List of marker placement styles

This topic applies to ArcGIS for Desktop Standard and ArcGIS for Desktop Advanced only.

The table below contains a description of parameters that determine the placement of markers relative to input geometry. Click the links to see more details of these parameters for each marker placement style.

Description of parameters for marker placement styles

Input geometry	Marker placement style	Description	Example
Point	On point	Places marker on or in relation to a point based on x-offset and y-offset
Line	Along line	Places markers evenly along a line based on a step
	At extremities	Places markers at only one or both endpoints of a line
	Decorations	Places a set number of markers along a line
	On line	Places a single marker on a line at a set distance from the middle or one of the endpoints
	On vertices	Places a marker at the vertices of a line
	Randomly along line	Places randomly sized markers evenly along a line
	Variable size	Places markers in either increasing, decreasing, or alternating gradations along a line
Polygon	Along outline	Places markers evenly along a polygon outline based on a step
	Decorations	Places a set number of markers along a polygon outline
	Inside polygon	Places markers evenly within a polygon based on an x-step and y-step
	On outline	Places a single marker on a polygon outline at a set distance from the middle of the outline or one of the endpoints
	On vertices	Places a marker at the vertices of a polygon outline
	Polygon center	Places a marker on or in relationship to the polygon center or bounding box center, based on x-offset and y-offset
	Randomly along outline	Places randomly sized markers evenly along a polygon outline
	Randomly inside polygon	Disperses markers randomly within a polygon based on an x-step and y-step
	Variable size	Places markers in either increasing, decreasing, or alternating gradations along a polygon outline

