A descriptive and illustrated guide for type placement on small scale maps

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 symbol s to name various features. Selecting an appropriate style and size for map lettering (Shortridge, 1979) is equally important to efficient cartographi c communication as the placement of map lettering. This paper provides an e xtensive, descriptive rationale and a graphic solution for the many difficu lt problems associated with map lettering placement that are not treated sp ecifically in Imhof's (1975) landmark article.