Intro to ArcGIS Pro

Before tackling this tutorial, you will need to download and install a dataset following these instructions:

Create a folder called Intro_Pro somewhere under your personal directory (e.g. C:\Users\jdoe\Documents\Tutorials\ Intro_Pro\).
Download the data for this exercise then extract the contents of Explore_Pro.zip into your newly created Intro_Pro folder.

Part A

Creating a new ArcGIS Pro session

In the Taskbar search field (bottom of your Windows screen), type ArcGIS Pro.
This should bring up the ArcGIS Pro application in a pop-up menu.
Click on the ArcGIS Pro application.

If you are presented with an ArcGIS Pro licensing splash screen, follow the licensing instructions given in a separate tutorial.

In the ArcGIS Pro select the Map option.

In the New Project window, name the new project Intro_pro and set the location to the ./Intro_pro folder that houses the GIS data you downloaded for this tutorial.

Note that the project name does not necessarily need to be the same as that of the folder, but it can facilitate data management in the long run.

Uncheck the Create a folder for this local project option.
Click OK.

You'll be presented with a new Map view that consists of three windows: a Contents pane to the left, a Map view at the center, and a Catalog pane to the right.

The Contents pane has an embedded topographic layer and a world hillshade layer by default. These layers are streamed across the internet, so a network connection is required to see them.

ArcGIS Pro is context sensitive meaning that the ribbon layout will change depending on the tab being activated. For example, if you switch from the Insert tab (which should be currently selected) to the View tab, you'll be presented with a different ribbon with a different set of tools. So it is important that you note which tab is being referenced in this and subsequent tutorials.

Note that resizing the ArcGIS Pro window can reduce some of the ribbon buttons to small icons. The following figure shows the above ribbon in a resized (width-wise) ArcGIS Pro window.

The Catalog Pane

Next, you will add the data you downloaded for this tutorial. Loading and managing GIS data files is usually handled in the Catalog pane (right-hand window pane). If this is the first time you've opened an ArcGIS Pro session on your computer, the Catalog pane should be the only pane present to the right of the Map view.

NOTE: If the Catalog pane is missing in your current session, you can activate it by clicking the View tab then selecting the Catalog Pane link from the ribbon.

Folder connections

By default, ArcCatalog will not show all the folders/drives on your computer. It will only show connected folders. A separate tutorial covers creating folder connection.

In this working tutorial, a folder connection to Intro_Pro should have already been created (you should see it under the Folders icon.)

Adding data to the Map view via Catalog

In the Catalog pane, expand the Intro_Pro folder, then drag-and-drop the Interstate.shp file into the map.

The Interstate.shp file is added to the map and is now visible as a new layer in the Contents pane.

ArcGIS Pro will usually reset the extent to that of the first spatial layer added to the map. Also, note that the default color scheme assigned to Interstate.shp may differ from that shown in this tutorial.

Adding data to the Map view via Add Data

An alternative way of loading data into the map is by clicking on Add Data under the Map tab.

Select the Map tab, then click on Add Data >> Data.

Navigate to your Intro_Pro folder then add the Hillshade.tif data file.
If you are presented with a message window asking to "build a pyramid", click No.

A Pyramid file is a separate file created by the software to grab snapshots of a raster layer at different scales for the purpose of speeding up rendering time. This can be helpful for large raster files, but not necessary for smaller ones. Since we will be working with small raster layers in this course, creating pyramid files will not be necessary.

GIS files come in different data types and file formats. So far you've loaded a vector data file (Interstate.shp) and a raster file (Hillshade.tif). Data types and file formats are covered in a separate tutorial.

Adding additional data files to the map

The project folder houses different data types and file formats. In the following set of instructions, you will learn how to create a point layer from a data table with latitude and longitude fields. You will also learn how to load GIS files stored in a geodatabase.

Adding an XY data table

First, you will load a data table (a simple comma separated data file) into the Map view by instructing ArcGIS to generate points from the latitude and longitude fields in that table.

Select the Map tab, then click on XY Table To Point under the Layer group. This step will open a Geoprocessing pane to the right of the Map.

A geoprocess is a tool that takes input from the user (usually as a data file such as a data table in this example) and generates a new output. In this example, the geoprocess will generate a new GIS file from a non-GIS data file.

In the Input Table field, click on the folder icon and navigate to the Intro_Pro folder and select the Cities.txt data file.
Click OK.

By default, ArcGIS will want to output the GIS data file in a geodatabase (it might name it Cities_XYTableToPoint). Instead, we will save it as a shapefile file format with a different name.

