HOW TO

Place labels above or below a line based on a field

Last Published: April 25, 2020

Summary

Instructions provided describe how to place labels above or below a line based on a field.When labeling line features in the Maplex Labeling Engine and setting the Constraint Settings, an angle of '0' must be set for the Orientation of Vertical Labels. If the angle is not set then the labels will appear on both the right and the left of the vertical lines.

Procedure

Create label classes where the first class contains the records for those labels to appear above the line feature and the second class contains the records for those labels to appear below the line feature.

Some of the line features are vertical; for those features 'above' and 'below' don't make sense for label placement. Instead, 'right' and 'left' make more sense. In order to control the label placement of vertical line features, the Orientation of Vertical Labels must be set.

  1. Open the Label Manager.

    Note:
    Use the Maplex Labeling Engine.

  2. Add a class for the features for those labels to appear above the line features

    Code:
    "SIDE" field = 'up'

  3. Repeat step 2 for the features for those labels to appear below the line features.

    Code:
    "SIDE" = 'down'

  4. In Placement Properties, set the 'up' label class to only display above
    the line 'at best' placement and the 'down' class to display below the
    line 'at best' position.
  5. On the Labeling Toolbar, navigate to Labeling Menu > Options > Orientation of Vertical Labels and set the angle to 0.

Article ID:000008848

Software:
  • ArcMap

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