Adding time text to your map

There is often a requirement to include a text stamp of the time value as part of a printed or exported map image or video. This is possible through the use of dynamic text on the page layout in ArcMap.

Learn more about working with dynamic text

Caution:

The ability to add time stamps using dynamic text is available only on the page layout view in ArcMap.

Steps:

1. Set up a time visualization by enabling time on your data and using the time slider.
2. Change the ArcMap application to layout view by clicking View on the main menu and clicking Layout View.
3. If the layout page is not a good fit for your map image, you can change the page dimensions to a custom size using the Page and Print Setup dialog box.

   Learn more about changing the size of your page layout

4. After setting the page size to the desired shape, adjust your data frame shape. If you do not want white space around the edges of your map image, you can resize the data frame to be the same size as or slightly larger than the layout page, as shown in the example image above. When you print or export, the output image is clipped to the boundary of the page.
5. Insert a data frame time dynamic text next to or on top of the map image by clicking Insert > Dynamic Text > Data Frame Time.

   Graphic text rendering the time displayed on the Time Slider window appears on the layout.

6. Move the new graphic text to the desired position and change the font size and color using the element properties dialog box. You can also modify the format of the time displayed as dynamic text.

   Learn more about working with dynamic text

   Note:

   After adding the data frame time dynamic text to the layout, any print, export, or video created from layout view automatically updates to show the time that is displayed on the Time Slider window as text on the layout. The dynamic text updates based on the time displayed on the Time Slider window.