Appreciation post: A client's weird request taught me a new trick for site plans

So last week I was working on a site plan for a small office park in Tempe, and the client asked me to show every single parking space number. I mean, all 87 of them. I was about to do it the slow way, one by one, and it was going to take forever. Then I remembered a trick from a forum post I saw ages ago about using a field in the text style that links to an incrementing number. I set it up once, used the array tool along the parking grid, and bam, all the numbers were there in order in like two minutes. The client was super happy with how clear it was. I felt like a genius for finally using that tip. Has anyone else found a good use for that text field trick on other kinds of plans?

2 comments

2 Comments

piper17518d ago

Yeah, that field trick is a lifesaver for unit numbers in apartment buildings too. You can set up one label for apartment doors, array it down the hall, and it auto-fills 101, 102, 103. Saves so much time over typing each one.

jamesmason18d ago

Oh man, you're totally right. I did that for a whole hotel floor last month, room numbers and everything. Setting up that first label with the increment is a bit of a puzzle, but once it clicks, you just copy and paste down the line. It feels like magic watching all the numbers fill in by themselves.