Masking is a process that creates polygons of a specified shape and size around symbolized features and text. Masking polygons can then be used to remove portions of underlying features to improve map clarity. A common use for masking is to mask features around annotation to ensure the text remains readable. The Feature Outline Masks and Intersecting Layers Masks tools have a variety of mask kinds to choose from.
Kinds of masks
The exact shape of the masked polygons is dictated by the Mask Kind parameter (method parameter in Python).
Mask Kind parameter value | Example |
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Box—A polygon representing the extent of the symbolized feature. | |
Convex hull—The convex hull of the symbolized geometry of the feature. This is the default. | |
Exact simplified—A generalized polygon representing the exact shape of the symbolized feature. Polygons created with this method have a significantly smaller number of vertices compared to polygons created with the Exact method. | |
Exact—A polygon representing the exact shape of the symbolized feature. |