Annotation feature class properties are managed through the Catalog pane.
The Feature Class Properties dialog box is used to set the alias and the spatial and attribute indexes and view the present version of the annotation feature class, while the Annotation Feature Class Properties pane is used to manage properties unique to annotation feature classes—annotation classes, symbols, and settings that determine how the annotation features can be edited.
To open these, right-click an annotation feature class in the Catalog pane or a Catalog view and click either Properties to open the Feature Class Properties dialog box or Annotation Feature Class Properties to open the Annotation Feature Class Properties pane. Note that some properties are editable, while others are read-only.
Use the Fields view to manage the fields associated with an annotation feature class. You can edit the fields list, subtypes, and domains of an annotation feature class from the view.
Fields
The Fields view lists the fields in the annotation feature class. The following fields are required and can't be deleted:
- ObjectID
- Shape—Polygon shape representing the outline of the annotation
- FeatureID or FeatureGlobalID—Contains the ObjectID or the GlobalID of the feature from which the annotation was derived.
- FeatureGlobalID is created when the annotation is derived from or linked to a feature class containing a GlobalID; otherwise, FeatureID is created.
- For standard annotation: this field contains the unique ID (ObjectID or GlobalID) of the feature that the annotation was derived from if the annotation is created with the Convert Labels to Annotation tool.
- For feature-linked annotation: this field contains the ObjectID or GlobalID of the linked feature of the feature-linked relationship.
- ZOrder—Unused at this time
- AnnotationClassID—The annotation class to which the annotation belongs
- Element—BLOB field that stores symbology and text geometry
- SymbolID—The symbol in the symbol table
- Status—Whether the feature is placed or unplaced
- Shape_length
- Shape_area
The SymbolID field normally contains a value greater than or equal to 0. This value is the number of the text symbol in the symbol collection. If the value is -1, the annotation feature is storing the display properties in the record, and it is not referencing a text symbol in the symbol collection. When the SymbolID value is -1, the Override field value is 0, as every property is overridden.
Learn more about text symbols in the symbol collection
Other fields in the feature class reference the annotation feature's display properties. These fields can be edited, and doing so updates the feature's BLOB element. Likewise, any change to the annotation feature through the Annotation tab in the Attribute pane is updated in the fields. These fields can also be deleted. The list of these fields follows:
- TextString—The text string for the feature
- FontName—The name of the font, for example, Arial
- FontStyle—The name of the font style, for example, Regular
- FontSize—The size of the font
- Underline—Whether the text is underlined: true or false
- VerticalAlignment—The vertical alignment of the text: top, center, baseline, or bottom
- HorizontalAlignment—The horizontal alignment of the text: left, right, center, or full
- XOffset—Shifts the text position right or left
- YOffset—Shifts the text position up or down
- Angle—Rotates the text angle
- FontLeading—Adjusts the spacing between lines
- WordSpacing—Adjusts the spacing between words
- CharacterWidth—Adjusts the character width
- CharacterSpacing—Adjusts the spacing between characters
- FlipAngle—Adjusts the angle at which point rotated text is flipped in place
The Override field is not editable and is maintained by ArcGIS Pro. When the override value is 0, the annotation feature is displayed using the SymbolID text symbol that it references and no display properties are stored in the record. When the override value is greater than 0, the annotation feature uses the SymbolID text symbol as a base display and applies the overridden properties to that symbol. See the table below for a list of these possible values. The values that are seen in the attribute table are a sum of the values below. For example, if the override value is 65, both the XOffset (1) and Size (64) properties are overridden (1+64=65).
The table below contains override values for ArcGIS Pro annotation.
| Override value | Overridden property |
|---|---|
1 | XOffset property |
2 | YOffset property |
4 | Horizontal Alignment property |
8 | Vertical Alignment property |
16 | Flip Angle property |
64 | Size property |
128 | Color property |
256 | Character Spacing property |
512 | Character Width property |
1024 | Word Spacing property |
2048 | Leading property |
4096 |
Font Name property |
8192 |
Font Style property |
16384 |
Underline property |
32768 |
Callout property |
131072 | Font Variation property |
Legacy:
For ArcMap annotation override values, see the table below.
| Override value | Overridden property |
|---|---|
1 | XOffset property |
2 | YOffset property |
4 | Horizontal Alignment property |
8 | Vertical Alignment property |
16 | Flip Angle property |
64 | Size property |
128 | Color property |
512 | Character Spacing property |
1024 | Character Width property |
2048 | Word Spacing property |
4096 |
Leading property |
8192 |
Bold property |
16384 |
Italic property |
32768 |
Underline property |
65536 | Background symbol |
131072 | Font property |
Subtypes
If the annotation feature class has more than one annotation class, the annotation classes are implemented as subtypes. The Subtypes view lists the annotation classes. However, to manage annotation classes, use the Annotation Feature Class Properties pane.
Relationships
For feature-linked annotation in the Catalog pane, the Relationships tab on the Feature Class Properties dialog box displays the relationship class that links the annotation feature class to its associated feature class.
Annotation classes
The Annotation Classes tab in the Annotation Feature Class Properties pane allows you to manage annotation classes. You can add and remove annotation classes from the list. To modify or view the properties of an annotation class, double-click the annotation class in the list and access the properties with any of the controls in the pane.
Annotation editing properties
The Annotation tab in the Annotation Feature Class Properties pane also allows you to set properties that affect how the annotation can be edited.
Learn more about annotation feature class editing properties
Text symbols
The Symbol Collection group on the Annotation tab in the Annotation Feature Class Properties pane allows you to manage the symbol collection. The symbol collection lists the predefined text symbols you can assign to annotation features when creating or editing them in ArcGIS Pro. Each annotation class has an associated symbol in the list. When the class's symbol changes through the Annotation Classes tab, the original symbol is renamed with the suffix _old and the new associated symbol is created in the collection. These annotation class-associated symbols cannot be deleted. To modify or view the properties of a symbol, double-click the symbol in the list and access the properties with any of the controls in the pane. To create a symbol for use in the annotation feature class, click the Add button 
.