The recent release of the Map Templates Resource Center has generated a lot of excitement about map templates, the new downloadable resources that can help the non-expert cartographers among us create professional-quality GIS maps. Map templates are now available to help you author ArcGIS Server map services (to share your GIS content in Web mapping applications), printed maps, and maps for mobile GIS applications.
When you download a map template, you get more than a map. You get additional resources such as symbology style files, map cache tiling schemes, template geodatabases that show recommended ways to organize data for mapping, and documentation to guide you through the process of using the template to configure a map.
So we have these new map templates, and last week we did a live training seminar that showed how to get started using them. During the seminar, some viewers asked how the new map templates relate to the ArcMap map templates (.MXT files) that have been around for a while. Are they a replacement? Are they the same thing?
The answer is no and no. The new map templates are not a replacement for ArcMap templates and they are not the same thing. However, the idea behind both types of map templates is the same: ESRI wants to help users more easily create and share effective GIS maps.
The difference is this: ArcMap template files are designed for maps that will be printed. They are layout templates, and they install with your ArcGIS software (the default install location is ...\Program Files\ArcGIS\Bin). Each template contains standard layout elements that you populate with your data and organizational content. Some ArcMap template files include basemap data with rich cartography that you can leverage. You can see these map templates in your file manager and preview them in ArcCatalog just like a map document file (.MXD).
For more information about working with ArcMap map templates, see the ArcGIS Desktop Help.
In last week's seminar, ESRI instructor Mark Ho covered the process of downloading map templates from the Map Templates Resource Center, exploring their contents, publishing a map service, then viewing the service in a Web mapping application.
The demonstration below is an excerpt from the seminar in which Mark explores two of the new map templates using Windows Explorer, ArcCatalog, and ArcMap. Look for the full archived version of Getting Started with Map Templates on the ESRI Training Web site within the next week or so.
