You can add graphics, text, and pictures to create a complete layout.
Note:
These instructions are for adding graphics to a layout. To add graphics to a map, see Add graphics layer.
To add graphics, text, or pictures to your layout, choose an element from the Graphics and Text gallery on the Insert tab. The following elements are available:
| Element type | Description |
|---|---|
Rectangle text | Text in a rectangle. Rectangle text preserves the set font size and automatically wraps long text to new lines. |
Polygon text | Text in a polygon shape you draw. Polygon text preserves the set font size and automatically wraps long text to new lines. |
Circle text | Text in a circle. Circle text preserves the set font size and automatically wraps long text to new lines. |
Ellipse text | Text in an ellipse. Ellipse text preserves the set font size and automatically wraps long text to new lines. |
Straight text | Text in a straight line. The font size automatically increases or decreases as the element is resized. Set line breaks in the text are honored, but text does not wrap to new lines. |
Curved text | Text on a curved line. Curved text preserves the set font size. Line breaks and word wrapping are not supported. |
Point | A graphic point symbol. |
Picture | A picture. Selecting this element brings up the Insert Picture window where you can browse to a picture file. Click to add the picture at its original size, or draw a rectangle to set the picture size. After a picture has been added, it is stored with the project and loses the connection to the original image file. If the source picture file is updated, all projects using that picture file must be manually updated to see the change. Dynamic pictures are available for spatial map series. See Spatial map series and dynamic elements for more information. |
Rectangle | A graphic rectangle. |
Polygon | A graphic polygon created by drawing connected line segments. |
Circle | A graphic circle. When you draw the circle, click where you want the center to be and then drag to size the circle. |
Ellipse | A graphic ellipse. This is similar to a circle, but the vertical radius is longer than the horizontal radius or vice versa. |
Lasso | A graphic shape created by drawing a freehand sketch. |
Curved line | A curved line created by drawing a Bezier curve. |
Freehand line | A line created by a freehand sketch. |
Line | A line made of straight segments. |
Note:
Dynamic text elements that update automatically can also be added to your layout. To learn more about dynamic text, see What is dynamic text? and Add dynamic text.
Keep last tool active
By default, after you add a graphic, text, or picture to the layout, the application switches to selection mode so you can modify your graphic. If you plan to add more than one of each element to the layout, you can choose to keep the last tool active and continue adding graphics, text, pictures, or other layout elements rather than switching to selection mode.
To keep the last tool active, expand the Graphics and Text gallery on the Insert tab and choose Keep last tool active. Now, when you add an element, the tool remains active and you can continue adding the element.
Default symbol
Text, lines, polygons, and points are added using a default symbol. After adding the elements, they can be modified and the symbol can be changed. To set the default symbol for each element type, see Set the default properties for graphic elements.