the arrow. Press Ctrl before releasing mouse button 1 to create radial copies of the arrow instead of moving it. You can drag the endpoint anywhere on the viewport, even outside the viewable area. Moving or copying an arrow by dragging an endpoint does not change the arrow's anchor points.

    To edit an annotation:

    Double-click an arrow or text annotation to open the Arrow Editor or Text Editor dialog box, respectively. If you prefer, you can also click mouse button 3 and select Edit from the popup menu.

    • For an arrow annotation you can change the line style, line weight, or color; and you can change the offset, arrowhead style, and anchor point for each end of the arrow, as well as add a gap between the handle positions and the arrow endpoints. For more information, see Editing arrow annotation attributes.

    • For a text annotation you can edit the text; show or hide a box around the text; change the background color, font, font color, justification, and rotation; or change the reference point, anchor point, and offset. For more information, see Editing text annotation attributes.

    To hide selected annotations:

    Click mouse button 3, and select Hide from the menu that appears.

    Abaqus/CAE removes the selected annotations from the current viewport. To show the annotations again, you can plot them from the Annotation Manager. You can also hide or plot annotations by selecting them in the Model Tree, clicking mouse button 3, and selecting the desired option from the menu that appears.

    To delete selected annotations:

    Press Backspace or Delete. Abaqus/CAE displays a warning dialog box; click Yes to delete the annotations.

    Abaqus/CAE deletes the selected annotations from both the current viewport and the associated database.

    To rearrange the display order of annotations:

    By default, Abaqus/CAE displays viewport annotations in the order that they are created or plotted in the viewport; the last annotation created or plotted will appear in front of any preexisting annotations. Changes in the display order will not affect the current view unless two or more annotations appear in the same location. All viewport annotations are displayed in front of the model.

    Click mouse button 3, and select Bring to Front, Send to Back, Bring Forward, or Send Backward from the popup menu to change the display order. Alternatively, to move a single annotation to the front, plot it again from the Annotation Manager.