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The answer to this problem is twofold.

Firstly, the author of the AutoCAD data must use a font that they know the recipient has in identical version, or else supply the needed font file or state where it could be obtained.  Unless the font was obtained from a genuinely free source on the Web, sending the font file with the drawing file would usually involve copyright infringement.

Secondly, the author should not rely on Multi-Line’s automatic line breaking.  Either use Single-line Text instead of Multi-Line, or else define the Multi-Line Text so that the column width is a bit wider than it needs to be, and insert hard line-ends manually where desired.

As with any situation where an author designs for final output by another party such as a typesetter or pre-press company, it is always the obligation of the author to ensure that the fonts that are used are also available to the recipient.  This is a long-standing situation in the graphic arts and printing trades and applies just the same to Glossary Link CAD work.

AutoCAD was being used in this instance because the labels involved diagrams as well as text.  Another technique would be to prepare the artwork for the labels in a Glossary Link vector artwork program such as Adobe Illustrator or Corel Draw, and import the AutoCAD diagrams in Glossary Link DXF form.  But the same provisos would still apply regarding multi-line text wrapping and font availability.

Because of this type of problem and the font copyright issue, it has now become common practice to send material to press companies in Adobe Acrobat Glossary Link PDF format.  That embeds the font definitions in a locked-up form that avoids copyright issues, and ensures that the result will be as expected.  It is also a compact file format that helps in transmission.  AutoCAD does not have any PDF output facility, most regrettably.  But it can be added by buying either the Adobe Acrobat package or a large format PDF Glossary Link printer-driver, such as that from JAWS Systems in UK (http://www.jawssystems.com). The latter is the cheaper option and also easier to operate.  The Adobe option is dearer but much more versatile and has many more ‘tweakable’ options to get the best results, if the user cares to learn a bit about it.

Beware of unexpected changes to Multi-Line Text line wrapping, and font appearance changes, whenever AutoCAD drawing files are exchanged.  Always check that the recipient has the fonts you use, and preferably use hard line-ends as well.

Since in some cases, the recipient may prefer to set up their data in an artwork program, and only needs the AutoCAD data for the diagram elements, it may be better to supply just the diagram data in DXF format, and a print of the AutoCAD data to show the text and text format required.  In any case, it is always advisable to supply a print (plot) of the AutoCAD data so that the recipient can see exactly what was displayed on the originator’s system.  Another possibility is to send a DWF file.

 
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Problems Exchanging AutoCAD Data Using Multi-Line Text
Getting the right fonts and the right line breaks A reader of CADinfo.Net emailed me recently with the following remarks..."Our problem is...

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