MAPublisher LabelPro Rules

MAPublisher LabelPro provides users with an intuitive, easy to understand graphical user interface for setting up labeling rules. Each Point, Line, and Area rule dialogue box has numerous label placement options for a high level of label detail and a variety of configurations.

To access label rules for each layer, make sure it is set to be labeled, then locate the Rules drop-down list. Click the Rules edit button beside the list to open either the Area, Line, or Point Rules dialogue box.

Rules operate in a very similar approach to styles in that once added to the Rules list, they can be immediately applied, reused later in the same file or in other documents provided they are being applied to the same type of data. Rules are saved to the Area, Line, or Point folder depending on the feature type of the MAP layer.

MAPublisher LabelPro offers a pre-configured [Default] rule for each data type. It is loaded by default and used until new rules have been created or selected. The default rules are a good starting choice as it is configured to be useful for the most common labeling situations, however, creating custom rules can be very useful when specific labeling conventions are required. Default rules can be overwritten. Saved rules are added to the Rules drop-down list.

In an Area, Point, or Line Rule dialogue box, the rules are organized into tabs based on Placement, Grouping (Lines only), Fitting, and Conflict Avoidance. The sequence in which the rule options appear and are checked has no bearing on the order of label placement, only whether the option is enabled or not. Adjust the Priority value of layers to adjust the sequence of label placement.

Existing rules may be deleted by selecting them from the Rules drop-down list and clicking the Delete button.

When a saved rule is modified, it turns into an unsaved rule indicated by the name [Custom]. Click the Save button to save the rule as new or overwrite an existing one. Rule files are saved to either a point, line, or area folder depending on the type of map layer it is associated with. Rules are saved to the location set in MAPublisher Preferences. The default locations are:

Windows: C:\ProgramData\Avenza\MAPublisher 11.4\LabelPro\Rules

Mac: Applications/Avenza/MAPublisher 11.4/MAPublisher Plug-In/LabelPro/Rules

 Labeling results will vary depending on which rules are enabled. If no rules are enabled, MAP LabelPro will not perform any labeling.

Area Rules

The Area Rules dialogue box contains the label configuration options for labeling Area layers. Rules can be set by selecting an area feature type layer and clicking the Rules edit button in the Rules column. The placement settings below represent the default configuration, however, these settings may be changed to match any labeling requirements. Click the Save button to save the rules to the file. Click OK to confirm the current settings.

Placement

Fitting

Conflict Avoidance

About Allow overlapping labels

When the Allow overlapping labels rule is enabled, labels are placed without applying other placement rules. In other words, this discards other specified rules and labels that are "forced" in their first position. Generally, it is recommended to leave this rule off and use Allow font reduction, Allow stacking, and Allow use of leader lines to increase label placement.

 For Area type data, labels are placed relative to an object's centroid.

 For areas grouped in a compound path, the largest area of the compound will be labeled.

Line Rules

The Line Rules dialogue box contains the label configuration options for labeling Line layers. Rules can be set by selecting a line feature type layer and clicking the Rules edit button in the Rules column. The placement settings in the graphic below represent the default configuration, however, these settings may be changed to match any labeling requirements. Click the Save button to save the rules to the file. Click OK to confirm the current settings.

Placement

Grouping

Fitting

Conflict Avoidance

 

 Text as obstacles will not work unless the Allow labels to cross lines option is disabled. This is because text obstacles are treated as areas and not as text. Also, text will only be avoided being placed where it intersects the outline of the shape and not within it.

 Using the Placement option Vertical Split may require additional line smoothing (straightening or simplifying).

Offset distance is the distance between the very outside extent of an object and the very outside extent of the text bounding box. Offset range uses the position of the text anchor, not the bounding box, to calculate label placement. When offset range is used, MAPublisher attempts to place labels close to the minimum range value.

Point Rules

The Point Rules dialog box contains the label configuration options for labeling Point layers and follows the same conventions mentioned for the previous two data types.

Placement

Fitting

Conflict Avoidance

 

 For each point label there is a fixed minimal zone of 0.3 inches, within which no other point feature can be labelled. Consequently, when two point features are closer than 0.3 inches of each other, their labels are automatically placed in the suppression layer (if selected).

 Offset distance is the distance between the very outside extent of an object and the very outside extent of the text bounding box. Offset range uses the position of the text anchor, not the bounding box, to calculate label placement. When offset range is used, MAPublisher attempts to place labels close to the minimum range value.

 In a situation when both Specify label offset and Allow use of leader line rules are enabled, MAP LabelPro will ignore the offset rule if a leader line needs to be used. (This applies to Point rules and Line Rules).