Creating a layout

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

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

Open the map document

Create a new Layout

Adding a map to the layout

The layout's Contents pane

Repositioning the map body

Adding an extent indicator

Adding a title

On your own...

Open the map document

Open the Layout.aprx document found in your project folder.

The project consists of two maps: the main map called Map and an inset map called Inset. When creating multiple maps in a document, it's good practice to assign them meaningful names. In this exercise, we will create a layout with Map as the main map body and Inset as the inset map.

The Map map is made up of four layers: a cities population layer (for 2007), a major rivers layer, a states boundaries layer, and percent crop cover layer for each county.

Create a new Layout

Anytime you need to add map elements such as a legend or a scale bar, you need to first create a map Layout.

Under the Insert tab, click on the New Layout pull down menu and select the Lanscape Letter template.

This will add a new Layout pane to your map tabs.

Adding a map to the layout

Once a layout is created, one of the first steps you will want to take is adding an existing map frame to the layout.

With the Layout pane active, click on the Map Frame from the Insert tab. The drop down will list all active maps in your project.

We have two in our example. For each map, we are given an option to select the extent. If you've explicitly defined the extent (zoom level) in your map, you would select the second map icon (the one to the right). If you select the Default Extent icon, you will embed the map with its full extent.

In our example, the map's extent is specifically defined, so we will select the second icon under Map.

You'll be presented with a plus shaped cursor. Draw the outline of the map as you would want to see it in the layout. Here, we'll maximize the layout's canvas.

The layout's Contents pane

When you are in Layout mode, you'll note that the Contents pane has a unique set of elements.

So far, we've added just one element, the main map. It's listed as a Map Frame in the Contents. Expending Map Frame will show the Map whose layers are displayed in the frame. The link is dynamic such that any changes made to layer symbology in Map will be reflected in the layout.

As we add more elements to the layout, the Contents pane will grow in its contents. To keep it tidy, collapse Map Frame and rename it Main map.

Repositioning the map body

You may find the need to reposition or zoom in/out on the map body. In Layout mode, the zoom and pan tools operate on the layout and not the map body. If you need to readjust the main map body within its map frame, you need to activate it.

Right-click on the map frame and select Activate.

Once activated, the panning and zooming operations will apply to the content of the map frame. Feel free to adjust the map body as needed.

When you are done panning and zooming in the map frame, you need to deactivate the map frame if you want to proceed with layout steps.

While ensuring that the map frame is selected in the Contents pane, click on the Layout tab then click on Close Activation.

This should place you back in Layout mode.

Adding a scale bar

Next we'll add a scale bar. Note that a scale bar will only make sense if the coordinate system used in the map is designed to minimize errors in distance measurements across the map's extent. (Note that for the purpose of this tutorial we'll ignore that the Map's coordinate system is designed to minimize error in area and not necessarily that of distance).

While making sure that you are in Layout mode, click on the Insert tab and select any one of the scale bars from the Scale Bar pull-down menu.
Use the cursor to define the location and size of the scale bar. This need not be exact since you can modify its properties after placing it in the layout.

Many of the Layout elements can be tweaked. In fact, you'll find their formatting options overwhelming at first.

If the scale bar is selected in the Content pane, you should see its properties pane to the right of the map. If the element pane does not show up, simply double-click on the scalebar graphic to bring it up.

For example, under the Scale bar graphical option tab, you can tweak the division's properties.

Change the Fitting Strategy to Adjust number of divisions. This should enable the Division Value field above it.
Set the Division Value to 500. This will create 500 mile division intervals. (If the Division value field is disabled, you did not select the proper Fitting Strategy in the previous step).
You can also control the number of Subdivisions. We'll set that to 2.

If you want to make changes to the scale bar fonts, click on the Text Symbol tab.

Here, you can change the scalebar font color, style and size as well as many other properties.

Adding a graticule

You might be tempted to add a north arrow, but if you look closely at the layout of the 48 states, you'll notice that "north" does not point "up" across the map's extent. So instead of adding a north arrow, we'll add a graticule. A graticule is a geographic coordinate system that displays lines of latitude and longitude.

In the Layout, select the Maine map frame in the Contents pane.
This should enable the Grid button under the Insert tab.
Click on the Grid button to expand its options.
Select the first Graticule option.

The graticule will display a geographic (latitude/longitude) coordinate reference system. This may not be the same reference system used in the map. If you want to display the projected coordinate system grid, select one of the Measure Grid options from the Grid pull-down menu.

As with the scalebar element, many of the graticule's components can be tweaked in its properties pane.

The graticule element is embedded in the Main map element in the Contents pane.
Expand the Main map element in the Contents pane.
Select the Black Horizontal Label Graticule element in the Contents pane. This should activate its properties pane.

Next, we'll tweak the grid intervals.

Uncheck the Automatically adjust option under the Interval block.

