Creating your own title blocks

What is a title block?

A title block is a template that contains important information about the schematic design that helps creators and clients align with each other.

What information is found in the title block?

A title block typically contains information about the design firm, such as its name, address, and logo. It can also display information about the project, client, and individual sheets, including created dates and revision information.

The anatomy of a title block

A title block can consist of the following:

Below is a title block example:

Title block creation process

To create your own title block blueprint:

Insert title block zones onto a blank page.
Insert static text and static graphics.
Insert automatic text.
Insert user data (page or document scope).
Select and group all shapes together.
Select all and click menu Title Blocks | Create Title Block.
Type in a name and a prompt for your title block, and click OK.

Inserting title block zones

The title block zones automatically setup and divide your page into location zones based on your settings in File | Preferences | Location.

Drag and drop the Zones symbol onto your drawing

By dropping the Zones symbol onto the page, together with other title block shapes, you can create your own custom title block design.

Location Zone Options

Inserting static text and graphics for drafting title block

To include static text and graphics in your title block blueprint:

Create your graphics and text using the drawing and text tools.
Import images that you need to include in your title block.
To import an image, simply drag and drop the file to the page, and it will be imported. Please note that the supported file types are PNG, JPG, and SVG.
If necessary, group them and place them in the desired location on your title block.

Inserting your logo into your title block

Inserting automatic text

Capital Electra X provides a host of automatic shapes including pages, scales and editing dates that can be placed on your title blocks. Just drag and drop them onto your drawing from the Title Block stencil. Right click on them for more options and put them in your desired position.

Insert automatic fields into your title block

Creating and inserting user data

To create User Data in your title block drawing:

Draw a box and select it.
Click menu Title Blocks | Insert Title Block Data.
Type in a name for your Title Block Data, e.g. Project or Page Author.
Type in the default value based on your preferences.
Select Document scope for data that applies throughout the document or Page scope for data that applies to the current page only.

The custom title block data is now ready to be used on your custom title block. Drag the handles of the rectangle to position and resize your title block data.

Create your own user data

Use a variety of pre-made title blocks or easily create a beautiful one yourself

The create title block window

After selecting all the shapes that make up your custom title block, group them together, then click on the menu Title Blocks | Create Title Block. Type in a name and prompt for your custom title block design, and click OK. Your new custom title block will now be saved and stored in a stencil of your choosing, ready to be used.

Using a custom title block

To use your custom title block design:

Open the drawing that you’d like to work on.
Find the stencils that you use to save your custom title block from the stencils menu.
Drag and drop your custom title block from stencil onto your drawing.

Your custom title block will automatically resize based on the page size of the drawing.

To edit and modify title block data:

Open the stencils that you use to save your custom title block from the stencils menu.
Drag and drop your custom title block from stencil onto your drawing.
Right click on the title block and select Edit Title Block.
You can now edit the Page scope or Document scope data that you need and click OK to save it.
Extra: You can also drag and drop the modified title block into your custom stencil to save it so that you can reuse it again for your next projects.

Editing a title block

Editing the title block icon

An icon will be generated automatically when the title block is added to a stencil. Right click on the newly created title block in the stencil and select Edit Icon to modify icons.

Exporting title block data

To export your title block data:

Click menu Title Blocks | Export title block data.
The exported title block data will only export custom page scope data.
The exported title block data may be opened in a spreadsheet editor to make further modifications. After modification, save the file as tab-separated values (TSV), comma-separated values (CSV), or Javascript object notation (JSON) to be imported back into the drawing.

You can choose your desired export file format in the Preferences dialog under Capital Electra Options | Export format.

Export Format

Importing title block data

To import your title block data:

Click menu Title Blocks | Import title block data.
Select any tab-separated values (TSV), comma-separated values (CSV), or Javascript object notation (JSON) file, or the file that you have modified earlier.
Your title block data will be updated accordingly.

Fit the title block to the page margin

To fit the title block to the page margin.

Set the page margin section on the Page Setup.
Drop the Zones from the Title block stencil onto the page and the title block will automatically fit based on the margin you set.

Automatically insert title block after creating a new page

To insert a title block automatically after creating a new page:

Go to File | Preferences | General and enable the Automatically insert title block after creating a new page selection.
Drop a title block on the current page and create a new page.
Now the title block will be automatically included on the newly added pages.

Automatically insert title block after creating a new page

Loading a title block into a project

You can use previously created blocks to streamline the look of your project documents. Title blocks can be loaded onto a project through the following steps:

Open the stencil that contains your custom title block.
Drag and drop the title block onto the drawing page and it will be resized based on your page size accordingly.

Updating title blocks on a sheet

You can update title blocks that have been loaded onto a sheet to keep it up-to-date whenever a project’s information changes.

To change the title block displayed on the sheet, follow the method below:

Right-click on the title block and select Edit title block.
Edit the title block information based on your requirements and click OK to save.