topic Re: How to change the text color of an Annotation class via arcpy? in Python Questions

How to change the text color of an Annotation class via arcpy?

lbd_bayern — Wed, 25 Oct 2023 09:26:45 GMT

I am struggling to change the text color of an Annotation class via arcpy.

For example, I have this in my ArcGIS Pro project:

A simple point which is annotated with the text "272.22".

The properties of this instance "272.22" of the Annotation class look as follows (some attribute values are German; "Platziert" means "placed", "Nein" means "no", "Unten" means "Bottom", "Links" means "left", so nothing wild):

If I look at the properties of the layer of the Annotation class in the content tree, the following properties are displayed (again some German attributes and attribute values, but I think the concrete values are not relevant for the problem and pretty self-explanatory as well):

How can I change the color of all the texts of this Annotation class via arcpy?

In my arcpy script, I already have a reference to the corresponding layer object (acquired via the listLayers() method of the active map). The Annotation's layer does not have a symbology, so I can't change the color via symbology.renderer.symbol.color. Is there a way for Annotations? I am executing my script in the ArcGIS Pro python window.

Re: How to change the text color of an Annotation class via arcpy?

CarstenB_orsted — Wed, 25 Oct 2023 13:50:09 GMT

I'm not sure you can do this with the functionality exposed in arcpy.

I think I would try CIM. It's a bit finicky to use, but you have access to all the settings that you have in the dialogs. The challenge is to find which setting to change in the huge JSONS.

More info here: Python CIM access—ArcGIS Pro | Documentation

I think I have seen a demo where they changed label colors using CIM. Maybe plenary at Developer Summit 2019?

Regards

Carsten

Re: How to change the text color of an Annotation class via arcpy?

CarstenB_orsted — Wed, 25 Oct 2023 14:05:15 GMT

It was this one I was thinking about: Map Automation - Esri Videos: GIS, Events, ArcGIS Products & Industries

Not exactly labels, but think you can do something similar.

Re: How to change the text color of an Annotation class via arcpy?

CarstenB_orsted — Wed, 25 Oct 2023 15:26:38 GMT

This code snippet makes all my annotation text blue 🙂

p = arcpy.mp.ArcGISProject("CURRENT")
m = p.listMaps()[0]
l = m.listLayers()[0]
cim_l = l.getDefinition('V3')
cim_l.symbolSubstitutionType = 'Color'
cim_l.massColorSubstitute.values = [0, 0, 255, 100]
l.setDefinition(cim_l)

I hope this can get you started! CIM is fun!

Regards

Carsten

Re: How to change the text color of an Annotation class via arcpy?

lbd_bayern — Mon, 06 Nov 2023 10:59:37 GMT

Hi Carsten,

nice, thank you so much! 😀 This is already what I needed. Cheers!

(PS: Sorry for my late response, had some stress in some other projects and also was sick for a few days.)

Re: How to change the text color of an Annotation class via arcpy?

CarstenB_orsted — Mon, 13 Nov 2023 15:58:19 GMT

No worries. I am happy that you could use it!

Re: How to change the text color of an Annotation class via arcpy?

TylerBoychuk — Tue, 18 Nov 2025 21:50:58 GMT

Old post I'm rehashing, but I ran into something that I thought could help others. Your comment totally helped get me in the right direction and learning about CIM, huge thanks!

I am working with automating conversion and publishing of CAD files, AutoCAD DWG specifically. When the annotation layer is added, by default the color is 'None' and this code doesn't work. I was getting an AttributeError that "object has no attribute type 'values'". I found in the documentation here that I had to create the color CIM object first and then set the definition with that when reading.

My code looks similar to this:

p = arcpy.mp.ArcGISProject("CURRENT") m = p.listMaps("Map Name")[0] l = m.listLayers("Layer Name")[0] cim_l = l.getDefinition('V3') cim_l.symbolSubstitutionType = 'Color' colorRGB = arcpy.cim.CreateCIMObjectFromClassName('CIMRGBColor', 'V3') colorRGB.values = [0, 0, 255, 100] cim_1.massColorSubstitute = colorRGB l.setDefinition(cim_l)