We’re looking at making the jump to doing construction documents in LayOut. We have multiple pages of specifications that span multiple columns on a 24x36 sheet for example. Currently we are manually editing the columns. This is not only cumbersome but negates auto-numbering.
Adding columns with word wrap would be hugely helpful. The ability to wrap onto another page would be even better! Thanks for considering this request.
I agree there is room for improvement with how layout handles text and tables. However you might consider taking text that is used on many projects and putting it in a scrap book. I have many notes that arent used on every project. I just drag and drop them from a scrap book. In the scrap book they are sized down so I only see the title then after placing them I just size the column. A word processor is still the best way to compose lengthy text then copy and past to layout. Templates containing pre defined columns would be the way to go. Then paste the text in and if it runs over the page cut that text out and paste it to the next page or column.
Thanks for the response! We would have all of the sheets including specifications already set up in a template so it’s formatted when we start a new project. However, we often need to edit the specs to match the parameters of the project. Having the columns update would be a huge timesaver. We already do this in AutoCAD which has a decent text editor. I appreciate LayOut is not a word processor but if it is going to be a viable solution for project documentation, then I think a basic text editor is a necessary feature.
We’ve experimented with RTF and Excel imports but aside from the fact I don’t have Excel (using Numbers on a Mac then exporting to .xls format), that adds to our workflow rather than streamlining it and then we run into cleaning up the formatting every time. We’re looking for as many native solutions as possible. I love the auto-text and many other LO features. Would be great to add text columns to the list of great LO features.
Well the category is “feature requests” so that is my request 
I like what LO has to offer and looking forward to future updates. Appreciate the dialog and suggestions.
Understood, because its of interest to me I chimed in. Just so you know you can insert a .txt file and if its edited you can update the .txt file from document setup> reference . I havent messed around to see if you can get around the formatting of a text file but as an example I prefer Google Sheets to Excel. but it doesnt work easily with Sketchup, not unlike your Mac issue, however I use an open source spread sheet to edit the information in my schedules. save as an .xlsx then when updating the table that Ive formatted in Layout you can select to use the .xlsx but not format only use the data. It works better than a .csv import and update. Discussions like this do get read and it helps for the Sketchup staff to see how users are handling these issues as Layout continues to become a stronger tool for documentation. Good suggestion!
@StudioDROM Just curious, but why doesn’t the native LO Table function work for you? On my iMac it seems to have everything you are asking for.
@DGSketcher We’re using tables for schedules and sheet index (with auto-text to auto populate the sheet names). I hadn’t considered using it for columns.
Unfortunately, it’s the same issue where the text does not wrap into the next column (I had high hopes!). And unlike the text boxes that we’re already using, when you hit tab for indents, the cursor advances to the next cell. I tried OPT-TAB, CMD-TAB, CNTRL-TAB and none result in a tab within the cell.
I appreciate the suggestion. I’m all for using native LO functions but unfortunately there doesn’t seem to be a viable solution yet. Hopefully the text editor will get some love on the next update.
I assume you already know this but if you are working to a template layout, you can merge fields and overlay tables to give any arrangement of boxes you want…
For anyone else like me that is reasonably new to SU/LO here’s a link to the help page that better explains table navigation & formatting…
https://help.sketchup.com/en/layout/adding-tables-document#type-text
@DGSketcher Thanks for taking the time to respond and offer up alternatives. In that scenario, the table format and the time spent setting it up is negated if we were to make a single edit. For example, palm trees have their own category but we don’t use them on every project. So if we add or delete, the column and numbering should update accordingly. Our irrigation specifications span two sheets so we use all four columns on one sheet and three more on the next. Here’s an example of our planting specs. Coincidentally, we are using a table at the bottom of column 2 to list the tablet counts …
@StudioDROM really appreciate you posting this. Im a Layout cheerleader, even as I sometimes struggle immensely with it.
Anything to do with Text, especially on the Mac, is, while functional, replete with update/upgrade opportunities. Your thoughts are exactly what I would love to see.
I would echo @ivanjones thoughts on scrapbooks. It’s still manual entry fiddliness. Better to have a Layout file with all boilerplate text already written in place and just delete what isn’t needed for each project and then print to PDF.
Hope this gets attention.
Thanks @KeithBrooks … it’s good to know there are other professionals looking for similar functionality. We arrived at the boilerplate solution as well that includes all of our specification text. However, deleting still requires some manual adjustments but in the grand scheme of things, minor inconvenience.
I was also hoping for a proper indent/outdent button and in the process discovered that the tab key is the indent and shift-tab is outdent. Did not realize that. And while I was editing, discovered that highlighting multiple and hitting tab does not replace the selection with a tab but instead indents selected text. Unfortunately there seems to be a glitch were numbering restarts on the last item selected.
Thanks for adding to the discussion. Looking forward to what the LO team delivers in the next update!
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