Where is the Maplex style label placement option?

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10-03-2016 09:41 AM
ThomasColson
MVP Frequent Contributor

I have a number of mxd-projects where I have put a significant amount of time into label placement using the Maplex engine. Tried importing these into Pro, with horrible results, as Pro includes only the basic label placement options. When will this feature be available in Pro?

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11 Replies
AdrianWelsh
MVP Honored Contributor

Hi Thomas,

It looks like ArcGIS Pro has Maplex in it, according to this document:

Label with the Maplex Label Engine—ArcGIS Pro | ArcGIS for Desktop 

Though, it does not indicate where to actually 'activate' the label engine...

It looks like you need to open up the feature layer ribbon and under it, click on the Labelling ribbon. On the right side, there is a More button and from there you can check on Maplex

ThomasColson
MVP Frequent Contributor

Yeah, took me a while to find that as well. Looks like on import of a MXD with existing Maplex labeling, it converts it to standard labeling. I manually updated on of my layers to revert back to the Maplex style I originally had, and WOW, was it slow! I'm used to a performance hit for using Maplex, but the performance hit in Pro is basically "so much it's unusable". 

AdrianWelsh
MVP Honored Contributor

That is unfortunate that #maplex has slowed Pro down so much. I am not sure what else to do at this point. Do you have tons of labels? Or are they pretty customized?

WendyHarrison
Esri Contributor

Hi Thomas,

Maplex has been included in Pro since 1.0 and is the default label engine for new maps.  When you import an mxd into Pro the appropriate label engine will be used - standard or maplex depending on how your mxd is set.

Let's look at this issue first - are you still experiencing it?  Can you share an mxd that exhibits this issue?

thanks

Wendy

ThomasColson
MVP Frequent Contributor

"Can you share an mxd that exhibits this issue?"

Yes...and no....I'd have to put some time into reconstructing something that I can share publicly...or with a TS analyst. I'm noticing that this only happens on layers where the symbology fails to import correctly: if the symbology (non-complex) imports, than the correct label engine is applied......

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WendyHarrison
Esri Contributor

We can easily do this through support.  Once they've reproduced the issue just have them give me a call and I'll take it from there.

I don't need a full map, just one layer with one feature will do it.

thanks

Wendy

ThomasColson
MVP Frequent Contributor

Both. Was kinda hopin' to use Pro and publish this as a vector tile layer. Customization is scale-specific, many scales, with different placement options at each scale, as well as vector/bitmap font substitutions for some layers. 

DevonBise
New Contributor III

I also wanted to note (hoping I didn't miss this in the replies) that editing annotation is not yet supported in Pro.  Esri indicated they are working to bring this functionality, so even using annotations wouldn't be a solution here.  In large maps with a lot of labels, Maplex can slow the application to the point of being borderline unusable.  

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WendyHarrison
Esri Contributor

Hi Devon

We're still working on editing annotation.  It will be available post Pro 1.4.

With regards to Pro slowing down when using Maplex - that shouldn't happen.  Labeling happens in a different thread so  you can continue working as the labels draw.  What are you seeing happen?

Wendy

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