Map Shape Format Dialog

The Map Window can be zoomed in and out.  There are 21 levels of zoom, numbered 0 to 20.  Think of zoom level 0 as not zoomed in at all.  At this level, you see the whole world.  Every time you zoom in, the zoom level goes up by 1 and the amount of area displayed is a quarter of the previous level (half the distance vertically and half the distance horizontally).  This means that more and more details become visible.  Level 20 is fully zoomed-in - i.e. zoomed-in 20 times.  At this level you can see street names, and details of houses.

When you create a text box, you specify the font size you want.  This font size is calculated with respect to a particular zoom level.  For example, if you choose a 10 point font size, with a reference zoom level of 6, this means that the font will display at 10 point when the zoom level is 6.  One consequence of this is that if text boxes behaved like other shapes do, and zoomed in and out in sync with the map layer in the normal way, it would follow that text which is comfortably readable when you are fully zoomed-in, would be so small that it would disappear completely when you zoom out.  Conversely, text that was easily readable at, say, zoom level 1, would appear to be too big to fit on the screen, as you zoom in.  If this is not what you want, and it often isn't, you can prevent it happening, and minimize text zooming, by enabling the option Minimize Text Zooming on the Map Window tab of the Preferences dialog.  When this option is ticked, which it is by default, text boxes will display at the size you created them, not just when the map is at the reference zoom level of the text, but even when zoomed in further. So, for example, if a text box was created at zoom level 12, with a point size 10 font, the text box will remain the same size, and the text itself, will remain at point size 10, as you zoom in - to zoom levels 13, 14, 15, etc ... all the way to zoom level 20.

What happens, if you have ticked Minimize Text Zooming, and you zoom out?  The answer depends on another option: the Text Zoom Margin field.  This value (normally 0, 1 or 2) is only used if you have opted to minimize text zooming. In that case, the text box will display at its original size until you zoom the map out past a certain point, when it will start to shrink. The point at which it will start to shrink is when the current zoom level of the map is less than the reference zoom level of the text box, minus the Text Box Margin. The reason for this, when text zooming is minimized, is to allow a degree of latitude before text boxes start to get smaller as you zoom out.  A value of 2 for example (the default), means that you can zoom out twice before a text box will start to get smaller.

If you choose not to minimize text zooming, text boxes will appear bigger or smaller when you zoom in or out, like any other map shape.

For more information, see the descriptions for these options in Preferences dialog page.

Tip: The current zoom level is displayed at any given time, in the status bar of the Map Window.  It is also displayed in the text tab of the Map Shape Format dialog, next to the Reference Zoom field.