Text Format Property Page

The Auto Size feature resizes the text within an object to fit within a rectangle of a specified size. This is useful when the data that is contained in the text is highly variable in length but must always fit within a certain area on the template. BarTender increases or decreases the font size of the text contents or compresses or stretches the horizontal width of each character so that the text fits within the boundaries of the object. The compression or stretching along the horizontal does not affect the height of the object.

• Font Point Size: Specifies the Minimum and Maximum point size. You can use this option to ensure that the text will never be too small or large. If you want the font to stay at a fixed height, set both Minimum and Maximum to the same value.

• Font Width Scale: Specifies the Minimum and Maximum percentage that the text can be scaled. You can use this option to ensure that the data is never compressed or stretched to the point of unreadability. Set both values to 100 percent if the letters must stay at their standard width relative to the font size.

• Object Size: Specifies the height and width of the text object or of the human-readable characters of a barcode object.

• Alignment: Specifies the horizontal and vertical alignment of the text within the object if it does not completely fill the height of the object.

The Tabs tab enables you to set tab stops for text. Tab stops define where your cursor stops when you press the Tab key on your keyboard or insert an <HT> character from the Insert Symbols or Special Characters dialog.

• Tab Stops: Enables you to set tab stops in the selected object.

• Default Tab Stops: Specifies the distance between tab stops and between the margin and the first tab stop.

• Custom: Enables you to specify custom tab stops in addition to the default. To add a tab stop, enter a value in the Custom field, and then click Set. To remove a tab stop, select the tab stop, and then click Delete. To remove all custom tab stops, click Delete All.

• Reading Order: Specifies the reading order for the object. Set this to Auto to use the reading order of the script that is identified on the Advanced tab of the Font property page. If you select a reading order that is not supported by the selected script, BarTender treats the text as directionally mixed.

The General tab enables you to set the alignment, width, and indentation of the paragraph. A sample at the bottom of the page shows how your choices affect the formatting of the paragraph.

• Alignment: Specifies the alignment of the text in the paragraph. Options include:

  • Left: The text is aligned along the left margin, and the right edge of the paragraph is ragged.

  • Center: The text is aligned along the middle so that both the left and right edges of the paragraph are ragged.

  • Right: The text is aligned along the right margin, and the left edge of the paragraph is ragged.

  • Justified: The spaces between words in the paragraph are adjusted so that the paragraph is aligned along both the left and right margins. The alignment of the last line of the paragraph is specified in the Orphan Alignment option.

  • Distributed: The spaces between characters in the paragraph are adjusted so that the paragraph is aligned along both the left and right margins for all lines of the paragraph.

• Orphan Alignment: Specifies the alignment of a short line in a paragraph that does not take up an entire line. Typically, an "orphan" refers to the last line in a paragraph. When Justified alignment is used, the orphan alignment setting determines the alignment of any orphans in a paragraph. When Distributed alignment is used, the orphan alignment setting determines the alignment of any orphans only if the orphan contains a single word.

• Paragraph Width: Specifies the width of each paragraph in the selected object.

  Opens the Paragraph Width dialog, where you can specify whether the text wraps within the object's defined width or whether the object automatically resizes to fit the width of the text.

• Indentation: Specifies the type of indentation. Options include:

  • (none): Specifies no indentation.

  • First Line: Specifies that the first line of text in each paragraph is indented.

  • Hanging: Specifies that every line of text in a paragraph is indented except the first line.

  For either First Line or Hanging, you can specify how far the text is indented.

The Auto Size feature resizes the text within an object to fit within a rectangle of a specified size. This is useful when the data that is contained in a paragraph is highly variable in length but must always fit within a certain area on the template. BarTender increases or decreases the font size of the text contents so that the text fits within the boundaries of the object.

• Font Point Size: Specifies the Minimum and Maximum point size. You can use this option to ensure that the text will never be too small or large. If you want the font to stay at a fixed height, set both Minimum and Maximum to the same value.

