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When working on some reaction schemes in ChemDraw, I sometimes forget to add text/captions with numbering and align it with my molecules before placing all the molecules in a reaction scheme and aligning that.

Now that I already have a scheme, adding the numbers to the molecules will either mean I have to place the numbers by hand (which would mean they are not exactly centered) or aligning the captions to the molecule. The latter option would work, but would also mean I have to redo a lot of the work aligning my scheme.

The question is then: Is there a way to automatically place a number under a molecule, so I do not have to worry about realigning everything?

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2 Answers 2

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There is no fully automatic method for creating labels. However, you can manually generate property labels, which are automatically placed and centred without disturbing any existing alignment, as follows.

Select the entire molecule, right-click the selected structure, then click Analysis, and then click one of the available options (Name, Chemical Formula, Exact Mass, Molecular Weight, m/z, or Elemental Analysis):

enter image description here

Use the Text tool (on the tool bar) to modify the text of the label (after your edit, you will receive the warning “This change to the text has caused auto-updating to be disabled.”):

enter image description here

You can use the Text menu, the Style toolbar, or shortcut keys (e.g. CTRL+B) to change the text format (structure labels are usually written in bold). Repeat this procedure for all relevant structures:

enter image description here

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  • $\begingroup$ Oooooh, I never knew that, great feature! $\endgroup$
    – Jan
    Commented Sep 14, 2016 at 16:24
  • $\begingroup$ Usually (personally) I manually create the textboxes and then use Object > Align... to get the desired alignment. Of course this works too. $\endgroup$
    – orthocresol
    Commented Dec 27, 2016 at 14:18
  • $\begingroup$ @orthocresol OK, however Object -> Align also moves the molecule, and OP wants to avoid that. $\endgroup$
    – user7951
    Commented Dec 27, 2016 at 14:43
  • $\begingroup$ Oh, yeah, oops, didn't see that. $\endgroup$
    – orthocresol
    Commented Dec 27, 2016 at 15:04
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Just obey these steps from the current manual (according ChemDraw V19.1 documentation):enter image description here

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    $\begingroup$ Welcome to Chemistry! A screenshot or picture of an exercise is not searchable. Please consider rewriting it, so that it can be of help for future visitors. $\endgroup$
    – Martin - マーチン ♦
    Commented Feb 6, 2021 at 0:38

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