Problem: The default leader symbol is being applied by the Add Leader function even if a leader is specified in the symbol collection


When using the Add Leader function on annotation that has a leader applied to it in the symbol collection, the leader that is added pulls its symbolization from the default editing options instead of from the symbol collection.

For information on the default leader symbolization, see the Related Information below.


If a leader line is applied in the symbol collection, that leader should be available on the map document.
Sometimes it is necessary to use the Delete Leader function to remove the leader line that connects a feature with its annotation.
If the leader was stored in the symbol collection, an override is written in the annotation feature classes attribute table. For more information on annotation overrides see the Related Information below.
If the Add Leader function is later used on the same piece of annotation, the default symbolization for the leader is used instead of the symbolization from the symbol collection.

NOTE: In the following example, the leader is black while it should be red as shown in the original screen shot of the symbol collection.
The leader is black because the override is not returned to 0 when the Add Leader function is selected.

Solution or Workaround

To update the override field to 0, the symbol collection has to be reapplied to the annotation so the new leader references the appropriate symbolization.

  1. Using the Add Leader function, add the leader line back in for the annotation. This annotation appears with the default settings for leader symbolization.
  2. Using the Edit Annotation tool, right-click on the annotation with the incorrect leader line symbolization and click on Attributes.
  3. In the Attribute Editor dialog box, select the Annotation tab. Using the symbol collection drop-down menu, select the appropriate symbol collection and click Apply.
  4. Selecting Apply resets the override field to 0 and updates the leader to reference the symbolization from the symbol collection.

Related Information