Symbolizing a hillshade raster layer (the output of the Spatial or 3D Analyst's Hillshade tool) seems pretty straight forward, in fact the default symbology (black to white ramp) doesn't look too bad. In fact, if your hillshade layer is the only layer in your map, and if you don't mind not seeing some of the details that have been visually absorbed into the darker tones, the default symbology is okay. To be fair, the default symbology for hillshades is for far more than just terrain depictions, so it's good to know what might be helpful when depicting terrain with a hillshade. The image to the left is an example of a hillshade using the default color ramp. Read More...