List of geometric effects

Parameter definitions

Input geometry	Marker placement style	Definitions
Point	On point	X Offset: The distance from the geometric location of the marker along the x-axis. The default value is 0 (zero) pt. Y Offset: The distance from the geometric location of the marker along the y-axis. The default value is 0 (zero) pt.
Line	Along line	Step: The distance between each marker. The distance is calculated from the center of each marker. Multiple values can be entered. The default value is 10 pt. Endings: The position of the marker along a line. The choices are No constraint, With marker, With gap, With half gap, and Custom. With marker will place a marker on the endpoints of a line. With gap will put a space equal to the Step value on the ends of the line. With half gap will put a space equal to half of the Step value on the ends of the line. Custom will fit the pattern to the length of the feature by adjusting the gaps slightly. No constraint will not adjust the gaps at all, meaning that the pattern is unlikely to exactly fit the length of the feature. The default value is With half gap. Position: Indicates where the pattern should begin relative to the starting point of the geometry. It shifts the entire pattern along the line the specified distance. Negative numbers indicate a shift to the left, positive numbers a shift to the right. This property has an effect only if Endings is set to No constraint or Custom. When constructing a representation rule, this property will be dynamically derived from the Step value and will dynamically update during rule construction or modification when the Endings property is updated. Offset at end: Indicates where the pattern should end relative to the ending point of the geometry. Negative numbers indicate a shift to the left, positive numbers a shift to the right. This property has an effect only if Endings is set to Custom. When constructing a representation rule, this property will be dynamically derived from the Step value and will dynamically update during rule construction or modification when the Endings property is updated. Angle to line: Indicates whether markers will be oriented to the line. If unchecked, the markers will be angled to the top of the page. It is checked by default.
	At extremities	Extremity: Indicates at which ends of the line a marker will be placed. The choices are Both, Just begin, Just end, and None. Just begin will place a marker at the beginning of a line. Just end will place a marker at the end of a line. The beginning and end of a line are determined by the direction in which the line was digitized. None will not place a marker at either end of a line. The default value is Both. Position: Indicates the distance from the ends of a line that the marker will be placed. The distance is applied along the line. The default value is 0 (zero) pt. Angle to line: Indicates whether markers will be oriented to the line. If unchecked, the markers will be angled to the top of the page. It is checked by default.
	Decorations	# of markers: Indicates the number of markers to be assigned to a line. The markers are spaced out evenly along a line, and the distance will depend on the length of the line. The distance between can be as small as 0 (zero) if the number of markers is too many for the length of the line. The default value is 1. Begin position: Indicates the distance from the beginning of a line that the marker will be placed. The beginning of a line is determined by the direction in which the line was digitized. The distance is applied along the line. The default value is 0 (zero) pt. End position: Indicates the distance from the end of a line that the marker will be placed. The ending of a line is determined by the direction in which the line was digitized. The distance is applied along the line. The default value is 0 (zero) pt. Flip all: Indicates that all markers will be rotated 180 degrees relative to the line's geometry. The default is unchecked. Flip first: Indicates that only the first marker will be rotated 180 degrees. The default is unchecked. Angle to line: Indicates whether markers will be oriented to the line. If unchecked, the markers will be angled to the top of the page. The default is unchecked.
	On line	Position: Indicates the distance from a specified location on a line that a marker will be placed. The distance is applied along the line. The default value is 0 (zero) pt. Relative to: Indicates the specified location of a line from which a marker will be placed. The choices are Line middle, Line beginning, and Line end. The beginning and end of a line are determined by the direction in which the line was digitized. The default value is Line middle. Angle to line: Indicates whether markers will be oriented to the line. If unchecked, the markers will be angled to the top of the page. The default is checked.
	On vertices	On end points: Indicates whether a marker will be placed on the endpoints of the line. The default is checked. On control points: Indicates whether a marker will be placed on representation control points on the line. The default is checked. On regular vertices: Indicates whether a marker will be placed on vertices of the line. This excludes vertices on the ends of the lines and representation control points. The default is checked. Angle to line: Indicates whether markers will be oriented to the line. If unchecked, the markers will be angled to the top of the page. The default is checked.
	Randomly along line	Step: The distance between each marker. The distance is calculated from the center of each marker. The default value is 10 pt. Endings: The position of the marker along a line. The choices are No constraint, With marker, With gap, With half gap, and Custom. With marker will place a marker on the endpoints of a line. With gap will put a space equal to the Step value on the ends of the line. With half gap will put a space equal to half of the Step value on the ends of the line. Custom will fit the pattern to the length of the feature by adjusting the gaps slightly. No constraint will not adjust the gaps at all, meaning that the pattern is unlikely to exactly fit the length of the feature. The default value is With half gap. Position: Indicates where the pattern should begin relative to the starting point of the geometry. It shifts the entire pattern along the line the specified distance. Negative numbers indicate a shift to the left, positive numbers a shift to the right. This property has an effect only if Endings is set to No constraint or Custom. When constructing a representation rule, this property will be dynamically derived from the Step value and will dynamically update during rule construction or modification when the Endings property is updated. Offset at end: Indicates where the pattern should end relative to the ending point of the geometry. Negative numbers indicate a shift to the left, positive numbers a shift to the right. This property has an effect only if Endings is set to Custom. When constructing a representation rule, this property will be dynamically derived from the Step value and will dynamically update during rule construction or modification when the Endings property is updated. Randomization: Indicates the amount of randomness to be used for the size and rotation of the markers on the line. The size and rotation of the marker will vary for individual markers. The choices are Low, Medium, and High. The default value is Low. Skew effect: Indicates whether the shape of the marker should be warped. The default is unchecked. Seed: Indicates the starting value for generating a random number. This random number is used by the Randomization parameter to determine which shape a marker will receive. The default value is 1. Use a different seed value on each symbol layer to avoid identical (and overlapping) random patterns for different markers.
