[GIS] ArcGIS 10 – Text background not showing up when exporting

arcgis-10.1arcgis-desktoparcmaplabelinglayouts

I have highways labeled with the standard shield and route number on it. For my main data frame the labels come up correctly. I also have 4 inset maps where only the number will show up, not the shield when exporting to a file (any type).

Here are some things that I tried that did not work:

  • Exporting the labels to annotation
  • Creating replacement graphics (in each inset's data frame view)
  • For each of the above, using .png background instead of .emf

The only solution that seems to work is creating graphics as part of the document itself and overlaying those on top of the inset. This is very bad practise however and the graphics will not pan with the inset.

Just to clarify, the shields (text background) shows up in the layout screen when editing the map but not in the exported product after exporting the map to a .pdf or other extension.

The version of ArcGIS being used is 10.1 SP1. I cannot upgrade or change the installation.

Suggestions tried:

  • Deleting the main dataframe, then exporting – same result
  • Moving the inset dataframe to a new document

UPDATE:

It appears that ArcGIS will hide (or not draw) background symbols that are smaller than a certain size compared to the map (% or ratio). When I made the print size smaller (it was originally 34×40 inches) or the symbols larger, the shields showed up.

Does anyone know how to change this option on ArcGIS and possibly show all symbols regardless of size?

Following comment suggestions, the links provided in this forum post did not help.

However, following the last link showed that the exported EMF file was not correct, signaling that "the problem exists within ArcMap, usually in converting the elements drawn in the map to the EMF format."

Best Answer

Have you tried adding an mask (invisible or no color) with a halo size = 1, and then under Advanced Text -> Text Background -> Properties, select Scale marker to fit text. This way if you want more shield to appear around the text, you just increase the mask size. Hope this helps.

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