When having fine grain control of labels is a must, I prefer to convert labels to geodatabase annotation and then edit the annotation features that don't suit my cartographic goals. I prefer to use GDB annotations because it's not uncommon for people to later ask me to pan the map in a certain direction or zoom in/out a little more to give them more space. GDB annotation, as opposed to graphic labels, stays in the correct place when this is done. And you can reuse the annotations in multiple maps with the same layout out extent but different layers in lower portions of the table of contents.
ArcMap allowed you to edit features, including annotation, in layout mode. It doesn't look like Pro will allow this. So after I edit a particular annotation, I have to switch back to layout mode to pan or zoom to the next edit. Otherwise the map extent will change and the subject matter area will not be correct. Then I have to switch back to the data frame and then click the edit tab to make my next edit. So the clicks after each edit are
- change the view to layout out mode.
- click the layout navigation tool
- navigate the layout to my next annotation edit, zoom in when detail is necessary
- click the "activate map frame" button
- click the edit tab
- click the edit tool that I need (create, move or rotate).
- finally get to make the edit
Hopefully I don't sound picky or lazy, but that's quite inefficient. I remember seeing a post where ESRI carefully studied how many clicks were needed and also how far the mouse had to travel for people to complete a task (this was quite some time in the past before Pro was probably on the horizon). So it seems like this is an important consideration to their software designers. Part of me appreciates the organization that the tabbed ribbon provides, but it causes a lot more clicks and increased mouse 'travel distance'. My wrist can get a bit tired. I have been adding my frequently needed tools to the 'ribbon' across the top - in fact I put the two buttons that toggle between map and layout modes up the to somewhat improve my annotation editing workflows. But it doesn't help very much.
I've also tried locking the map frame in hopes that pans and zooms would not change the map extent in layout mode, but that hasn't helped. So if I forget to switch back to layout mode before I scroll the mouse wheel or pan, I have to use a bookmark to return my map to the correct extent. Then switch to layout to zoom to the correct location.....and so on with the number of click I listed above.
Is there any type of work-around to editing GDB annotation efficiently in Pro? If not, I may add this to the 'Ideas' page. Thanks!