Click in the Components button.
Select the Labels component.
Under Interval, change the lat/lon intervals to 10°.

Select the Gridlines component and change its intervals to 10°.

To change the gridlines' color, select Gridlines from the pull-down option.

Change the color to a lighter shade of gray.
For this change to take effect, you will need to click on the Apply button

Feel free to explore additional grid options.

Adding a legend

To add a legend, select the Main map element in the Contents pane and click on the Legend button under the Insert tab.

Place the legend somewhere near the bottom left side of the map. Remember that this element can always be modified/tweaked after it is placed.

Expand the legend element in the Contents pane. Here, you can turn on or off the layers want listed in the legend. Note that this does not remove the layer from the map!
Uncheck the Rivers and States layer since these map features do not need to be explicitly defined in the legend box.

By default, the legend will reflect the layers' name, heading and labels as displayed in the Contents pane. Changing the label names in Contents will be reflected in the legend. The label names can be changed in either the Map's Contents pane or the Layout's Contents pane.

Rename the counties layer to Percent Cropland (you will need to expand the Main map element in the Contents pane to see the individual layers).

Likewise, rename the Cities layer to Population (2007).

We don't need the "Legend" header in the legend box. We'll go ahead and remove it.

With the Legend element selected (you can select it graphically or via the Layout's Contents pane), uncheck Show under the Legend tab of the Legend Element properties pane.

If the Legend Element properties pane is no longer present on the right-hand side of your ArcGIS window, you can reactivate it by clicking in the Legend tab, then clicking on the Format Legend icon (the small icon in the bottom corner of the Legend Gallery rubric).

We don't need both the layer name and heading in the legend.

With the Legend element still selected click on the Show properties button in the properties pane.

Uncheck Headings.

You should now only see the layer names in the legend box.

We might want to give the legend box a white background to mask out the grid around the legend

Make sure that the legend element is still selected in the Contents pane to activate its properties pane.
From the Legend pull-down menu in the properties pane, click on the Display button. (If you don't see the Legend tab, you might need to click on the back arrow in the upper-left hand corner of the legend element pane).

Set the background to white.

Adding an inset map

You can add more than one Map frame to the layout. In this next step, you will add an inset map frame that will point to the other map in your document appropriately called "inset".

From the Map frame pull-down menu, select the Inset map at its currently defined extent (this should be the right-most icon).

Place it somewhere near the bottom right-hand side of the layout.

You'll see a new element in the Layout's Contents pane called Map Frame. Rename it Inset map.

The inset map frame might appear to be blank, but in fact it's zoomed in on the continental US. In the next step, you will change its scale.

Make sure that the inset map frame is selected in the Contents pane to display its properties pane.
In its properties pane, click the Display options button under the Map Frame tab.

Expand the Scale field and select Customize. This will bring up a Scales property window.

Add the scale 1:400,000,000.
Click Add.
Close the Scales property window by clicking OK.

Change the scale to 1:400,000,000.

The map should be zoomed out to the extent covering most of North America.

Next we'll move the source's credit caption outside of the inset map window.

On the Insert tab, expand the Dynamic Text button.

Scroll down the list of options and select Service Layer Credits (about two thirds the way down the list).

This will prompt you to draw a rectangle where you will want to place the credits text.

Place text box near the bottom of the layout page. As with the other layout elements, you will have a chance to reposition it later.

Adding an extent indicator

The purpose of an inset map is to place the main map extent in a geographic context. We will add a frame in the inset map that will highlight the main map body's extent.

With the inset map selected in the Contents pane, click on the Extent Indicator under the Insert tab and select Main map from the pull-down menu.

The main map's extent is added to the inset map. Note the distorted look of the extent indicator. This simply reflects the difference in projections used between the main map body (which uses a conical projection), and the inset map (which uses a cylindrical projection).

The extent indicator is dynamic, so if you were to zoom in or out of the the main map, the extent indicator would automatically reflect the new extent.

Adding a title

Finally, you will add a text box where you will place a title for your map.

From the Insert tab, click on the Rectangle Text icon on the ribbon (under the Graphics and Text group).
Place the text box near the top of the map.

With the text box selected, type the title "Cropland Distribution in the United States" in text box that appears under the Format Text properties window.

To change the font size, click on the Text Symbol tab and look for the Appearance option. Set the font size to 26.
Click Apply to implement the change in font size.
Note that you might need to resize the text box to see the change in text font size.

To apply a white background to mask the grid, select Background from the Format Text pull-down option.

From here, you can set the text background color to white. You can also add a text box outline by setting the outline width to a value greater than 0. This will not be done here to minimize excess map "ink".

On your own...

Now that you have had some exposure to the Layout environment, feel free to modify the layout, and its elements, while being mindful of the desired visual hierarchy. A few recommendations include:

Placing the scalebar such that one recognizes that it's to be used with the main map body and not the inset map.
Changing font type/color based on the text's desired position on the visual hierarchy.

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