Working with annotation

What is annotation?
Annotation is one option in ArcGIS for storing text to place on
your maps. With annotation, position, text string, and display
properties are all stored together and are all individually editable.
Adding dynamic labels is the other primary option for storing
text. If the exact position of each piece of text is important, then
you should store your text as annotation. ArcGIS fully supports
two types of annotation: geodatabase annotation and map
document annotation. ArcGIS also supports the display and
conversion of other annotation types including ArcInfo coverage
annotation and CAD annotation, although these types of
annotation cannot be edited.
Labeling is the main alternative to annotation. A labels text and
position are generated dynamically according to a set of
placement rules. To learn more about labeling, see Working with
labels earlier in this chapter.
Although annotation is mainly used to persist pieces of text
placed on or around a map, both geodatabase annotation and
map document annotation also support the storage of graphics,
such as rectangles, circles, and lines, as annotation. To learn more
about graphics, see Working with graphics earlier in this
chapter.

Making a map with annotation

Follow these steps to use annotation in your maps:
1. Add your existing annotation to ArcMap.
If you dont have annotation, you can label features in
ArcMap and convert the labels to annotation. To learn more,
see the sections on labeling in this chapter.
If you have coverage, CAD, or other annotation formats and
want your annotation to be editable or linked to features,

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convert them to geodatabase annotation using ArcToolbox.

To learn more, see Building a Geodatabase.
2. Change the symbology of your geodatabase annotation using
ArcMap editing tools. To learn more, see Editing in ArcMap.
You can change symbology for most annotation formats using
the Layer Properties dialog box. These changes are only in the
current map unless you save them in a .lyr file.
If you have map document annotation, use the Draw toolbar
to change symbology. To learn more, see Working with
graphics earlier in this chapter.
3. Use the ArcMap editing tools to position geodatabase
annotation. To learn more, see Editing in ArcMap.
If you are creating annotation from labels, you can minimize
manual positioning by working with the labeling options
before converting the labels to annotation.
If you have map document annotation, you can position it
using the Draw toolbar. To learn more, see Moving, rotating,
and ordering graphics earlier in this chapter.
4. Manage your geodatabase annotation with ArcCatalog. To
learn more, see Building a Geodatabase.

Geodatabase annotation
When creating new annotation or converting from existing
annotation or labels, you can choose between geodatabase
annotation and map document annotation. Geodatabase
annotation is stored in geodatabase annotation feature classes.
Conversely, map document annotation is stored in annotation
groups in a particular map document. Geodatabase annotation is
preferred if there are many pieces of annotation, if the annotation
needs to be used outside a single map document, or if there will
be several people concurrently editing the annotation.

USING ARCMAP

Storing annotation in a geodatabase is similar to storing

geographic featureslines, points, and polygonsin a
geodatabase. You can add annotation stored in a geodatabase to
any map, and it appears as an annotation layer in the ArcMap
table of contents.

If you move a feature, the annotation for that feature moves

with it. You can turn off this behavior when you create a new
feature-linked annotation feature class.

If you change an attribute of the feature that the annotation

text is based on, the annotation text changes.

Like other feature classes in a geodatabase, all features in an

annotation class have a geographic location, extent, and
attributes. Annotation feature classes can be inside a feature
dataset, or they can be standalone feature classes in a
geodatabase. However, annotation is unique because, unlike
simple features, each annotation feature has its own symbology.

If you delete the feature, the annotation is deleted.

An annotation class can be linked to only one feature class, but a

feature class can have any number of linked annotation feature
classes.

Geodatabase annotation can be standard annotation or featurelinked annotation. Standard annotation elements are pieces of
geographically placed text that are not formally associated with
features in the geodatabase. For example, you might have a piece
of standard annotation that represents a mountain rangethe
annotation simply marks the general area on the map. Featurelinked annotation is a special type of geodatabase annotation
that is directly linked to the features that are being annotated by a
geodatabase relationship class.

There are several ways to create feature-linked annotation. First,

if you have defined a feature-linked annotation feature class, then
as you create new features using the editing tools in ArcMap,
annotation will be created for these features automatically.
Second, you can also use the Annotate selected features
command in ArcMap to add linked annotation to existing
features. Finally, as you can with other types of annotation, you
can convert labels to feature-linked annotation in ArcMap or use
the ArcToolbox annotation conversion tools to create featurelinked annotation from coverage or CAD annotation.

Feature-linked annotation

To learn more about working with feature-linked annotation, see

Building a Geodatabase.

If you have an ArcEditor or ArcInfo license, you can create and

edit geodatabase annotation that is linked directly to the features
being annotated. If you have an ArcView license, you can view
feature-linked annotation but not create or edit it.

Choosing between geodatabase annotation and

map document annotation

Feature-linked annotation is similar to standard geodatabase

annotation but also has some behavior that makes it similar to
dynamic labeling.

When a new feature is created, new annotation is

automatically created. You can turn off this behavior when
you create a new feature-linked annotation feature class.

WORKING WITH GRAPHICS AND TEXT

Where should you store your annotation? The answer depends

on how you plan to use it.
If your text only applies to the current map, you might store
your text as map document annotation in an annotation
group. To learn more about map document annotation, see
Storing graphics as annotation earlier in this chapter.

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If you want to use your text in the current map and in others,
you should store your text as geodatabase annotation in one
or more annotation feature classes.

If your data is stored in an enterprise geodatabasethat is, an

ArcSDE geodatabaseyou should store your annotation in
that geodatabase to take advantage of versioning and the
multiuser enterprise editing environment.

If you want to use the specialized editing tools for creating

and editing annotation in ArcMap, you should store your text
as geodatabase annotation.

