HOW TO

Draw marker line symbols so that they are not rotated to follow the line and stay upright

Last Published: April 25, 2020

Summary

Instructions provided ensure that marker line symbols stay upright in a map by converting the symbology to Cartographic Representations. This does not affect corresponding labels even if they are rotated.

For example, marker line symbols, by default, are angled to follow the line:
[O-Image] Angled to follow line
An option for cartographic representations allows the marker line symbols to not be angled or rotated:
[O-Image] Not angled to line

Procedure

The features that are being symbolized must be in a geodatabase before proceeding. This is because Cartographic Representations can only be created for geodatabase feature classes.

  1. Right-click the feature class in the Table of Contents.
  2. Select 'Convert Symbology to Representation'.
  3. Name the representation using the default settings, click 'Add new layer to map symbolized with this representation' to uncheck it, and then click Convert.
  4. Right-click on the layer and navigate to Properties > Symbology.
  5. Under Representation, click the representation created in Step 3.
  6. Click the Marker Symbol tab, uncheck the box 'Angle to Line' in the Along line section, and click OK.
    [O-Image] Angle to Line

Article ID:000010810

Software:
  • ArcMap

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