Glenn Letham posted a message 2 days ago about problems with the placingThis seems to work (a tip from Steve Kalmbach found on the MapInfo-L archives):
of labels when printing. we at The National Museum of Denmark are having
the exact same problems; When we view a layout at close up the labels
"First, I get my map view and map frame in the Layout Window situated just the way I want to keep it for printing. After that, I switch back and forth between the maximized Layout and Map windows. In the mazimized Map Window, I use the Named Views mapbasic program (Nviews.mbx, which should be in your ..\Mapinfo\Tools directory) to save my desired output view, by adding this view to the Named Views, calling it, for example, "Output-1". (If you decide to change your final map zoom after editing labels, you should check your label edits, because a different zoom can make your labels look like they are in a different position on the map.) I return to the "Output-1" map view every time before switching back to the Layout Window, but do my label editing at a zoom that makes both the labels and the map features look the same size on my screen as they do in the final Layout viewed at "Actual Size". As follows: With my Map Window still set at the "Output-1" view, I switch to the maximized Layout Window and choose "Layout >> View Actual Size." I pan around the Layout to find a good view of my map. Then I take a dry-erase marker and trace roads and boundaries--any really clear map features--on my monitor screen. So I have the map features traced on the glass as they look viewing the Layout at "Actual Size" when the map view is the way I want it for printing. (NB: this "tracing" is not necessary. Just set the map scale to match the layout frame's scale. Get the layout frame scale before you maximize anything by double-clicking in the frame. -Bill T.) Next, I go to the Map Window and adjust the map view until all the map features line up with the lines I have traced on my monitor screen. I usually use the Zoom-in tool once, then use the Change View tool adjust the Zoom and Center-of-Window until everything lines up right. I add this new map view to the Named Views as "Label-1". (I also note the zoom at this view for label editing.) Now I am all set. I wipe off the dry-erase marker lines with a tissue, and start moving my labels where I want them. I pan around the map at this zoom to do my label editing, but go back to the "Output-1" view whenever I want to switch back to the Layout Window. I have found that while editing labels in the Map Window at the same zoom as my "same-size" "Label-1" view, the labels appear almost exactly as they will on the printed layout, relative to other map features. (Pretty much WYSIWYG, but only at this zoom.) I get great results this way. There is still a problem I have encountered sometimes with "wandering" labels for certain point objects--particularly with the points that I use for highway label symbols. In the layer settings, I have the labels set to the center position; I am not editing these labels at all; yet all on their own the label numbers start moving around and are no longer centered inside the highway symbols. I don't know why this happens sometimes, but the following practices seem to help me avoid the problem: 1) Using a plain, ordinary font for these point labels (e.g. "Arial", size 6 or 8, with no halo or bold type); 2) editing labels at a pretty-much-WYSIWYG view as I have described above; 3) printing the Layout while viewing it at "Actual Size"; and 4) saving my workspaces viewing the maximized Layout Window at "Actual Size" (makes the labels automatically come up centered where they should be when the workspace is loaded again)." - Steve Kalmbach
I have tried this and it seems to work for getting the labels lined up correctly. Even those cases where you want to align text on the left of an object. It seems complicated, and if you're using a text layer (you should be if you really want control), you need to scale font sizes to get them right in the layout. Anyway, I'll go over this at the Rocky Mountain MapInfo Users group meeting this week, plus some other labeling tips (see http://www.primusgeo.com/users.htm for details). If I get time, I'll post the presentation on the web. In the meantime, please send me any tips or tricks you know of in regards to labeling, and I will summarize these at least.
- Bill Thoen