• Object Size: Specifies the height of the text object or of the human-readable characters of a barcode object.

• Alignment: Specifies the vertical alignment of the text within the object if it does not completely fill the height of the object.

The Tabs tab enables you to set tab stops for the paragraph. Tab stops define where your cursor stops when you press the Tab key on your keyboard or insert an <HT> character from the Insert Symbols or Special Characters dialog.

• Tab Stops: Enables you to set tab stops in the selected object.

• Default Tab Stops: Specifies the distance between tab stops and between the margin and the first tab stop.

• Custom: Enables you to add custom tab stops in addition to the default. To add a tab stop, enter a value in the Custom field, and then click Set. To remove a tab stop, select the tab stop, and then click Delete. To remove all custom tab stops, click Delete All.

The Spacing tab enables you to specify the vertical spacing between the lines in a paragraph and between paragraphs within a single object.

• Line Spacing: Specifies the vertical distance between the lines in a paragraph. Options include:

  • Single: Uses the line spacing value that is reported by the selected font, which is typically slightly larger than the font point size. If any data sources have different font sizes, the largest size is used to configure the line spacing.

  • 1.5 Lines: Uses one and a half times the size of single line spacing.

  • Double: Uses twice the size of single line spacing.

  • Triple: Uses three times the size of single line spacing.

  • Multiple: Uses the specified value as the amount of space between lines in a paragraph. For example, a value of 1.75 increases the single line spacing by 75 percent (one and three quarters times the size of single line spacing).

  • Uppercase: Sets the line spacing to a value that is appropriate for text that contains only uppercase characters.

  • At Least: Uses single line spacing if the specified value is less than the single line spacing value; otherwise, uses the specified value.

  • Exactly: Specifies a fixed line spacing amount in points. For example, a value of 14.0 pt will specify a line spacing of a 14-point font size.

• Before Paragraph: Specifies the amount of space above the paragraph, measured in lines or points.

• After Paragraph: Specifies the amount of space below the paragraph, measured in lines or points.

• Reading Order: Specifies the reading order for the object. Set this to Auto to use the reading order of the script that is identified on the Advanced tab of the Font property page. If you select a reading order that is not supported by the selected script, BarTender treats the text as directionally mixed.

The General tab enables you to set the alignment, amount of curvature, and angle of the text. A sample at the bottom of the page shows how your choices affect the formatting of the selected text object.

• Reference Point: Specifies the point around which the arc text is curved and from which the Radius distance is measured. The curvature of the text is determined by the distance (the radius) that the text is from the reference point; therefore, the closer the text is to the reference point, the more curved it will be.

  • Use Center of Template: Specifies that the radius is measured from the center of the template.

  • Use Position Settings: Specifies that the radius is measured from the coordinates of the object's reference point. You can specify this point by moving the object with the mouse or by defining the position by using the Position property page.

• Radius: Adjusts the curvature by specifying the distance between the Reference Point and the text. The curvature of the text is determined by the radius; therefore, the closer the text is to the reference point, the more curved it will be, as illustrated:

  

• Reference Angle: Specifies the angle to rotate the text around the Reference Point.

• Direction: Specifies the direction in which the text is displayed.

  • Clockwise: Specifies that the bottom of the text faces toward the reference point.

  • Counterclockwise: Specifies that the bottom of the text faces away from the reference point.

• Alignment: Specifies the alignment of the text relative to the imaginary radius line that extends from the Reference Point to the text, as illustrated.

  • Left: Specifies that the left edge of the text starts at the outer end of the imaginary radius line.

  • Center: Specifies that the text is centered at the outer end of the imaginary radius line.

  • Right: Specifies that the right edge of the text ends at the outer end of the imaginary radius line.

  

• Reading Order: Specifies the reading order for the object. Set this to Auto to use the reading order of the script that is identified on the Advanced tab of the Font property page. If you select a reading order that is not supported by the selected script, BarTender treats the text as directionally mixed.