# Label Object

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# Label Object

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This Display menu command allows you to create or edit the label of one or more selected objects.

The keyboard shortcut for Label Object is Alt+/ (Windows) or / (Mac).

If you have selected a single object, the Label Objects command opens the Properties dialog box for that object and displays the Label panel, where you can type a new label.

If you have selected more than one object, this command allows you to label all the selected objects, in a sequence.

If you hold the Shift key with no objects selected, the command becomes Reset Next Labels and allows you to reset the next labels that will used for all objects.

| Label Multiple Objects

If more than one object is selected, this command displays the Label Multiple Objects dialog box. Shortcut

If an object in your sketch already has the desired first label, you can select that object first, and then select the other objects to be relabeled. When you choose the Label command, you won’t have to type anything into the dialog box.

First Label: Type the label you want to assign to the first of the selected objects. Sketchpad will create a sequence of labels to use for the remaining selected objects. The sequence is produced by varying the last element of the first label. The last element can be a letter, a number, or a subscript (indicated by a letter or number enclosed in square brackets).

Show labels for all selected objects: If some of the selected objects aren’t already showing their labels, use this checkbox to determine whether or not the labels will be shown when you dismiss the dialog box.

Here are some examples of the labels Sketchpad will create, depending on what you type as the first label:

Type This: | To Produce This Sequence:
P | P, Q, R, S, T, …
d | d, e, f, g, h, …
P 1 | P 1, P 2, P 3, P 4, P 5, …
P[1] | P 1, P 2, P 3, P 4, P 5, …
A 98 | A 98, A 99, A 100, A 101, A 102, …
W | W, X, Y, Z 1, Z 2, …
1-a | 1-a, 1-b, 1-c, 1-d, 1-e, …

If you want to produce a sequence of labels in which the element that varies is not the last element of the label, use a custom label sequence starting with an equal sign and using "{...}" immediately following the element that should be varied. For instance, type =A{...}1 to generate A 1, B 1, C 1, D 1, and so forth.

| Reset Next Labels

The Reset Next Labels command appears when you hold the Shift key, and have no objects selected. Choose this command to reset the labels that will be used by newly-labeled objects. If you choose this command, the next point will be labeled A, the next straight object will be labeled j, and so forth. Resetting labels may result in duplication of labels. For instance, if your sketch already has labeled points when you choose this command, subsequently labeling additional points may result in two points labeled A, two points labeled B, and so forth.