You can convert a selected feature representation to a free representation to get fine grained control over the symbology of individual parts of the feature.

To do so, add the Representation toolbar and the Editor toolbar if they are not already present. Make the layer you want to edit (in this example, TrailL_Rep) the only selectable layer, and start editing. Select a section of the Hiking Path with the Select tool.

From the drop-down menu on the Representation toolbar, click Free Representation and click Convert to Free Representation.

Open the Representation Properties dialog box and click the Drawing tab to see how a free representation is described in detail.

Examine the contents of the Drawing tab. The feature still has a representation rule only now it is a rule that is independent of the feature layer. Since it is an independent rule, your only access point to the rule is through the Representation Properties dialog box. The interface options are all the same as shown on the Layer Properties dialog box, but the rule you work with is only applied to the selected feature.

To begin working with individual components of a dashed line, you will need to convert the rule into separately editable pieces. To do so, close the Representation Properties dialog box, then from the drop-down menu on the Representation toolbar, click Free Representation and click Convert Effect to Geometry. This will convert the dynamic dashes from the geometric effect to actual geometry that you can edit.

From the drop-down menu on the Representation toolbar, click Free Representation and click Ungroup Elements.

Now you want to work with individual dashes. Zoom in to a section of the selected feature. Clear the selected features and select a new segment with the Select tool. Open the Representation Properties dialog box.

Note that the entire line has been selected. This is a result of the Select tool acting as designed by selecting the multipart geometry of the line. As a representation rule, the line geometry was dynamically dashed but remained a single-line geometry. As a free representation, you have converted the single line into a multipart line and ungrouped the multipart line to interact with individual dashes. Clear the selected feature. In the next segment you'll see how to select a dash with the Direct Select tool and edit it's representation.

Free representations are a powerful and flexible way to display complex features, but they need to be approached carefully. In this and later examples you will learn how to make and modify a free representation to accommodate a complex cartographic challenge that cannot be accomplished using existing representation rules.

A free representation is for a feature or a complex symbol that only appears once on a map. As such, it does not warrant an entire rule to itself. The choice to use free representations is made after you have answered no to the following questions: Does standard ArcMap symbology achieve the result I want? Does a representation rule help achieve the result I want? Do geometric effects help achieve the result I want? Do overrides help achieve the result I want?

For example: You want to change the shape and color of a single dash in a linear symbol.

ArcMap symbology will make the dashed line symbol, but you have very limited control over the dash pattern itself and no ability to change an individual component of a dash pattern.

A representation rule gives you control over a line with geometric effects that dynamically change the geometry of the line.

Geometric effects provide you with control over the size of the dash pattern at any point along a line but no control over an individual dash.

Overrides provide further control over the representation property values of a single feature, but you still do not have control over the behavior of an individual dash.

As a representation rule, a dashed line is really a single line that is dynamically dashed.

A free representation allows you to take control of the dynamic parts of the symbol by converting each dash into a unique geometry. You now have complete control over individual dashes.

The choice to create a free representation should not be taken lightly. You need to determine what you want from your symbology before creating a free representation.