In the Output Feature Class field, click on its folder icon and navigate to the Intro_Pro folder. Name the new (output) data file Cities_point.shp. Make sure to type the .shp extension in the name. Data file formats will be covered in future tutorials.
Click OK to accept the output file name.

In this final step, you will select the data columns that store the coordinate value pairs. ArcGIS should recognize the latitude and longitude column names and automatically populate the Y and X fields. If not, select those fields from the pull down menus.
Leave the Z Field blank (the file does not contain elevation data).
Click Run to execute this geoprocess.

When complete, you should see a green check mark in the geoprocess pane and the new Cities_points should be automatically added to the TOC.

You can close the geoprocess window pane to minimize desktop clutter by clicking on the close icon in the geoprocessing window's upper right-hand corner (the X symbol).

At this point, the newly created Cities_points layer is added to the Contents pane.

Adding geodatabase files

You will continue adding GIS files into the map. This time, you will load geodatabase files (this is yet another GIS file format). In this next step you are free to drag and drop from the Data Catalog option or you can load the data via the Add Data option.

Via either the Catalog pane or the Add Data button, expand the Data.gdb folder as well as its Boundaries folder (technically referred to as a feature dataset) and add Counties, Parks and Hydrology to you Map.

Your Map should look something like this.

Note that your color schemes may differ from those shown in this tutorial, and the order in which the layers appear in the TOC may differ depending on the order in which they were added to your map.

Managing layers in the Contents pane

ArcGIS Pro draws layers in the order they appear in the Contents pane, starting from the bottom. The bottommost layer (in this example, the World Hillshade layer) is drawn first, followed by the next layer above it (World Topographic Map layer), and so on. This continues until the topmost layer (Cities_points) is drawn last.

You can rearrange the order in which the layers are drawn by rearranging their order in the Contents pane.

Move the Counties layer above the Interstate layer and move the Hydrology layer above the Parks layer if their stacking order is switched.

You can also turn layers on and off by unchecking their boxes.

Turn off the World Topographic Map layer and the World Hillshade layer by unchecking their boxes.

Saving the map document

It's good practice to save an ArcGIS Pro project on a regular basis. This way, if the software or computer crashes, you can retrieve the most recently saved version of the project.

In the upper left-hand corner of the map document, click on the Save icon.

When we created the new ArcGIS Pro project, the software created a file called Intro_pro.aprx (the file name adopted the project name we assigned to this project).

You will probably not see the .aprx file listed in the Catalog pane since it is a not a data layer that can be added to the Map view. You may need to use Windows file management folder to see the .aprx file.

In a Windows file manager window, to enable the display of filename extensions, click on the three dots at the top of the file manager window and select Options. This will bring up the Folder Options window where you will select the View tab and uncheck "Hide extensions for known file types."

Click OK.

In creating the new project, ArcGIS also added additional folder and files to the project folder. These can be ignored for the purpose of this exercise.

This completes Part A of the tutorial.

Part B

Changing a layer's symbology

Each layer can be customized to look a specific way in your Map by changing its symbology. The symbology options available to us will differ based on the GIS data layer type.

Changing the Counties' symbology

The Counties layer is masking out many underlying layers. Since we are only interested in the boundary locations, we will set the polygon fill color to transparent and the outline color to white.

In the Contents pane, select the Counties layer. In doing so, you will see three tabs (each related to polygon layer manipulation) appear above the ribbon. These are: Feature Layer (used to manipulate feature symbology); Labeling (used to manipulate labels); Data (used to manipulate attribute tables and perform joins).

Click on the Feature Layer tab. This will bring up a new ribbon. This ribbon hosts most of the tools needed to change a layer's symbology.

Click on the Symbology icon in the Drawing group. This should bring up a Symbology pane to the right of your Map view window.

In the Symbology pane, make sure that Single Symbol is selected in the Primary symbology field. Under that field, you should see a colored Symbol icon. Click on that icon to open its properties.

In the Format Polygon Symbol >> Gallery pane, select the second option, Black Outline (2pts).

ArcGIS offers scores of predefined polygon symbols. Some may be exactly what you want, others may need some tweaking. Next, we will tweak the symbol by changing its outline color to white.

Once you've selected the Black Outline symbol, click the Properties option in the Format Polygon Symbol pane.

In the Properties window, change the outline color to white. Note that this menu also allows you to change the fill color (which is now set to transparent) as well as the polygon's outline thickness.

