Merging Text with a Custom Template

When you choose Merge Text, by default Sketchpad merges the text of your various selected objects into a single, horizontal result, in which the text of each object runs into the text immediately following it, and in which all of the resulting text shares the same text style. If you would prefer to use a more complex layout, or if you would like to control the text style of separate components of your merged caption, you can use a custom template to define the overall appearance of Merge Text's final result.

A custom template is a caption that begins with the character "=" and includes parameters—represented as "{1}", "{2}", and so forth—indicating the various selected text components you wish to merge together. For example, the custom template "={1}{2}{3}" describes the default appearance when you use Merge Text to merge three pieces of text together horizontally. A custom template such as the one shown on left of the following illustration, on the other hand, describes an appearance consisting of a fraction, in which the first selected text component appears italicized in the numerator and the second selected text component appears in the denominator. When applied to two selected pieces of text—for example, captions A and B—the custom template on the left produces an appearance like that shown at right.

To apply a custom template to merged text:

1. Create a custom template using the Text tool. A custom template is any caption beginning with "=" and including "{1}." Use "{1}", "{2}", "{3}", and so on to refer the first, second, and third pieces of text on which you'll apply the template. Use the Text Palette and Symbolic Notation tools to style your template or apply other formatting. When you type a parameter into a custom template, be sure to use the keyboard to type "{1}", not the Symbolic Notation tools. Also, be sure all of the characters you enter for a single parameter share a common text style. Otherwise, Sketchpad won't know how to format the result.

2. Select the custom template first, and then select the various objects (captions, measurements, labeled objects, calculations, and functions) to which you wish to apply it.

3. Choose Merge Text from the Edit menu.

Sketchpad only applies a custom template if the template is the first selected object when you Merge Text.

Sketchpad displays the resulting merged text with the style and with the layout determined by the template. Once the result appears, the template no longer controls the result. (Changing the template after you've applied it will not change the result.) You can re-apply the same template to other pieces of selected text, or delete it from your sketch when you're done with it. The resulting merged text can be split back into its component pieces by Split Text, but if you split text merged with a custom template, the style and layout determined by the original template will be lost.