Mapping Center : ArcGIS Methods

Creating tree symbols in ArcGIS

makella — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 05:00:00 GMT

Tree symbols are a great way to enhance the appearance of a large scale, detailed map. To make attractive point symbols for trees, you need a good place to start from and thankfully all of us ArcGIS users have that. Using multi-layer character marker sybmols, the variety of tree symbols you can create is endless. This blog is meant to introduce (or reintroduce) you to the ESRI US Forestry 2 font. It is also meant to give you some tips for creating a variety of tree symbols to use on your maps....(read more)

Make a map of Washington Elevation – or a similar map for somewhere else!

makella — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 23:00:00 GMT

One of the presentations we gave at this year’s User Conference was "The One Minute Cartographer". While we were developing the presentation, we had several intentions in mind. Most importantly, we wanted to demonstrate to the attendees of our session that making a good map in ArcGIS isn’t always as hard as it seems – often times, it is just a matter of going one or two steps beyond the defaults. Another thing that was really important to us was to make sure that all of the data we used to produce this map was also available to you through the ESRI Data and Maps DVD. And in addition, we wanted to create a set of resources with great potential to help map makers in a variety of ways: ...(read more)

How to use Geologic Mapping Template symbology with your database schema

JCDay — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 18:11:00 GMT

A common question we receive goes something like, 'How can I use symbols from the Geologic Mapping Template with my database?' The solution is simple, once you have downloaded the geologic mapping template, follow these steps to add its representation symbology to your geodatabase...(read more)

The Buffer Wizard in ArcMap

marg3002 — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 18:56:00 GMT

In the next couple of blog posts, we want to explain a bit about the two tools you can use to create buffers in ArcGIS. Buffers are used not only in analysis of distances and areas around point, line and area features, they are also used in mapping to achieve a number of cartographic effects, such as coastal vignettes. Since there are two tools and multiple methods you can use to create buffers, and each have their particular strengths and weaknesses, we thought it would be good to review these for you. In the next couple of blog posts, we'll describe the tools and methods, how they differ and what you need to consider when using them....(read more)

The "Map Sandwich"

cfrye — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 20:44:00 GMT

Last week we started telling you about the new ArcGIS Online World Topographic Map. As I was working on the design of that map, with the intent of providing a better basis for mash-ups, I had an idea. It was born of frustration with the fact some mash-ups don't work because too much information obscures the base map, making for an unreadable, often ugly result. Demographic layers represent a great example of the kind of information that just doesn't always work well in a simple mash-up....(read more)

ESRI Color Ramps Version 2.0

Jaynya — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 20:00:00 GMT

We’ve posted our recently revised Color Ramps version 2.0 styles on our site to be more suitable for your use. Our impetus was we needed something new to work on a project with the topic of Washington Landforms and it is specific to printed maps. This is a map that we will talk about in our "One Minute Cartographer" session at the ESRI User Conference this year. This presentation will be posted on the Mapping Center - Other Resources page after the conference. The color ramp used on this map was selected from the PNW_x set in the new Hypsometry style. (PNW stands for "Pacific Northwest".)...(read more)

Getting Started with Map Templates - Live Training Seminar

blackpoll — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 03:00:00 GMT

On Thursday, June 25, Charlie Frye (ESRI Mapping Center) and Mark Ho (ESRI Educational Services) will present the Live Training Seminar Getting Started with Map Templates at 9am, 11am, and 3pm Pacific Time.

This seminar will provide an overview of what map templates contain, how to get started, and how to adapt the contents of the templates or evolve your data to your mapping needs. Participants will learn where to find and download map templates. Templates include example map documents, data models, geoprocessing tools, and more—each template is a complete solution for a given kind of map. This seminar will then discuss how you can use your data with map templates to produce professional quality basemaps and publish them....(read more)

Historical GIS Template: Boston 1775

cfrye — Thu, 28 May 2009 23:28:00 GMT

This post, is to announce the release of a map template for historical GIS called Historical GIS: Boston 1775. If you’ve never given historical GIS a second, or a first thought, you might find the contents interesting and maybe even applicable to your work. Consider that the vast majority of GIS data is historical, even if it’s only a few minutes old....(read more)

About geographic transformations and how to choose the right one

abuckley — Wed, 06 May 2009 15:00:00 GMT

You will often be prompted to select the geographic transformation when you are projecting data or setting the projection of a data frame in a map document. Here are some concepts that might help you understand what this is all about AND how to make the right selection.

First, "geographic coordinates" are expressed in terms of latitude and longitude. "Latitude" is the north-south angular measure from the equator to the point of interest. "Longitude" is the east-west angular measure along the equator from the prime meridian to the point of interest's longitude. Assuming that the earth is a sphere, geographic coordinates are determined relative to the center of the sphere - these coordinates are called "geocentric latitude and longitude". (See the figure at the right; all figures are from Map Use: Reading and Analysis, 6th edition, ESRI Press.)...(read more)

Quick & dirty method & tips for creating building footprint features

cfrye — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 18:05:00 GMT

From time to time we've had to create some building footprint data. A colleague was in my office yesterday looking at the map to the right, and remarked that he thought that adding building footprints to maps "humanizes" the map. An interesting observation, and one that I'm not inclined to argue against.

We've learned a few tricks for making haste with little or no waste to produce building footprint data....(read more)

Tips for hillshade data management

cfrye — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 16:00:00 GMT

We’ve blogged about symbolizing hillshades (rasters that are derived from elevation raster datasets, like DEMs, via the Hillshade tool), but never really covered the basics of the data used to create hillshades, so we wanted to take a minute and share a few best practices we’ve been adopting.

Before getting started, though, it’s worth noting that we’ve been storing our rasters in file geodatabases. For us, these included some rather large hillshade datasets, ranging between 5Gb and 60Gb....(read more)

Symbolising data with lost data links

mxc@robresint.co.uk — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 01:00:00 GMT

I frequently come across data which has lost data links (a red !). This occurs when the data has been moved or no longer exists, thus breaking the link. On some occasions, even after I tracked down the data and repaired the data source, the symbology still didn’t draw -- it exists, but the wrong field is listed on the Layer Properties Symbology tab. Usually the draw category (Value field) has defaulted to a non-matching field. Simply changing the Value field does not do the trick....(read more)

What I wish I had known about ModelBuilder before I started using it

Janel_2008 — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 01:00:00 GMT

We’ve been compiling a list of "What I wish I had known about ModelBuilder before I started using it". Here are a few things that made the list:

1. Create personalized tools in ModelBuilder: Until a few days ago, I thought...(read more)

Tip for editing curved annotation

cfrye — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 22:21:00 GMT

Have you ever found that even with feature linked annotation and the follow feature option you cannot get your line's label into what you clearly see to be the best position? That leaves the option to edit the baseline sketch of that curved annotation feature. I've seen too many people start editing the base line sketch, then painfully select and delete 12-15 control points, and finally move the 2 or 3 remaining control points into position and adjust the tension lines to finish the job. That can take a few minutes, and it's not fun....(read more)

Maplex strategy for producing annotation that will be edited

cfrye — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Just using Maplex to label your map will result in more labels and more of those labels correctly located. We've been saying that for a while now. The simpler your map is (fewer features and fewer clusters of features) the more likely it is that Maplex will be able to place all the labels correctly. Another dimension of getting correctly placed labels is knowledge of what is possible with respect to how Maplex works and how to best leverage its features. However, it does not matter whether your map is complex or you don't know as much as you would like to about Maplex--producing and editing annotation is the answer if you want your map to look its best....(read more)