GIS Virtual Workshop: Creating a Final Map

Transcription

1 To create a map that will be pleasing to an end user, in a static format requires that certain items be added to the map such as a direction arrow, scale, title and legend. Including this information on a map is extremely important so that the user can fully understand what the map represents, you may also include text boxes to provide additional information. A map should also include information about the person who created the information and the person who designed the map if they are different. You may also wish to add copyright information. Remember that these maps are static and not interactive, since they will either be printed or saved as an image or an Adobe Acrobat file. There are free software that can be used to create the pdf format if you do not have Acrobat. You should have created maps from other modules, so the loading and displaying of map information will be assumed to have already been learned in this module. Note the screen shots are from a map of the 109th Congress while the data provided to you is for the 110th congress. 1 1/29/2008

2 The map in this exercise is the congressional districts for the US house of representatives for the 110th congress. The map represents the political affiliation for each member. A map of the state boundaries have also been placed as a layer. The information was obtained from the US Census Bureau and other sources. The map layer files can be downloaded from the website for this module. First we want to set-up the page and print for the map. Under the file menu select the Page and Print Set-up. 2 1/29/2008

3 First select the printer in which the map will be output, you may also need to change the properties of the printer, for example if the printer can support Super B format paper, but the default for the printer is A sized paper, you need to adjust this property. Also if you outputting your map to a large scale printer/plotter you will need to appropriately adjust printer properties. While these adjustments are important in displaying your map, they are more of an operating system process than a mapping process. Next select the size of the paper for the map and the orientation of the paper. For our map we have selected a Dell Laser Printer, on standard letter size paper, and the orientation of the paper is to be landscape due to the shape of the United States. Make sure the Scale Map Elements proportionally to changes in Page Size is checked. Click OK to close the window. 3 1/29/2008

4 Normally when work on maps we work in what is known as the Data View mode. When we are creating a final map we need to be in the Layout View. To change the View of your map you will need select the View Menu and select Layout View. In the layout view we will be able to add legends, titles, scales, directional arrow, etc. The black line around the map represents the size of the paper. The blue-green box represents the size of the map. We want to stretch the map to fill most of the paper, it will be sized proportionately so that the aspects of the map remains true. Use the handles around the map to size it to fill most of the page of paper. 4 1/29/2008

5 After the map has been stretched it fills most of the page on the screen. Note that aspect of map have not changed. The first item we want to add to the map is a Title. Click on the Insert Menu and then select Title. You must be in Layout View for this to be available. This insert menu will be the menu we will do most of additions from. Click on Title. 5 1/29/2008

6 A title box will be placed on the map in the upper center of the map, you can move this box to any location on the map. You can also change the font size, type and color. Double Click on the title to open the title properties window. From the title properties window that opens you can now edit the text. Note we have added a title for the map. We can also change the size, position, symbol and centering of the title. Make as many changes as you would like to the title. Click OK when you are done modifying the title. 6 1/29/2008

7 Go back to the Insert Menu, and select Legend. The legend of the map is extremely important for others to understand the meaning of the map that you have created. There are lots of parameters that you can control on the legend of the map. The legend wizard will take several windows to complete the process. The first window allows you to select the items to display in the legend. We have two map layers on this display, state boundaries and congressional boundaries. In the legend we need only name the congressional boundaries, because anyone familiar with the United States will realize that the other boundaries are those of the states. To remove an item from the legend select and use the arrow pointing to the left to remove it. You are not removing the layer from the map on the symbol for state boundaries from the legend. If you click on the preview button, you can see the effects of what you have done in creation of the legend but will not return directly to the wizard. Click Next to go to the next window of the wizard. 7 1/29/2008

8 The next window allows you the ability change title of the legend including having no title and also the ability to control font items such as color, size, alignment and type face. Once you have made these edits click next to go to the next wizard window. 8 1/29/2008

9 This window of the wizard gives you the ability control the border of the legend including removing the border completely. You can also control the background color of the legend as well having the legend window a shadow on the map. Placing a background color sometimes will set off the legend from the map that is important. Sometimes putting a thinner or thicker border around the legend information also helps set it off from the map. You want the legend to be easy to locate and not dominate the map. Click next to continue. 9 1/29/2008

10 In the next two windows I always use the default values, you can make changes if you would like. Click Finish on the second window to exit the legend wizard. You can make changes to the legend later by double clicking on the legend. 10 1/29/2008

11 The results of the legend wizard is hard to see because the legend has been placed onto the map. It needs to be moved to another location that is empty on the page. Click on the legend and you can drag it to another location on the page. In this example we will move the legend to the empty area on the lower left corner of the display. You will observe the effects of this change the next time we display the map. Click on the Insert Menu to select the directional arrow (North Arrow) for the map. 11 1/29/2008

12 The following window will open to give you choices of directional arrows for your map. It is very important to put an arrow on the maps so that people know the orientation of your map. You can change the color of the arrow by using the properties window. It easier to resize the arrow by using the handles. On the next page you will see the results of inserting the arrow onto a map. 12 1/29/2008

13 The arrow has been placed onto the map, click on the arrow and drag it to an appropriate location on the map like the upper right corner of the map. Again open the insert menu. We will now add a scale to the map. Scales are important to show the size of objects displayed. The scale will adjust as you change zoom levels of the map. 13 1/29/2008

14 There are lots of choices on the type of scale you would like to put onto your map. You can also change the properties of the scale bar at this location. Click on the type of scale bar you wish to include and then click OK. 14 1/29/2008

15 The scale bar in general will initially be placed on the map. You will need to drag it to an open location. I have already drug it to the lower right corner. Another potential location you could have placed the scale bar is centered under the Map. Note the units of the scale bar is in degrees and we normally have units of miles or kilometers for a map. Therefore, we need to change the units by double clicking on the scale bar. 15 1/29/2008

16 Scale Bar Property window will open, not the arrow is pointing to the Division Units. Click the pull down arrow to select the units of miles for this map. Note you can also change other parts of the scale bar appearance in this menu window. For this example we are only changing the units. Click OK when you have completed changing this property. Next go to the Insert Menu again and select Text. In this step we will insert a textbox onto the page. 16 1/29/2008

17 The text box has been added to the map. It has been placed onto the map and will need to be moved and also to have data inputted. Double click on the text box to input data. Next click and drag the box to a blank location. In this example it will be moved to the lower center of the page, between the scale and the legend. 17 1/29/2008

18 Note the information that has been added to the text box. It is important to place information about the creator of the map and any other information that viewer might need to know. The text has been centered justified. Next we want to observe what the map will look like before it is printed. Go to the File Menu and select Print Preview. 18 1/29/2008

19 Above you can see the final results of creating the map and how it will be printed or exported as a picture. Note the Title defines the map. The legend show four parameters for congressional district. The arrow and scale provides the user with information on map properties. The text box provides information about the creator of the map. At this point you can either print the map, which you can make a hardcopy or convert to pdf file format. You can also choose on the file menu to export it has a picture. 19 1/29/2008

20 ArcMap also has predefined layouts that may be accessed via the Change Layout Button. You can also make your own output template and save it in the change layout area. Some of the templates bring a professional appearance to the map, eliminate time to final map, but they also can limit your appearance of the map. If you are going to use a template it should be used prior to placing legend, scales, etc. on your map. It is suggested that you try some of the templates with the initial map from the beginning of this exercise. 20 1/29/2008