Continuing with the mapping module objects, leads me to start talking about cartography automation. The LegendElement object allows developers to access properties that enables the altering of the legend on the page layout. The LegendElement object has an association with a single data frame.
Example: Add Layer to Legend
import arcpy
mxd = arcpy.mapping.MapDocument(r"C:\temp\BestMapEver.mxd")
df = arcpy.mapping.ListDataFrames(mxd)[0]
addLayer = r"c:\temp\World.lyr"
# Get the First Legend Object
#
legend = arcpy.mapping.ListLayoutElements(mxd, "LEGEND_ELEMENT", "Legend")[0]
legend.autoAdd = True
arcpy.mapping.AddLayer(df,addLayer,"BOTTOM")
mxd.save() # Now the map has the new layer which makes the map even better
del mxdIt's not too hard to do simple changing to map documents. All you need is a nice template to work off of, and you can alter the text, position and size of most map elements.
