Welcome to your detailed guide on creating professional map layouts in ArcGIS Pro! A layout is how you present your geographic data, combining maps with titles, legends, scale bars, and other crucial information. This tutorial will walk you through each step, from setting up your layout to exporting the final product, ensuring even beginners can create impressive maps.
I. Starting Your Layout
Before you can design your map presentation, you need to create a new layout file within your ArcGIS Pro project.
- Create a New Layout: Navigate to the “Insert” tab on the ArcGIS Pro ribbon. In the “Project” group, click the “New Layout” button. ArcGIS Pro will offer a selection of pre-defined page sizes (e.g., Letter, A3, Tabloid) in both portrait and landscape orientations. Choose one that suits your needs. If you have specific dimensions, you can customize this later.
- Rename Your Layout: Once the layout view opens, it’s good practice to give it a meaningful name. In the “Catalog” pane, expand “Layouts.” Right-click on your new layout (e.g., “Layout”) and select “Rename.” Type in a descriptive name (e.g., “Wellington_City_Map_Landscape”).
II. Setting Up Guides for Precision
Guides are non-printing lines that help you align elements on your page for a neat and organized look.
- Adding Guides: Rulers should be visible at the top and left edges of your layout view. If not, go to the “Layout” tab (this tab appears when a layout view is active), and in the “Show” group, check “Rulers.” To add a vertical guide, right-click on the horizontal ruler at the top and select “Add Guide.” To add a horizontal guide, right-click on the vertical ruler on the left and select “Add Guide.” You can also click and drag from a ruler to place a guide.
- Positioning Guides: You can add guides at specific positions by right-clicking a ruler and choosing “Add Guide At…” and entering a value. To move an existing guide, hover your mouse over it until the cursor changes, then click and drag it to the desired location. For precise placement, right-click a guide and choose “Edit Guide…” to enter an exact position.
III. Adding Your Main Map (Map Frame)
A map frame is a container on your layout that displays one of the maps from your ArcGIS Pro project.
- Insert a Map Frame: Go to the “Insert” tab. In the “Map Frames” group, you’ll see a gallery of available maps and scenes in your project. Click on the map you want to add to the layout. Your cursor will change, allowing you to click and drag a rectangle on your layout page. This rectangle will become the map frame.
- Adjusting the Map Frame: Once placed, you can resize the map frame by clicking on it and dragging the selection handles. You can move it by clicking and dragging the entire frame. Use your guides to help align it.
- Activating the Map Frame (Controlling Map Content): To change the map’s extent (the area shown) or scale *inside* the map frame, you need to “activate” it. Right-click on the map frame and select “Activate.” Now, using your mouse scroll wheel will zoom the map, and clicking and dragging will pan the map within the frame. When you’re done, click the “Layout” tab on the ribbon, and in the “Navigate” group, click “Close Activation” (or press the ‘Esc’ key, or click outside the map frame on the layout page).
IV. Incorporating Essential Map Elements
These elements provide context and make your map understandable.
A. North Arrow
- Insert: On the “Insert” tab, in the “Map Surrounds” group, click “North Arrow.” A gallery of styles will appear.
- Select and Place: Choose a style you like. Click on your layout where you want to place it. You can then resize and move it as needed. The North arrow will automatically orient itself based on the map in the selected map frame. If you have multiple map frames, ensure the correct one is selected in the Element pane when you insert the North arrow, or link it later via its properties.
B. Scale Bar
- Insert: On the “Insert” tab, in the “Map Surrounds” group, click “Scale Bar.” A gallery of styles will appear.
- Select and Place: Choose a style. Click on your layout to place it.
- Customize: Select the scale bar. The “Element” pane should appear (if not, right-click the scale bar and choose “Properties”). Here, under “Scale Bar” (or a similar tab like “Design”), you can adjust properties like the units (e.g., Miles, Kilometers), number of divisions, how it adjusts (e.g., “Adjust Width,” “Adjust Division Value”), and more.
C. Legend
- Insert: On the “Insert” tab, in the “Map Surrounds” group, click “Legend.” Click and drag a rectangle on your layout where you want the legend to appear.
- Customize: The legend will automatically populate based on the layers in your map frame. Select the legend to open its properties in the “Element” pane. Here, you can:
- Control which map layers appear in the legend.
- Change layer names as they appear in the legend (without changing the actual layer name).
