4 replies to this topic

[Matt Fairfield]

i have a local road symbol i want to use but i do not know were to save it.
I am using Mappublisher with the Label Pro extension.

Where are the default symbols saved do i just save it in there?

lmk
thanks

[Gord D]

Hi Matt,
MAPublisher's Label Pro does not support the use of custom shields in the Line Style "Label with Symbol" dialog. To answer your question, the available symbols are stored in the default folder of \Avenza\MAPublisher 8\LabelPro\Symbols. This location can be set in the Label Pro tab of the MAPublisher preferences panel.

[Matt Fairfield]

Hi Matt,
MAPublisher's Label Pro does not support the use of custom shields in the Line Style "Label with Symbol" dialog. To answer your question, the available symbols are stored in the default folder of \Avenza\MAPublisher 8\LabelPro\Symbols. This location can be set in the Label Pro tab of the MAPublisher preferences panel.

Ok so how would i go about using my own county rd symbol then?

[Steve Spindler]

Hi Matt,

To make new road symbols, you need to create a font for each color of the symbol.

Create the shapes in Illustrator, paste these into a font editor program (I use TypeTool 2).

Here are some notes I wrote to myself on the topic:

[LIBRARY]
Version=1
NumSymbols=2

[Symbol 1]
TTFFileName=/Library/Fonts/hwysym.ttf
BMPFileName=us_route.png
SymbolName= Interstate
NumGlyphs=3
Glyph 1=41 RGB 0 113 181
Glyph 1=42 RGB 234 47 46
Glyph 2=43 RGB 255 255 255

TextBox=-0.35,-0.25,0.35,0.25a


Process for making new symbols

1. Create a new font in TypeTool2
2. Copy paths from Illustrator into fonts. You might need two or three fonts to compose a road shield. These would include, the background, a secondary color, and a border.
3. Save the font as a ttf.
4. Open an existing .lsf file and save it to a new name. Edit it with the glyph colors.
5. Finish setting up the font symbol in MapLabel Pro, setting the font color, size, and the symbol size.

Note: Changing a MAPLabel pro setting in one file will affect other files.

[Gord D]

Matt,
The Avenza resouces blog has just published a post on using custom shields with the Label Features tool. You may find the workflow for turning text into points and then into background symbols useful in conjunction with Label Pro. The blog entry can be found here.