topic Re: My text is too big. in ArcGIS Pro Questions

My text is too big.

ajkelsey — Sat, 16 Jun 2018 16:14:00 GMT

This is my first time adding text to a map. After reading the online help, annotation seems to be how I shouljd go about it. I am drawing a small map of a downtown area and I am trying to label the streets. Setting the font size at 6 points still has it way too big for my map. See attached. I would appreciate any tips.

Re: My text is too big.

DanPatterson_Retired — Sun, 17 Jun 2018 07:12:53 GMT

Rather than adding text in that fashion, try reading the sections on labelling. With the standard and Maplex options, you have greater flexibility and control

Labeling basics—ArcGIS Pro | ArcGIS Desktop

Re: My text is too big.

ajkelsey — Sun, 17 Jun 2018 11:52:51 GMT

Aren't labels associated with a features based on field names? I want to place names on the streets and those are between features.

Re: My text is too big.

DanPatterson_Retired — Sun, 17 Jun 2018 16:15:52 GMT

Don't you have a street file that you could label?

Re: My text is too big.

ajkelsey — Wed, 20 Jun 2018 20:58:45 GMT

No. What is a street file?

Re: My text is too big.

deleted-user-qpvAI3Fo0MKR — Wed, 20 Jun 2018 21:25:54 GMT

Dan Patterson was asking you if you have a feature class or a shapefile of your streets (AKA Streets file).

IF you do, then perhaps the file would contain a NAME #attribute, which you could #label off of.

Re: My text is too big.

ajkelsey — Wed, 20 Jun 2018 21:29:52 GMT

I do not. The streets are the negative space between my block polygons. I suppose I could create polygons between those for the labeling. It seems like that may be the solution that I need to use.

Re: My text is too big.

deleted-user-qpvAI3Fo0MKR — Wed, 20 Jun 2018 21:33:16 GMT

You're making work for yourself...streets data are fairly common

Start by looking here, and if these are insufficient I'd also suggest looking for your county or municipal data portal. Let us know, please!

Re: My text is too big.

ajkelsey — Wed, 20 Jun 2018 21:37:47 GMT

I do have road edges from my county, but I didn't like it. It also included building outlines and some other "errors" I didn't care for. So I decided to create my street network by tracing the parcel data. I'm not doing a large area, so adding those additional polygons won't be too much work. But you could very well be right that this isn't the best way to draw my map. At least I am learning, though. The jpg attached to my original post shows the extent to which I am drawing.

Re: My text is too big.

deleted-user-qpvAI3Fo0MKR — Wed, 20 Jun 2018 21:40:16 GMT

I'd still download the necessary TIGER data, then use the labeling manager to label your roads. Change the symbology to transparent. Voila.

Good luck!

Re: My text is too big.

ajkelsey — Wed, 20 Jun 2018 21:52:37 GMT

That's a good idea. I'll have to make some corrections, but I am going to try that. Thanks!

Re: My text is too big.

ajkelsey — Wed, 20 Jun 2018 22:43:47 GMT

Is there a way to indicate the street is a one way using this method?

Re: My text is too big.

deleted-user-qpvAI3Fo0MKR — Thu, 21 Jun 2018 13:17:33 GMT

You're asking about network flow now. Your Streets data would need to have a To field and a From field along with known points in order for this to work. I believe Esri's streets network that's leveraged in the Business Analyst data do have this type of information, but I'm fairy certain the TIGER data does not.

Re: My text is too big.

ajkelsey — Thu, 21 Jun 2018 14:13:44 GMT

I will look into what you mentioned. Now that I'm thinking about it, I can probably achieve what I need using a point feature. I only have a couple places I need to indicate direction.

Re: My text is too big.

deleted-user-qpvAI3Fo0MKR — Thu, 21 Jun 2018 14:14:53 GMT

You can also just draw arrows in as needed in lieu of creating new point features. Just use the drawing tool

Re: My text is too big.

ajkelsey — Thu, 21 Jun 2018 14:18:44 GMT

I will now go learn about the draw tool. Thanks for the insight.

Re: My text is too big.

deleted-user-qpvAI3Fo0MKR — Thu, 21 Jun 2018 14:27:29 GMT

In Pro the workflow is to create your layout, then use the Insert -> Graphics:

You can modify the line feature to include arrowheads.