A Descriptive and Illustrated Guide for Type Placement on Small Scale Maps

Abstract One of the essential ingredients in any map is the lettering. Just as point, line and area symbols are designed to depict various geographic features, lettering, also referred to as labels, type, text, etc., is used as symbols to make various features. Selecting an appropriate style and size for map lettering (Shortridge, 1979) is equally important to efficient cartographic communication as the placement of map lettering. This paper provides an extensive, descriptive rationale and a graphic solution for the many difficult problems associated with map lettering placement that are not treated specifically in Imhof's (1975) landmark article.