Tutorial #3
Attaching Labels to a Layer

Note: The functionality in this tutorial is now more easily accomplished by using the Layer Captions and Labels form (v2.5.3 or higher) found on the Layers tab of the main screen. And as of version 3.1.0, each call can be assigned a custom label using the Set Call Label function as well. This tutorial was left here because by walking through it you may find additional uses for the X,Y Waypoints feature.

This tutorial will show you how to attach labels to a layer. Unlike the drawing level labels, these labels will move along with a layer if the layer is moved and will stay in position relative to the lines if the drawing's scale is changed.

Note:  This tutorial was written using v2.4.2 and updated for 2.5.0  of Metes and Bounds. If you are using a different version, your screenshots may look slightly different. But the basic functionality should be the same. Also, this tutorial assumes that are using a registered Pro version. If you are using the Basic or Unregistered version, not all of these features will be available.

Attaching labels to a layer:

Start by creating a new drawing.

The first thing we need to do is enter in some sample data. For this tutorial, we will create a simple square plot. To do so, enter in the following data:

N 100
E 100
S 100
W 100

You should now have a square in the center of your window.

Now select the Layer tab and choose X,Y from the Waypoints popup menu. This will bring up the X,Y Points window.

We want our labels to be at the center point of each line, so from the Options menu, choose Create Points from Line Midpoints. This will create four points for us, one at the midpoint of each line. Press the Apply button to see the points.

To make the descriptions visible, you can either check each of the checkboxes by hand, or you can choose Show All Descriptions from the Options menu. Press the Apply button to see the descriptions.

Now we are going to remove the blue Xs. To do so, click on the blue X for Midpoint 1 and choose the blank icon from the popup menu. The blank icon is just below the yellow flag. You could do this for each blue X, but that could end up being a lot of work on a large plot. So instead, after you have changed the first icon, go to the Options menu and choose the Set All Icons to Last Chosen Icon menu. This will set all of the icons to the blank icon. Press the Apply button to see the blue Xs disappear.

As you can see, Midpoints 2 and 4 are pretty well aligned, but Midpoints 1 and 3 could use a little tweaking. Lets move Midpoint 1 up a little and to the left and lets move Midpoint 3 up and to the right.

To adjust the location of the descriptions, we will use the dx and dy fields. These two fields are the offset, in pixels, that will be used when drawing the descriptions. The X and Y fields are in feet. So if we were to change the label's offset in the X,Y fields, we could end up with undesirable results if the drawing's scale gets changed. The result of adjusting the X,Y fields would be similar to how the drawing level labels function.

For Midpoint 1, enter -35 in the dx field and enter -10 in the dy field.
For Midpoint 3, enter 35 in the dx field and enter -10 in the dy field.

Press the Save and Close button.

Your final image should look like the image below. You may need to adjust the dx and dy values slightly depending on your system's default font type and size.

The X,Y waypoint icons and descriptions can also be moved on screen using the mouse.