Creating annotation with a leader line

When you need to create annotation with a leader line or callout, you can use the Leader tool to add the leader to a regular annotation feature template. This method is flexible because you can set a different leader for each annotation feature or use the same one for all features. If you want to use the same leader line symbol every time you create a new annotation feature, create an annotation class and a feature template from it that has a predefined leader symbol.

Steps:

1. Click an annotation feature template in the Create Features window.
2. Click the Leader construction tool on the Create Features window.
Tip:

The default construction tool becomes active as soon as you click a feature template on the Create Features window. You can change the default construction tool by double-clicking a feature template in the Create Features window and updating the Default Tool property.

3. Type the text of the new annotation feature into the text box on the pop-up Annotation Construction window.

   If you want the text string to come from an attribute of an existing feature on the map, click Find Text and click the feature, or press CTRL+W over a feature. Find Text populates the text box with a text expression from a feature under the cursor position. If the target is a standard annotation feature class, the text is based on the label expression of the layer containing the first visible and selectable feature. With a feature-linked annotation feature class, the text is derived only from a feature in the origin feature class. If no suitable target is found, the string reverts to the word Text.

4. Use the Annotation Construction window to change the formatting of the text, such as the font, size, and symbol. Click Toggle Formatting Options to show additional settings. You can also enter text formatting tags with the text string, allowing you to change the appearance of just a part of the text.
5. Click where you want to start the annotation feature's leader line.
6. Drag the annotation feature where you want to place it.
7. Click again to finish placing the annotation.

   Annotation with a leader line is created.