[GRASSLIST:3944] Re: A question about labeling

[Steve Kimball]

On Sunday 24 March 2002 02:29 pm, Ben Logan wrote:

> Hello,
>
> My question is regarding the positioning of labels.  Once I have
> labels attached to a vector map, do I have to position each one
> manually?  For example, if I am labeling roads with their names and
> numbers, I want the labels to clearly identify the roads.  It would be
> good if long names could follow the curvature of the roads.  In tight
> spots, there might be a leader arrow pointing to a road segment that
> allows the label to be moved into a more open area.  What I'm talking
> about is pretty much standard for printed maps, e.g. county maps, or
> even the online maps available through Yahoo.
>
> Does each label have to be manually positioned, or is there a piece of
> software that can determine the best position for the labels?
>
> Thanks,
> Ben

Ben,

I'm also interested in creating labeled street maps from TIGER data.
The U.S. Census people can use TIGER data to label a street map.
Check out their American Fact Finder page
 
http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/ReferenceMapFramesetServlet?_lang=en
The names are there.  Not to fancy.  No wrapping around curves.

Steve