Map design

2
In this chapter, you’ll learn all the steps necessary to symbolize common types
of maps. Most analytical maps convey information with polygons or points using
either qualitative or numeric attributes. Sometimes, but less often, lines are the
primary interest. For polygons, symbolization mostly uses color fill and bound-
ary lines. For points, it’s the size, shape, color fill, and boundary lines of point
markers. For lines, it’s the type of line (for example, solid or dashed), width, and
color. Symbolization is easy to implement because ArcMap uses attribute
values to automate drawing; for example, it can draw all food pantry facilities in
a city with a black square point marker of a certain size and all soup kitchen
facilities with a black circle of a certain size by using an attribute with a type of
facility code values.

Learning objectives
• Symbolize maps using qualitative attributes
• Symbolize maps using quantitative attributes
• Create custom numeric classes
• Create normalized and density maps
• Create dot density maps
• Create fishnet maps
• Create group layers

GIST1 10-8.indb 51 9/18/20 3:13 PM

 52 GIS TUTORIAL FOR ARCGIS DESKTOP 10.8

TUTORIAL 2-1
2
Creating point and polygon maps using
3
qualitative attributes
Placing objects of all kinds into meaningful classes or categories is a major goal of science.
Classification in tabular data is accomplished using attributes with codes that have mutually
exclusive and exhaustive qualitative values. For example, a code for size could have the values
4 low, medium, and high. Any instance of the features with this code is displayed in only one of
the classes (the values are mutually exclusive) and there are no more size classes (the values
are exhaustive). In this tutorial, you learn how to symbolize mapped features—points, lines,
and polygons—by class membership as available in code attributes.
5
Start ArcMap and open a map document
6 1 On the taskbar, click Start > ArcGIS > ArcMap 10.8.x.

2 Open Tutorial2-1.mxd from the Maps folder. ArcMap opens a map with no layers added. You
add the needed layers next.
7
3 Save the map document to the Chapter2 folder of MyExercises.

8 Add and display polygons using a single symbol

The first layer of your map is an outline of New York City neighborhoods used as a reference
layer.
9
1 Click the Add Data button, browse through the Data folder to NYC.gdb, and click
Neighborhoods > Add. ArcMap draws the neighborhoods for New York City as filled polygons.

10 2 In the Table Of Contents window, click the polygon symbol and select Hollow symbol, type
an outline width of 1.15, and select an outline color of Black. Click OK.

3 In the Table Of Contents window, right-click the Neighborhoods layer, click Properties, and
11 click the Labels tab.

4 Click the Label features in this layer check box. For Label Field, select Name, and select 10
as the Text Symbol size.
12
Next, you add a white halo to the label to make the labels stand out and be more legible.

5 Click the Symbol button > Edit Symbol button > Mask tab > Halo option button.

GIST1 10-8.indb 52 9/18/20 3:13 PM

 Chapter 2: MAP DESIGN 53

6 Type 1.5 for Size and click OK > OK > OK.

1

<alt>Layer Properties with selections made on the Labels tab.</alt>

6
7 Click Bookmarks > Lower Manhattan. ArcMap zooms to this neighborhood and a few
neighborhoods in the surrounding boroughs.

10

11

<alt>Map zoomed to the Lower Manhattan bookmark.</alt>

Note: The font size 10 labels for neighborhoods may appear larger or smaller than those shown 12
on the book’s map. If you’d like to change the size of labels for your window, use the steps in this
section. Likewise, you can change the font size for labels in the Your Turn assignment, which is
next.

GIST1 10-8.indb 53 9/18/20 3:13 PM

 54 GIS TUTORIAL FOR ARCGIS DESKTOP 10.8

1 YOUR TURN
Add the Water feature class from NYC.gdb with a blue symbol and no outline. Label the layer
using the field LANDNAME with Times New Roman, Bold, and Italic font of size 12. Drag this
layer below Neighborhoods. The two layers you added are from different sources, so the
2 boundaries do not match perfectly. Note: When labeling the Water feature class, you’ll see
that some labels are repeated. You can get just one label to appear by clicking the Placement
Properties button at the lower left of the Labels tab and selecting Remove duplicate labels.

Add and display polygons using unique symbols

4
The next layer you add has zoning polygons with various classes of land use. Zoning restricts
land use to approved kinds; for example, areas zoned as residential cannot have businesses
located within them.
5
1 Click the Add Data button, browse through the Data folder to NYC.gdb, and click
ZoningLandUse > Add.

6 2 After adding the ZoningLandUse layer, drag it below the Neighborhoods layer in the table
of contents.

3 In the Table Of Contents window, right-click the ZoningLandUse layer and click Properties
7 > Symbology tab.

4 In the Show panel, click Categories > Unique Values.

8 5 Under Value Field, click LANDUSE and click Add All Values.

ArcMap assigns colors unique to each land use. Next, you’ll assign colors that are commonly used
in zoning maps.
9

10

11

12

GIST1 10-8.indb 54 9/18/20 3:13 PM

 Chapter 2: MAP DESIGN 55

<alt>Add All Values button on the Symbology tab.</alt>

6 Double-click the symbol next to Battery Park City, click Fill Color, and choose Apple Dust 6
(column 6, row 7 of the color palette) for the color and Gray 30% as the outline color. Click
OK.

