Posted on December 31, 2022 (Updated on July 19, 2025)

How to change the font size and color of a certain part of label in ArcGIS

Hiking & Activities

Level Up Your ArcGIS Maps: Taming Labels with Font Size and Color Tricks

ArcGIS is fantastic for mapmaking, right? But let’s be honest, sometimes those default labels just don’t cut it. They can be bland, hard to read, or just plain distracting. The good news is, you can take control and make your labels pop! It’s all about diving into label expressions and using some clever formatting tags. Think of it as giving your map a serious makeover.

So, what are label expressions, anyway? Simply put, they’re like mini-formulas that tell ArcGIS what text to display as a label. You can keep it super simple – just pulling data from a single field – or get really fancy by combining info from multiple fields and adding some if-then-else logic. But the real magic happens when you combine these expressions with text formatting tags.

These tags? They’re your secret weapon. They let you tweak everything about how your label looks: the font, the size, the color, you name it. ArcGIS Pro has a ton of these tags, which means you can really go wild with customization. I remember one time, I was working on a map of hiking trails, and I used these tags to make the trail names stand out in a vibrant green, while the elevation markers were a subtle, smaller gray. It made a world of difference!

Okay, let’s get down to brass tacks. How do you actually change the font size and color of part of a label? Here’s a step-by-step guide to get you started:

  • Fire up those Labeling Properties: First, make sure labels are turned on for the layer you want to jazz up. Right-click the layer in the Contents pane and hit Labeling Properties. Easy peasy.

  • Pick Your Labeling Engine: You’ve got two choices here: the Standard Label Engine or the Maplex Label Engine. For most basic stuff, the Standard Engine is fine. But if you need more control over label placement (avoiding overlaps, for example), Maplex is your friend.

  • Choose Your Language: In the Label Class pane, you’ll see a dropdown for Language. Arcade is the way to go these days, but Python, VBScript, and JScript are still hanging around if you’re feeling old-school.

  • Craft Your Label Expression: This is where the fun begins! You’ll use text formatting tags to tell ArcGIS exactly how you want your label to look. Now, the exact code depends on the language you picked, but here are a couple of examples to get your creative juices flowing:

    • Arcade:

      arcade

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