Coverage annotation will be converted to map document annotation as it appears in ArcMap. For this reason, you should carefully set up the display of your coverage annotation in ArcMap before you convert. You can change the display properties of your coverage annotation in ArcMap on the Symbols tab of the Layer Properties dialog box. Either choose a new text symbol or change the properties of the default text symbol (Arial 14 point).

In both ArcMap and ArcInfo Workstation, the display of coverage annotation is driven by special fields in the annotation coverage's text attribute table called pseudo items. These fields are visible in ArcMap in the coverage annotation layer's attribute table. Some examples include $ALIGN, $JUSTIFY, and $SIZE. Pseudo items are used differently in ArcMap than they are in ArcInfo Workstation. Also, map document annotation does not use pseudo items at all. Consequently, there are a couple of important rules to keep in mind when displaying and converting coverage annotation in ArcMap:

• Coverage annotation pseudo items are automatically interpreted by ArcMap, and the placement and appearance of coverage annotation is adjusted accordingly based on the values in these items. This means that when displaying coverage annotation, any changes to the following text symbol properties in ArcMap will not be reflected in the annotation on the map: vertical alignment, horizontal alignment, x-offset, y-offset, and text size (if $SIZE is nonzero).
• Changing the text symbol size will only have an effect if the value for the coverage pseudo item $SIZE equals zero.

The pseudo item $SIZE stores the text size in map units for coverage annotation. Since ArcGIS stores annotation text size in page units (for example, points), when you convert annotation whose $SIZE does not equal 0, ArcMap will automatically calculate a text symbol size in page units for the converted annotation based on the $SIZE value. In the other situation—where $SIZE equals zero—the text symbol size you specify in the Layer Properties dialog box for your coverage annotation will be used for the converted annotation text symbol size.

As with all other annotation, the display of coverage and SDE 3 annotation is not affected by the data frame reference scale. This means that unlike converting labels to annotation features, when converting coverage and SDE 3 annotation, the data frame reference scale is not important. However, when you convert you must make sure that the current map scale matches the reference scale of the target annotation group. Unlike converting labels to annotation, you will not be shown any warning messages if these scales do not match.

1. In ArcMap, click the Tools menu and click Customize.
2. Click the Commands tab.
3. Click the Label category.
4. Drag the Convert Coverage Annotation command from the Commands list and drop it onto any toolbar or menu.
5. Click Close on the Customize dialog box.

1. Open ArcMap and add the ArcInfo Workstation coverage, CAD, SDE 3, VPF, or PC ARC/INFO annotation feature classes you want to convert to map document annotation.
2. Set up the display of your annotation as you would like it to appear when converted.
To learn more, see Displaying annotation and About coverage annotation pseudo items.
3. Add the Convert Coverage Annotation tool to ArcMap by following the steps detailed above.
4. If you will be converting your annotation into an existing annotation group, zoom to its reference scale.
5. Click the Convert Coverage Annotation button.
6. Check the ArcInfo Workstation coverage, CAD, SDE 3, VPF, or PC ARC/INFO annotation that you want to convert. You can convert multiple annotation classes at once, but they will all be converted into a single annotation group. All converted annotation will have the same reference scale because all annotation in an annotation group has the same reference scale.
To learn more about annotation reference scales, see Converting labels to annotation features.
7. Click the Into the Map option.
8. To convert your annotation into a new annotation group, type a name for the new group. To convert into an existing annotation group, click the down arrow and click the annotation group.
9. Click Convert.
10. When the conversion is complete, click Close to close the Convert Coverage Annotation dialog box, or repeat the above steps to convert more ArcInfo Workstation coverage, CAD, SDE 3, VPF, or PC ARC/INFO annotation.

Tips If you specify an existing annotation group as your target, your converted annotation will be appended to any existing annotation in the group. You can use this tool to import into a geodatabase annotation feature class. However, it is recommended you use the Import Coverage Annotation tool to import coverage annotation feature classes into the geodatabase.