Label thematic maps are primarily used to annotate maps. They enable labeling of points, lines, and polygons using one or multiple fields from layer properties. During cartographic processes, textual or numerical fields such as place names, road names, river widths, and contour elevations are commonly used for annotation.
Map annotations provide descriptive explanations for current map objects, enhancing the informational capacity of maps. Creating label thematic maps allows rapid object labeling while avoiding manual annotation efforts. During map creation, the application automatically generates text labels based on attributes from one or multiple fields and positions them appropriately. In multi-layer overlays, the "move label" feature enables manual adjustment of individual label positions to prevent overlapping annotations.
The application supports four types of label thematic maps: Uniform Style, Graduated Color Style, Composite, and Matrix Style, along with four corresponding templates. To create one, right-click a vector layer in Layer Manager, select "Create Thematic Map..." from the context menu, then choose desired label map template type in the dialog box.
- Uniform Label Map applies consistent styling to all features, commonly used for administrative labeling like provincial/prefecture-level regions. Notably, it supports custom font type, size, rotation angle, and color settings through property field selection to meet diverse display requirements.
- Unique Values Style Map categorizes labels based on specified field expression values. Labels with identical values share the same style while different categories use distinct styles. Each unique value corresponds to a single thematic map item.
- Ranges Label Map requires a segmentation field to display labels in specified range segments. Labels within the same range share a common style while different ranges use varied styles, presenting multi-style visualization through range segmentation.
- Matrix Style Label Thematic Map organizes label content in matrix structures, combining symbols, images, and text within label matrices for object annotation. Nested matrices within cells make this type ideal for complex thematic expressions like weather forecasts or tourism maps. As shown below, a matrix label map displays Chinese names, English names, and photos of local landmarks.
