Labeling map features

Text on a map can serve many different purposes. One of the most important functions of map text is to describe, or label, features. The most common labels are names—for example, street names, place names, and names of landforms or water bodies. In ArcMap, label text comes from a field in a layer's attribute table.

The source of the labels in this map is the CNTRYNAME field in the Countries attribute table.

Labels can be added to a map in two different ways: dynamically or interactively.

· Dynamic labels are generated on the fly for all the features in a layer at once. You can specify label properties such as the font, size, color, and position in relation to the feature being labeled (such as top left, bottom center, top right).

· Interactive labels are created by clicking individual features in the map. Interactive labels may use the same label properties specified for the layer, or you can set different ones.

What if you want to label something on your map that isn't actually represented in a layer? For example, maybe you have a layer of mountain peaks and you want to label the whole mountain range. You can do this by manually adding the desired text to the map.

When the text you want isn't available in an attribute or isn't associated with a feature, you can manually add it to the map.

In technical terms, text added manually to a map is called annotation. Unlike dynamic labels, which get their properties from a layer, each piece of annotation has its own properties that are stored either in a map document or in a database.

Annotation and dynamic labels behave differently in ArcMap. Annotation always stays at the position where you place it, but you can reposition it as desired. The placement of dynamic labels, on the other hand, is determined by ArcMap and is based on the current map extent and the number of features being displayed in that extent. As the map is zoomed in and out, the position of dynamic labels will change as ArcMap determines the best placement for them. Dynamic feature labels may move, appear, or disappear as the available space on the map changes.

Both kinds of map text have advantages. Dynamic labels are an easy way to label many features at once. You can convert dynamic labels to annotation if you need to edit the appearance or placement of individual labels.