How do I change the font when converting labels to annotations using Defense Mapping - Create Rapid Graphic?

MalikThrane1 · ‎09-19-2018

Hi,

I am trying to change annotation fonts in MRG maps, since the default Zurich Cn BT font does not support several characters in my map (the unsupported characters are displayed as a square). The annotation font I am trying to change to is Arial.

I can manually edit each annotation font to Arial after running Create Rapid Graphic, but this is not desired since there are lots of annotations with special characters in each MRG. The desired solution is to change the font in the setup so that the annotations have Arial as font when the MRGs are created.

The following is what I have tried to change in the setup:

I changed the featurelabels font, the features which the annotations are converted from, in the Map Document Template used in the Create Rapid Graphic Tool.

When I make an MRG on the modified mxd the visual representation of the annotations haven't changed (special characters are still displayed as squares), but I can see in the attribute table that the font name has changed to Arial, see attached Annotation1.png. (The featurelabels, however, have kept the Arial font and are displaying the special characters correctly.)

If I try to edit the annotation featureclass I can see that the font haven't changed from Zurich Cn BT, which explains why the annotations still display special characters as Squares, see attached Annotation2.png.

I have tried to look into the .py file called by the Create Rapid Graphic Tool, to see what happens when the annotations are created, but that lead nowhere.

So how can I change the font when converting labels to annotations when using the Create Rapid Graphic Tool?

Best regards

Malik

Bo_King · ‎09-20-2018

Hi Malik

Perhaps the easiest way to remove the Zurich fonts from the map template is to first remove all Zurich fonts from your machine. If you are using a Windows OS, the fonts should then default to Arial for both labels and graphic text on the map template. You may want to check the label expressions on a few layers to confirm the fonts defaulted to Arial. The Create Rapid Graphic tool also creates feature grids and associated grid annotation. Most of the Esri Defense Mapping grid XMLs are designed to use Zurich fonts, as defined in the related product specifications. The grid anno should also default to Arial when the Zurich fonts are not on the machine.

Please give the workflow above a try and let me know your results.

If you have additional questions, reply here, or post them to the Esri Defense Mapping page. Thanks.

Regards,

Bo

defense mapping

esri defense mapping

Esri Defense Mapping

MalikThrane1 · ‎02-25-2019

Hi Bo,

Thanks for the reply.

I did try your workflow, with a mixed result. The fonts were set to Arial, the default font, and the characters were shown in the map, which was what I wanted.
But the downside of the workflow was that since the legend was design with Zurich, the text and symbols no longer fitted in the legend. So the map was looking great, but the legend did not.

I have been asking around for other solutions, and still haven't got a solution.

Best regards

Malik

Bo_King · ‎03-22-2019

Hi Malik

The TM and MTM (former MRG) map templates are specifically designed to use the Zurich fonts, as based on the map product specifications. These templates use Zurich fonts in both the labels, and the map surround elements. Unfortunately the existing BitStream Zurich font sets do not contain all Unicode characters. You may find it easier to manually add the missing characters and diacritics, as separate anno features, rather than customize the entire map template to use the Arial fonts.

If however, you do choose to use the Arial fonts for labels, you may want to update only the layer files with Arial fonts, but keep the Zurich fonts in the map surround. Otherwise you would need to manually customize the map template surround elements, such as the legend.

Regards,

Bo

MalikThrane1 · ‎03-25-2019

Hi Bo,

Thanks for the reply, the other mail, and the workaround solutions. Good to know which opportunities there are, so I don’t have to try all sorts of workarounds.

Best regards

Malik

Fra: Bo King <geonet@esri.com>

Sendt: Friday, March 22, 2019 11:16 PM

Til: Malik Thrane <mathr@sdfe.dk>

Emne: Re: - Re: How do I change the font when converting labels to annotations using Defense Mapping - Create Rapid Graphic?

GeoNet <https://community.esri.com/?et=watches.email.thread>

Re: How do I change the font when converting labels to annotations using Defense Mapping - Create Rapid Graphic?

reply from Bo King<https://community.esri.com/people/bking-esristaff?et=watches.email.thread> in Esri Technical Support - View the full discussion<https://community.esri.com/message/840400-re-how-do-i-change-the-font-when-converting-labels-to-annotations-using-defense-mapping-create-rapid-graphic?commentID=840400&et=watches.email.thread#comment-840400>

MalikThrane1 · ‎02-26-2019

Hi Bo,

A quick follow up question:

Does Production Mapping for Server: Product on Demand have the same issue?

Cheers

Malik

Bo_King · ‎03-22-2019

Hi Malik

The server solution uses the same map templates with Zurich fonts, as noted above.

Regards,

Bo