	Variable size	Step: The distance between each marker. The distance is calculated from the center of each marker. The default value is 10 pt. Endings: The position of the marker at the end of a line. The choices are With marker, With gap, and With half gap. With marker will place a marker on the endpoints of a line. With gap will put a space equal to the Step value on the ends of the line. With half gap will put a space equal to half of the Step value on the ends of the line. The default value is With half gap. Control points: The position of the marker at a representation control point. The choices are With marker and With half gap. With marker will place a marker on representation control points. With half gap will put a space equal to half of the Step value on representation control points. The default value is With half gap. Minimum zoom: Indicates the smallest size of the marker to be placed on the line. The value is expressed in terms of a ratio/percentage. The default value is 0.5, or 50 percent. Maximum zoom: Indicates the largest size of the marker to be placed on the line. The value is expressed in terms of a ratio/percentage. The default value is 1.5, or 150 percent. Zoom number: Indicates the number of different sizes for the markers to be placed on the line. The default value is 3. Method: Indicates the order in which the change of size in the markers should occur. The choices are Random, Increasing, Decreasing, and Increasing then decreasing. The default value is Random. Offset: The distance of the marker from the line's geometry perpendicular to the line. The default value is 0 (zero). Seed: Indicates the starting value for generating a random number. This random number is used by the Method type Random to determine which size a marker will receive. The default value is 1.
Polygon	Along outline	Step: The distance between each marker. The distance is calculated from the center of each marker. The default value is 10 pt. Endings: The position of the marker along a polygon outline. The choices are No constraint, With marker, With gap, With half gap, and Custom. With marker will place a marker on the endpoints of a polygon outline. With gap will put a space equal to the Step value on the ends of the polygon outline. With half gap will put a space equal to half of the Step value on the ends of the polygon outline. Custom will fit the pattern to the length of the feature by adjusting the gaps slightly. No constraint will not adjust the gaps at all, meaning that the pattern is unlikely to exactly fit the length of the feature. The default value is With half gap. Position: Indicates where the pattern should begin relative to the starting point of the geometry. It shifts the entire pattern along the polygon outline the specified distance. Negative numbers indicate a shift to the left, positive numbers a shift to the right. This property has an effect only if Endings is set to No constraint or Custom. When constructing a representation rule, this property will be dynamically derived from the Step value and will dynamically update during rule construction or modification when the Endings property is updated. Offset at end: Indicates where the pattern should end relative to the ending point of the geometry. Negative numbers indicate a shift to the left, positive numbers a shift to the right. This property has an effect only if Endings is set to Custom. When constructing a representation rule, this property will be dynamically derived from the Step value and will dynamically update during rule construction or modification when the Endings property is updated. Angle to line: Indicates whether or not markers will be oriented to the polygon outline. If unchecked, the markers will be angled to the top of the page. The default is checked.
	Decorations	# of markers: Indicates the number of markers to be assigned to a polygon outline. The markers are spaced evenly along a polygon outline, and the distance will depend on the length of the polygon outline. The distance between can be as small as 0 (zero) if the number of markers is too many for the length of the polygon outline. The default value is 1. Begin position: Indicates the distance from the beginning point of a polygon that the marker will be placed. The beginning of a polygon outline is clockwise from the closing point of the polygon. The distance is applied along the polygon outline. The default value is 0 (zero) pt. End position: Indicates the distance from the closing point of a polygon that the marker will be placed. The end of a polygon outline is counterclockwise from the closing point of the polygon. The distance is applied along the polygon outline. The default value is 0 (zero) pt. Flip all: Indicates that all markers will be rotated 180 degrees relative to the line's geometry. The default is unchecked. Flip first: Indicates that only the first marker will be rotated 180 degrees. The default is unchecked. Angle to line: Indicates whether markers will be oriented to the line. If unchecked, the markers will be angled to the top of the page. The default is unchecked.
	Inside polygon	X Step: The distance between each marker on the x-axis of the grid. The distance is calculated from the center of each marker. The default value is 10 pt. Y Step: The distance between each marker on the y-axis of the grid. The distance is calculated from the center of each marker. The default value is 10 pt. Grid angle: Indicates the amount of rotation for the grid of markers. The default value is 0 (zero) degrees. Shift odd rows: Indicates whether alternating rows should be moved half of the X step value to create a cascade effect for the markers. The default is unchecked. X Offset: The distance from the location of the columns along the x-axis. The default value is 0 (zero) pt. Y Offset: The distance from the location of the rows along the y-axis. The default value is 0 (zero) pt. Clipping: Indicates the method by which markers are made visible at the edges of a polygon. Adjusting this parameter will change the number of markers that are visible inside a polygon. The choices are Clip marker at boundary, Whole markers cross boundary, and No markers touch boundary. Clip marker at boundary will partially display any marker that touches the edges of the polygon. Whole markers cross boundary will display markers that touch the edges of the polygon. No markers touch boundary will only display markers that do not touch the edges of the polygon. The default value is Clip marker at boundary.
	On outline	Position: Indicates the distance from a specified location on a polygon outline that a marker will be placed. The distance is applied along the line. The default value is 0 (zero) pt. Relative to: Indicates the specified location on the polygon outline from which a marker will be placed. The choices are Line middle, Line beginning, and Line end. The beginning and end of the polygon outline are the same location. The default value is Line middle. Angle to line: Indicates whether a marker will be oriented to the polygon outline. If unchecked, the marker will be angled to the top of the page. The default is checked.