When done, click on the Apply button near the bottom of the Format Polygon Symbol pane to see the changes in the Map view.

At this point, do not close the Symbology pane yet. You will use this pane to symbolize other layers in the map

Changing the Parks' symbology

Next, select the Parks layer in the Contents pane. Its current symbol should now appear in the Symbology pane.
Change its fill color to green (a Leaf Green, for example)

Set the outline color to No Color. r
Click Apply to force the symbology change.

In the next step, we'll modify the opaqueness of the Parks symbol so as not to completely mask out the underlying hillshade features. We'll set the Park's transparency to 50% in the following step.

While making sure that the Parks layer is still selected, navigate to the Feature Layer tab and set the layer's transparency to 50% via the slider or by typing the transparency value in the box.

On your own, change the Hydrology layer's symbology to a Soladite Blue fill color and a No color outline. Don't forget to click Apply to see the changes reflected in the Map.

Next, select the Interstate layer in the Contents window, then click on the line symbol in the Symbology pane.

Click on the Gallery option

Scroll down (about a third of the way down the Gallery pane window) and select 2.0 Point for line type, then switch to the Properties menu and set its color to Fire Red.
Click Apply.

At this point, your map layers should look something like the map subset shown in the adjoining figure.

Next, you will change the Cities_points layer by making the point symbols proportional to the population size. But first, you will explore the attributes table associated with the Cities_points layer.

The Attribute Table

Most vector layers have an attribute table. You can think of an attribute table as a spreadsheet that stores information for each element in a layer. For example, the Cities point layer has an Attributes table that stores the city names for each point as well as their population count. The following steps will show you how to access the attribute table.

In the Contents pane, select Cities.
Select the Data tab to bring up its ribbon.

Click on the Attribute Table icon in the Data ribbon. This will add the layer's attribute table to your ArcGIS Pro desktop.

Alternatively, you can right-click the points layer in the Contents pane and select Attribute Table.

At this point, you may find that your ArcGIS desktop environment is a bit cluttered with a Content, Map, Symbology and Table pane open. This may seem overwhelming at first. If so, you might want to close the Symbology pane for now (we can always reopen it later). In doing so, you will also want to close the underlying Catalog pane and the Geoprocess pane if present. If, however, you are comfortable with having so many panes open in your session then feel free to leave these panes in place.

Modifying Point Symbols

The Cities attributes table stores the city name, its latitude and longitude and its population count. It also stores addition fields related to its spatial features.

Next, we will use the population field to define the size of the point features such that the point symbol size will be proportional to the population size.

Close the Cities point attribute table (this to reduce desktop clutter).
Select the Cities point layer in the Contents pane.
Activate the Feature Layer tab and click on Symbology from the ribbon. This will display the Symbology pane if it's not already active.
From the Primary symbology pull-down option select Proportional Symbols.

Select population from the Field pull-down menu.
Change the Maximum size to 40.

Next, we'll change the point symbol's color.

Click on the point symbol next to Template. This should bring up the Symbology pane you've been exposed to earlier in this tutorial.
Set the point color symbol to Electron Gold (it's an orange hue in the color palette).
Click Apply to force the change.
In the Feature Layer ribbon, change the point symbology's transparency to 40%.

Your point symbols should look something like what is shown in the adjoining figure.

You'll note that the size of the these point circles remain constant regardless of the zoom level. So if you zoom out, the point symbols will cover a larger percentage of the State but their size will remain the same relative to the page layout.

Exploring the map

You may have already figured out how to navigate around the Map view with your mouse. To have greater control over the Map's interaction, click on the Map tab in the menu bar.

In Explore mode, your mouse works as both a panning/zooming tool as well as an inquiry tool.

To pan around the map, press and hold the middle mouse button.
To zoom in and out, roll the middle mouse button forward and backward.

You can also probe your layers for attribute information. For example, click inside of the northern-most park (Baxter State park). Doing so will bring up the attribute information for all layers present at that location. However, you'll note that the information being pulled up is that for the Counties layer and not for the Parks layer. This is because the Explore tool will default to the top most layer in the Contents stack.

To have the Explore tool list all visible layers present at the location clicked, expand the Explore tool and select Visible Layers.

Now click once again on the Baxter State Park polygon. You should now see the three visible layers having a feature at the location clicked. These should include Counties, Parks and Hillshade.tif.

You can expand anyone of the layer in the Pop-up window.

Saving the map document

Save the changes made in part B to this same .aprx file.

In the upper left-hand corner of the map document, click on the Save icon.

This ends this tutorial.

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