If you have more than a few hundred pieces of text, as a

general rule, you should store your annotation in a
geodatabase because ArcMap can access and display
geodatabase annotation quicker than map document
annotation. In addition, each piece of annotation stored as
map document annotation will increase the size of your map
document (.mxd).

See Displaying annotation in this chapter for more information

on adding these annotation formats to your map. See Building a
Geodatabase or the ArcGIS Desktop Help for more information
on displaying these annotation formats and converting them to
geodatabase annotation.

Other types of annotation

ArcGIS also supports the display and conversion of several
annotation formats including ArcInfo Workstation coverage, VPF,
CAD, PC ARC/INFO, and SDE 3.x annotation. You can add
these types of annotation directly to ArcMap and also change
most annotation layer symbology properties. For these formats,
however, you cannot change the symbology for individual pieces
of annotation and you cannot edit the annotation positions or
text strings. If you need these behaviors, convert your annotation
to geodatabase annotation or map document annotation using
the ArcToolbox annotation conversion tools. You can also use
these tools to create coverage annotation from geodatabase
annotation.

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USING ARCMAP

Displaying
annotation
You can display all types of
annotation in ArcMap for use in
your maps, including
geodatabase annotation,
coverage, CADand other
preexisting annotation formatsand map document
annotation.
With the exception of the map
document format, annotation is
added to ArcMap as you would
add other data. Annotation
appears with other geographic
data in the ArcMap table of
contents, and you can change
its display properties using the
Layer Properties dialog box as
you would for point, line, and
polygon features.
Annotation is, however,
different from simple point, line,
and polygon features.
Geodatabase annotation
features store their own
symbology, and to make
permanent changes to their
display, you use the ArcMap
editing tools. To learn more, see
Editing in ArcMap.
Likewise, you can change most
display characteristics of
coverage, CAD, SDE 3.x, and
VPF annotation, but these
formats internally store some
display properties that cannot
be changed in ArcMap. See u
WORKING WITH GRAPHICS AND TEXT

42

Displaying geodatabase
annotation

1. In the table of contents, rightclick the annotation layer

name and click Properties.
2. Click the Symbology tab.
3. Choose one of these options:

Disable substitutions, to
display with the original
(geodatabase-stored)
symbology
Substitute text color, to
display with the original
fonts, font sizes, and so on,
with only color changed
Substitute individual
symbols, to use symbols
different from the original in
the current layer

4. Optionally, click the Display

tab to set a transparency
level for your annotation and
specify whether the annotation layer should draw based
on its position in the table of
contents.
5. Optionally, click the Annotation tab to see a summary of
your annotation layers
properties.
6. Click OK.

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Building a Geodatabase to
learn more about loading
preexisting annotation formats
to the geodatabase. By converting your annotation to the
geodatabase, you will have
more flexibility in ArcGIS.

Displaying coverage and

SDE 3.x annotation

Map document annotation is

stored in map documents in
annotation groups and not as
separate data. To learn more
about displaying annotation in
this format, see Storing
graphics as annotation earlier
in this chapter.

3. Click an entry in the list of

symbol numbers ($SYMBOL)
to see and modify its display
properties.

Tip

5. Click OK to finish.

Working with coverage and

CAD display properties
With coverage and SDE 3.x
annotation, changing the size will
only have an effect if $SIZE = 0.
With CAD and VPF annotation,
changing the size will have no
effect. See the ArcGIS Desktop
Help for more information on these
annotation formats.

Displaying CAD and VPF

annotation

1. In the table of contents, rightclick the annotation layer

name and click Properties.
2. Click the Symbols tab.

4. To choose another text

symbol or to change additional properties, click the
Text symbol button.

1. In the table of contents, rightclick the annotation layer

name and click Properties.

2
3

2. Click the Fonts tab.

3. Click an entry in the list of
symbol numbers to see and
modify its display properties.
4. To choose another text
symbol or to change additional properties, click the
Text symbol button.
5. Click OK.

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5
USING ARCMAP

Using text
formatting tags
Text formatting tags let you
modify the formatting for a
portion of text to create mixedformat text where, for example,
one word in a sentence is
underlined.
Text formatting tags can be
used almost anywhere you see
textwhenever you can specify
both a text string and a text
symbol. You can use tags in
dynamic label expressions,
annotation, legend text, map
titles, and in the values of fields
used to label features. Tags
arent recognized by the table of
contents, Attribute table
window, or Identify Results
window, so tags added to field
values appear unformatted as
raw text in these windows.

Adding text with text

formatting tags

2. Click the mouse pointer over

the map display and type the
text.

Bold formatting tag

3. Press the Enter key. The

formatted text appears.
If the string you entered has
any syntax problems,
formatting will be disabled
and all the tags will appear
as plain text.

Editing text with

formatting tags
1. Click the Select Elements
button on the Draw toolbar
and double-click the text
element you want to edit.

See Also

3. Click OK to apply your

changes and view any
formatting changes on the
display.

WORKING WITH GRAPHICS AND TEXT

As you type formatting tags

into the string, you will see
the tags as plain text.

For more information on text

formatting tag syntax, see the
ArcGIS Desktop Help. See
Building label expressions
earlier in this chapter for using
formatting tags in dynamic
labels.

With geodatabase annotation, the

Attributes dialog box has a
formatted preview and lets you
create mixed-format text without
entering tag syntax. See Editing in
ArcMap for more information.

1. Click the New Text button on

the Draw toolbar.

The result: the text between the

formatting tags is bold.

The original text

2. Click the Text tab and modify

the text shown in the Text
box. Formatting tags will
appear here as plain text.

A formatting tag to italicize

north was added.

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