	On vertices	On end points: Indicates whether a marker will be placed on the closing point of a polygon. The default is checked. On control points: Indicates whether a marker will be placed on representation control points on the polygon outline. The default is checked. On regular vertices: Indicates whether a marker will be placed on vertices of the polygon outline. This excludes the closing point of the polygon and representation control points. The default is checked. Angle to line: Indicates whether markers will be oriented to the polygon outline. If unchecked, the markers will be angled to the top of the page. The default is checked.
	Polygon center	X Offset: The distance from the location defined by the Method parameter. The default value is 0 (zero) pt. Y Offset: The distance from the location defined by the Method parameter. The default value is 0 (zero) pt. Method: Indicates the location where the marker will be placed. The choices are Polygon center and Bounding box center. Polygon center will display the marker inside the polygon geometry. Bounding box center will display the marker at the exact center of the envelope of the polygon, and this may be outside the geometry of the polygon. The default value is Polygon center. Clipping: Indicates the method by which markers are made visible at the edges of a polygon. Adjusting this parameter will change the number of markers that are visible inside a polygon. The choices are Clip marker at boundary, Whole markers cross boundary, and No markers touch boundary. Clip marker at boundary will partially display any marker that touches the edges of the polygon. Whole markers cross boundary will display markers that touch the edges of the polygon. No markers touch boundary will only display markers that do not touch the edges of the polygon. The default value is Clip marker at boundary.
	Randomly along outline	Step: The distance between each marker. The distance is calculated from the center of each marker. The default value is 10 pt. Endings: The position of the marker along a polygon outline. The choices are No constraint, With marker, With gap, With half gap, and Custom. With marker will place a marker on the endpoints of a polygon outline. With gap will put a space equal to the Step value on the ends of the polygon outline. With half gap will put a space equal to half of the Step value on the ends of the polygon outline. Custom will fit the pattern to the length of the feature by adjusting the gaps slightly. No constraint will not adjust the gaps at all, meaning that the pattern is unlikely to exactly fit the length of the feature. The default value is With half gap. Position: Indicates where the pattern should begin relative to the starting point of the geometry. It shifts the entire pattern along the polygon outline the specified distance. Negative numbers indicate a shift to the left, positive numbers a shift to the right. This property has an effect only if Endings is set to No constraint or Custom. When constructing a representation rule, this property will be dynamically derived from the Step value and will dynamically update during rule construction or modification when the Endings property is updated. Offset at end: Indicates where the pattern should end relative to the ending point of the geometry. Negative numbers indicate a shift to the left, positive numbers a shift to the right. This property has an effect only if Endings is set to Custom. When constructing a representation rule, this property will be dynamically derived from the Step value and will dynamically update during rule construction or modification when the Endings property is updated. Randomization: Indicates the amount of randomness to be used for the size and rotation of the markers on the polygon outline. The size and rotation of the marker will vary for individual markers. The choices are Low, Medium, and High. The default value is Low. Skew effect: Indicates whether the shape of the marker should be warped. The default is unchecked. Seed: Indicates the starting value for generating a random number. This random number is used by the Randomization parameter to determine which shape a marker will receive. The default value is 1.
	Randomly inside polygon	X Step: The distance between each marker on the x-axis of the grid. The distance is calculated from the center of each marker. The default value is 10 pt. Y Step: The distance between each marker on the y-axis of the grid. The distance is calculated from the center of each marker. The default value is 10 pt. Clipping: Indicates the method by which markers are made visible at the edges of a polygon. Adjusting this parameter will change the number of markers that are visible inside a polygon. The choices are Clip marker at boundary, Whole markers cross boundary, and No markers touch boundary. Clip marker at boundary will partially display any marker that touches the edges of the polygon. Whole markers cross boundary will display markers that touch the edges of the polygon. No markers touch boundary will only display markers that do not touch the edges of the polygon. The default value is Clip marker at boundary. Seed: Indicates the starting value for generating a random pattern. The default value is 1.
	Variable size	Step: The distance between each marker. The distance is calculated from the center of each marker. The default value is 10 pt. Endings: The position of the marker at the closing point of a polygon. The choices are With marker, With gap, and With half gap. With marker will place a marker on the closing point of a polygon. With gap will put a space equal to the Step value on the closing point of a polygon. With half gap will put a space equal to half of the Step value on the closing point of a polygon. The default value is With half gap. Control points: The position of the marker at a representation control point. The choices are With marker and With half gap. With marker will place a marker on representation control points. With half gap will put a space equal to half of the Step value on representation control points. The default value is With half gap. Minimum zoom: Indicates the smallest size of the marker to be placed on the polygon outline. The value is expressed in terms of a ratio/percentage. The default value is 0.5, or 50 percent. Maximum zoom: Indicates the largest size of the marker to be placed on the polygon outline. The value is expressed in terms of a ratio/percentage. The default value is 1.5, or 150 percent. Zoom number: Indicates the number of different sizes for the markers to be placed on the polygon outline. The default value is 3. Method: Indicates the order in which the change of size in the markers should occur. The choices are Random, Increasing, Decreasing, and Increasing then decreasing. The default value is Random. Offset: The distance of the marker from the polygon geometry perpendicular to the polygon outline. The default value is 0 (zero). Seed: Indicates the starting value for generating a random number. This random number is used by the Method type Random to determine which size a marker will receive. The default value is 1.

List of the parameters for each marker placement style