<alt>Apple Dust color selected in the color palette.</alt>

7 Assign a Gray 30% outline to the remaining symbols using the following colors (with 10
column number, row number of the color palette included in parentheses). You can change
all the outline colors by multiple selection (pressing and holding the Shift key), right-clicking,
and choosing Properties for Selected Symbol(s).
11
• Commercial, Rose Quartz (2,1)
• Commercial Restricted, Medium Coral (2,8)
• Commercial Retail, Tulip Pink (2,9)
• Commercial Service, Rose Dust (2,7) 12
• Heavy Manufacturing, Blackberry (11,10)
• Light Manufacturing, Lepidolite Lilac (11,1)
• Medium Manufacturing, Lilac Dust (11,7)

GIST1 10-8.indb 55 9/18/20 3:13 PM

 56 GIS TUTORIAL FOR ARCGIS DESKTOP 10.8

• Park, Medium Apple (7,3)

1 • Residential, Yucca Yellow (5,1)
• Residential/Lt Mfg, Light Sienna (4,9)
• Waterfront, Blue Gray Dust (9,7)

2 8 Click Apply > OK.

Label zoning features

3
1 In the Table Of Contents window, right-click the ZoningLandUse layer and click Properties
> Labels tab.

4 2 Click Label features in this layer, select ZONE as the Label field, select 6 as the Text
Symbol size, select Gray 60% as the color, and click OK. The result is a subtle label for
zoning details.

10 <alt>Zoning details are labeled on the map.</alt>

YOUR TURN
11 ArcMap has predefined symbols for some zoning and land-use features. To view these,
double-click the Park symbol > Style References > Civic > OK. Scroll through the Civic
polygon symbols and choose Park & Open Space. When finished, deselect Civic under Style
References.
12

GIST1 10-8.indb 56 9/18/20 3:13 PM

 Chapter 2: MAP DESIGN 57

6
<alt>Park & Open Space selected in the Symbol Selector window.</alt>

Add points and create a definition query 7

Often a map layer has more classes of features than you want to display. In this case, you can use
a definition query to select the desired subset from the larger collection. Below, you add a new
layer to your map document: Facilities, which has various government and nonprofit facilities that 8
provide services. Only three classes out of over 100 are needed for the map. Classes have both a
numeric code (Facility_T) and a corresponding text code (Facttype__1), and the three needed
facility classes are 4901 = Soup Kitchen, 4902 = Food Pantry, and 4903 = Joint Soup Kitchen and
Food Pantry. While in common language, you use and to connect members of a collection, such as 9
the three food facility types, in a query you must use or.

1 Click the Add Data button, browse through the Data folder to NYC.gdb, and click Facilities >
Add. 10
2 In the Table Of Contents window, right-click the Facilities layer and click Properties >
Definition Query tab.
11
3 Click the Query Builder button.

4 In the Query Builder window, double-click FACILITY_T.

12
5 Click = as the logical operator.

6 Click Get Unique Values. The resulting list has all unique values in the FACILITY_T attribute.

GIST1 10-8.indb 57 9/18/20 3:13 PM

 58 GIS TUTORIAL FOR ARCGIS DESKTOP 10.8

7 In the Unique Values list, double-click 4901.

1
8 Click Or, double-click FACILITY_T, click = as the logical operator, and double-click 4902.

9 Repeat step 8, except use 4903 instead of 4902. The completed query, FACILITY_T = 4901 OR
2 FACILITY_T = 4902 OR FACILITY_T = 4903, yields a layer with only food type facilities. If your
query has an error, edit it in the lower panel of the Query Builder, or click Clear and repeat
steps 4 through 8.

7
<alt>Query Builder with completed query.</alt>

8 10 Click OK > OK to execute your query and close the Layer Properties window.

Display points using unique symbols

9
Next you symbolize food facilities using unique symbols.

1 In the Table Of Contents window, right-click the Facilities layer and click Properties >
10 Symbology tab.

2 In the Show panel, click Categories > Unique Values.

11 3 Click Factype__1 as the Value field and click Add All Values.

ArcMap assigns random unique symbols for each food facility type. Next, you assign three
specific unique symbols.
12
4 Double-click the symbol next to Food Pantry and select Esri symbol Square 1 and size 12.
Click OK.

GIST1 10-8.indb 58 9/18/20 3:13 PM

 Chapter 2: MAP DESIGN 59

5 Double-click the symbol next to Joint Soup Kitchen and Food Pantry and select Esri symbol
Cross 2, size 12. Click OK. 1
6 Double-click the symbol next to Soup Kitchen and select Esri symbol Circle 1, size 12. Click
OK.
2
7 Clear the check box next to <all other values> and click OK.

<alt>Symbology tab with selections made for food facility types.</alt>

10

11

12

GIST1 10-8.indb 59 9/18/20 3:13 PM