How does one work with text items

[BNSFrrFan]

Being new, I don't know terminology. Text is what I'm asking. How do I do text?

[Tom Springer]

David,

Shift this question into a separate thread, maybe "How does one work with text items", so it's separate from the earlier discussion, and we can describe things there, which would also help other new users see it in context.

[BNSFrrFan]

Thx Tom

[Tom Springer]

Some basics...

Text operates much like lines and surfaces do (rectangles and circles are just special-case surfaces).  Text can have color and your choice of fonts and font size, as well as a "height" (elevation), and can be rotated.  These can be set when the text item is selected, using the "tools text" tab.

Unlike surfaces, however, text items cannot be used with "snap to grid" to position them; for that, you'd have to click on the text item and set the x and y coordinates via the "tools text" tab.

Most importantly, like surfaces, they can not be "attached" to a track element.  One can place them on/near a track element but if the track is moved, the text item doesn't move "automatically".  So you can use a text item to "label" a track element, but you must move it if you move the track.  Maybe someday (hopefully), surfaces and text can be "attached" (associated with) track elements.

Here's one special function provided for handling text that I've found useful at times: text can be positioned ('aligned') as either "horizontal" or "vertical" by selecting the text item then via the "tools text" tab, choosing the horizontal or vertical orientation option; I've found this useful when I have a rotated text item in a layout at some angle and later want change the angle to another specific one; not remembering the current angle of the text item, I can "restore" the text item to horizontal then rotate it to the desired specific angle.

What other questions about text items do you have?