Labeling the largest feature part for polygons

Sometimes a group of geographic features is represented by a single multipart polygon feature. For example, in a feature class of the United States, the state of Hawaii could be represented as one polygon with multiple parts. When labeling such features with the Maplex Label Engine, you can choose between labeling each part of the feature with the same label or placing one label for the largest part.

The images below show the islands of Hawaii labeled two different ways. The upper image shows each island in the multipart polygon labeled with the name. In the lower image, only the largest polygon is labeled, as the Label largest feature part option has been checked.

1. Enable the Maplex Label Engine.
2. Click the Label Manager button on the Labeling toolbar.
3. Check the box next to the layer you want to label.
4. Choose a label class under the layer.
5. Click the Properties button.
6. Click the Label Density tab.
7. Check the Label largest feature part check box.

If you want each part of a multipart polygon feature to have a copy of the feature's label, uncheck this check box.

8. Click OK.

Tip:

You can also open the Placement Properties dialog box by clicking the Placement Properties button on the Labels tab on the Layer Properties dialog box for the layer you want to label.