1. Unit Six: Labels In this unit… Review Adding Text to Maps
Annotation
Text Annotation & Graphics
Labeling
Label and Annotation Appearance
Scale
Formatting
This unit will introduce you to tools that add graphics and text which can emphasize or clarify the features of your map.
We will also see how managing the appearance of Labels differs from managing the appearance of other text and graphics.
UNHCE 02/22/05

2. Review
The appearance of features is often keyed to attribute table values.
The legend reflects those values.
We can add text to maps that is also keyed to the attribute data.
The relationship between Attribute Tables and the Feature Data will be important in this unit, but we will also see how text labeling effects can be realized using attribute values.
UNHCE 02/22/05

3. Adding Text to Maps There are two ways to add text to maps… “Labels”
Use data from attribute values to label features
Remain connected to the data
Are sometimes not editable
Can be dynamically placed on many features at once
Can be automatically turned “off” & “on” based on scale
Applies to ALL features in a layer (or to single features only when using the Label Tool)
“Annotation”
Not related to attribute data i.e. can be entered as text
May also be created from any number of labels
Always editable
Stored either in the map document, or in a special type of database (geodatabase)
Used to create fewer text objects – titles, notes, or a few feature descriptions
Note the differences between Annotation and Labels. These differences will help you decide which to employ in any situation
Annotation is introduced only in its simplest form in this unit – there are also methods for converting Labels into Annotation.
With that option, we derive the benefit of drawing values from the attributes table for our text
We also disconnect the labels from the attribute table when they are converted.
The principle benefit of converting to annotation is that each text item is now manageable individually.
In fact, the Label Tool is a means to instantly make labels into annotation. This confuses the distinction between annotation and labels a little because the result is annotation, but the source is not text entry, but an attribute from the attribute table. The result cannot be stored in a geodatabase like labels that are converted to annotation.
ArcMap’s help file call this function “Adding text associated with a single feature with the text string derived from a feature attribute “.
UNHCE 02/22/05

4. Text (not Label) Settings
Annotation & Graphics
Simple Annotation – adding simple text
Use the Text Tool dropdown to select a style
Click the map where the text will be located.
Type the text into the resulting dialog box
Bonus: Callout styles are editable! 2 3
The text tool on the Draw Tool Bar creates a number of annotation styles, and controls the appearance of the objects
Remember that annotations are actually graphics for the purpose of changing properties. But they are a special type of graphic, whose text content can be changed as well. 1
Text (not Label) Settings
UNHCE 02/22/05

5. Annotation & Graphics
Not-So-Simple Annotation – using a label tool to create annotation directly from attributes.
Use the Text Tool dropdown to select the Label Tool
Select the behavior you want for the labels
Click the feature where you want the annotation 2 3
The text tool on the Draw Tool Bar also contains a labeling tool which blurs the distinction between text annotation and labels for many people.
The label tool creates editable text objects that are linked to the data values (like a label) when they are created… but later changes in the attribute data WILL NOT be reflected in these labels. They become text annotation immediately so that you can change them if you want to. Were they to sense and reflect changes to the attribute table, they would be called “feature-linked labels”. 1
UNHCE 02/22/05

6. Annotation & Graphics Simple Annotation – Text properties Two tabs
In their simplest form, Annotations are stored in the Map Document. Their user-manageable properties are about position, color and content (i.e. the text)
A convenient shortcut is the double-click which bypasses the graphic content menu and goes straight to properties.
Right-click on any text object to gain access to the object’s context menu.
(or dbl-click to get properties)
UNHCE 02/22/05

7. Annotation & Graphic Appearance
Graphics – Supplement Labels and Annotation
Graphics are a context: use right-click menus.
…but graphics properties can be changed more quickly from the Draw Tool Bar.
Tool Bar is un-dockable (if you need to see other formatting options at bar’s end)
Another shortcut is the Draw Tool Bar. It contains fill, text color, text style, line and point properties for graphics.
It also contains a free rotation tool that makes orientation of text to features quite simple.
As we have seen, it also contains tools for creating annotation and graphics of various types.
Label properties are NOT manageable from the draw toolbar… Labels are managed through the Layer Context Menu
Label properties are set somewhere else (in the Layer Properties dialog).
Create graphics using the Graphics Tool
UNHCE 02/22/05

8. Indicate the field(s) where the label values are found.
Labeling
Prior to Labels
Indicate the field(s) where the label values are found.
clik!
The first step in labeling is to be sure that the attribute values from the correct field are being pointed to.
To the right of the label field dropdown box is an “Expression” button. This button allows expressions to be entered that specify complex labels containing text, spaces, carriage returns, and multiple fields. You can also embed html-like tags to control appearance.
Remember that the Layer Properties dialog has a context of Layer… you need to right-click on the name of the layer (not it’s symbol) to access Layer Properties
UNHCE 02/22/05

9. ArcMap does not support this.
Labeling
Labels: a toggle and a process…
Labels are a toggle: either all on or all off.
…but if you want to label a subset of features which are too many for the label tool, it requires a series of steps.
Remember: labels are different than text annotations … we won’t have to enter any values because they are retrieved from the Attribute Table
Labeling a subset of features requires a few steps… for example:
Set up map features
Set Layer Properties to point to correct Attribute Field
Turn labels on
Zoom to the desired scale
Note the scale, or set a “Data Frame Reference Scale”
Adjust the appearance of the labels using text settings & label placement options
Zoom to the extent containing the labels that you will convert
Convert the labels to “Annotation”.
We will practice conversion to annotation in a later unit.
AV 3.x users may be used to selecting features, and labeling only the selected features.
ArcMap does not support this.
UNHCE 02/22/05

10. Labeling Labels A toggle!
Note the selected features… they are labeled along with all the rest of the layer’s features.
clik!
The actual act of turning labels on is quite simple. You will take more time in sizing the labels for the scale that you will be viewing them, positioning them so that they are visible, setting parameters that determine which labels are viewed when they overlap (conflict resolution) etc.
Remember that the action of Labeling Features is a simple toggle: “on” or “off”. It is undone even quicker than it is done. Trial and error is painless.
Remember, too that selecting features in advance of labeling gets you nothing.
UNHCE 02/22/05

11. Label Appearance Formatting/Scale scale range placement
Layer Properties – Again!
scale range
Setting color and appearance of labels is very different from doing the same for annotations.
The properties for labels is in the Layer context because any labels are associated with a layer in the TOC directly – they have to be because they represent attribute data values.
Layer context means the Layer Properties dialog, in this case, the Labels tab.
Note the Conflict Detection tab in the Placement Properties dialog. It controls overlapping labels. By default, labels will not overlap so you may not see all the labels you expect to unless you open this tab and correct the settings dealing with conflict resolution and overlapping. You can also alter the scale at which the labels are created and viewed to correct such a situation.
Font & Color
placement
UNHCE 02/22/05

12. Chapter 6: Step 1 through END
Your turn…
Chapter 6: Step 1 through END
UNHCE 02/22/05