Creating a feature-linked annotation feature class at the root level of a geodatabase

Steps:

1. In the Catalog tree, right-click the geodatabase in which you want to create the new annotation feature class.
2. Point to New > Feature Class.
3. Type the Name.
4. Click the Type drop-down arrow and click Annotation Features.
5. Check the check box to link the annotation to a feature class.
6. Click the drop-down arrow and click the feature class to which you want to link the new annotation feature class. The feature class must be in the same feature dataset as the annotation feature class you are creating. You cannot change this property later.
7. Click Next.
8. Specify a spatial reference for your annotation feature class. A spatial reference consists of a coordinate system, spatial domain, and precision.
9. Either navigate to and click a coordinate system in the coordinate system window or click Import or New to specify a coordinate system.

Import lets you import a coordinate system from an existing feature class or feature dataset.

New allows you to create a new coordinate system.

Once you have chosen a coordinate system, you can click Modify to alter it.

10. Click Next.
11. The x/y domain is calculated based on the coordinate system you specified in step 3. You can type a different x/y domain if you want, but the default should be sufficient.
12. Click Next.
13. Enter a reference scale.

The scale should be equal to the scale at which the annotation will normally display.

14. Click the Map Units drop-down arrow and choose the units in which your annotation will be stored. The units should match the units you specified for your coordinate system in step 9.
15. For information on how to set the next three options (Require symbol to be selected from the symbol table, Create annotation when new features are added, and Update annotation when feature's shape is modified), see Annotation feature class editing properties.
16. Choose a labeling engine, Standard Label Engine or Maplex Label Engine. Click Properties to specify labeling properties.
17. Click Next.
18. Specify the linked feature class fields that contain text for the first annotation class. You can choose a Label Field or click Expression to specify more than one field.
19. Set the default text symbol and placement properties for the annotation class.

    You can either set these properties one at a time or click the Label Styles button to load an existing label style.

20. Click Scale Range to specify the scale range annotation that this class displays.
21. Click SQL Query to specify that only certain features in the linked feature class will be annotated by the annotation class.
22. If you want to add an additional annotation class, click New and specify the name of the annotation class. Repeat steps 18 through 21 to set its properties.
23. Repeat step 22 until you have specified all the annotation classes and their properties.
24. Click Next.
25. If you are creating the new annotation feature class in a file or ArcSDE geodatabase and you want to use a custom storage keyword, click Use configuration keyword, then choose the keyword you want to use from the drop-down menu.
26. Click Next.
27. On the last panel, you don't have to change any of the field properties. For the Shape field, the feature class is given the same spatial reference as the feature class to which it's linked.

If you want to bring in fields from another feature class (geodatabase, coverage, and so on), click Import. You can also manually add fields to your annotation feature class.

28. Click Finish.

Tip:

A relationship class is automatically created to link the annotation class to the feature class it is annotating. To see which relationship class is associated with a feature-linked annotation feature class, double-click the annotation class and click the Relationships tab.

Tip:

Specifying a visible scale range for each annotation class improves performance when working with annotation in ArcMap. You can also specify a visible scale range in ArcMap.