- Adjust the legend title, font styles, and spacing.
- Modify patch shapes and sizes.
V. Adding Text and Titles
Text elements provide titles, descriptions, sources, and other important information.
A. Static Text (Titles, Descriptions)
- Insert Text: On the “Insert” tab, in the “Graphics and Text” group, you’ll find text tools. “Rectangle Text” is common for titles or paragraphs. Select it, then click and drag to draw a text box on your layout.
- Enter and Format Text: Double-click inside the text box to type your text. To format it, select the text box. A “Format Text” contextual tab will appear on the ribbon, or you can use the “Element” pane. Here you can change font, size, color, alignment, etc.
B. Dynamic Text
- What is Dynamic Text?: This text updates automatically based on project, map, or layout properties (e.g., current date, file path, map scale, service layer credits).
- Insert: On the “Insert” tab, in the “Graphics and Text” group, click the “Dynamic Text” dropdown. You’ll see various categories like “Layout,” “Map Frame,” “Project,” etc. Select the dynamic text element you need (e.g., “Service Layer Credits” often found under the map frame’s properties or “Date Current” under Layout). Click on the layout to place it.
- Formatting: You can format dynamic text just like static text using the “Format Text” contextual tab or the “Element” pane.
VI. Creating an Overview (Inset) Map
An overview map shows a larger area to provide context for your main map.
- Add Another Map Frame: Follow the same steps as in “III. Adding Your Main Map” to insert a new map frame. This will be your overview map. You might use a different map from your project that shows a broader region, or use the same map but set it to a much smaller scale (more zoomed out).
- Position and Resize: Typically, overview maps are smaller and placed in a corner of the layout.
- Add Extent Indicators: To show where your main map is located within the overview map, select the overview map frame. Go to the “Insert” tab, and in the “Map Frames” group, click “Extent Indicator.” Choose the map frame whose extent you want to show (your main map frame). A rectangle will appear on your overview map. You can customize the symbol (border, fill) of this extent indicator by selecting it and using the “Element” pane or the contextual “Format” tab.
- Optional – Reshape the Overview Map Frame: Select the overview map frame. In the “Element” pane, look for options to change its shape (e.g., to an oval or circle) under the “Frame” or “Display” settings, or by right-clicking and exploring “Format Map Frame.”
VII. Arranging and Aligning Elements
A well-organized layout is visually appealing and easier to read.
- Select Multiple Elements: Hold down the “Shift” key while clicking on different elements (map frames, text boxes, legend, etc.) to select them all.
- Align and Distribute: With multiple elements selected, the “Layout” contextual tab will offer alignment tools in the “Distribute” group (e.g., “Align Left,” “Align Top,” “Distribute Vertically,” “Distribute Horizontally”). You can also right-click on selected elements to find these options. Use these to ensure your elements are perfectly lined up and spaced.
VIII. Exporting Your Layout
Once your layout is complete, you’ll want to export it as an image or PDF.
- Go to Export: On the ribbon, click the “Share” tab. In the “Export” group, click “Layout.”
- Choose File Type: In the “Export Layout” pane, select your desired file type from the “File Type” dropdown. Common choices include:
- PDF: Good for sharing and printing, preserves vector quality.
- JPEG: Good for web use or when small file sizes are needed (lossy compression).
- PNG: Good for web use, supports transparency (lossless compression).
- TIFF: Good for high-quality prints, often used in publishing (can be lossless).
- Set Export Properties:
- Name and Location: Specify where to save the file and its name.
- Resolution (DPI): Dots Per Inch. For printing, 300 DPI is common. For web, 72 or 96 DPI might suffice. Higher DPI means better quality but larger file size.
- Output Quality (for JPEG): Adjust the compression level.
- Other Options: Depending on the file type, you might see options like “Embed Fonts” (for PDF, usually good to check), “Output as Image” (for PDF, if you have complex vector elements causing issues), or “Clip to graphics extent.”
- Export: Click the “Export” button at the bottom of the pane.
IX. Conclusion and Further Learning
Congratulations! You now have a solid understanding of how to create, design, and export layouts in ArcGIS Pro. Practice these steps, experiment with different elements and their properties, and you’ll be making professional-quality maps in no time.
For a visual walkthrough of a specific layout creation process, you might find this video example helpful. For even more advanced techniques and detailed explanations of every tool, always refer to the official ArcGIS Pro documentation available from Esri.