10.2. GIS Book: Map design

It is impossible to transpose the real world onto a map, so that anyone who picks up a map has no option but to believe in it. The cartographer is completely free to transcribe the world as he sees fit (Rekacewicz, 2006), but in depicting reality one should not bias or manipulate information, but maintain as impartial as possible.

The distribution of the elements of a map is subject to the author’s requirements. The important thing is that a map can be understood by the target audience. Figure 53 suggests the layout of the map elements – although not all elements are obligatory, at least it should contain the title, grid, geographic north, scale, and legend.

Before you start with the map layout, it is recommended that you set the orientation and size of the paper. From the File menu, go to Page and Print Setup to select the printer. In the Paper > Size section, select the size (e. g. A4 paper) and orientation (Orientation > Landscape to orientate the sheet horizontally; select Portrait for vertical presentation.

From the Customize > Toolbars menu, activate the Draw toolbar (Figure 54), because it contains tools for adding and editing graphic elements in the Layout.

To start designing the map, change the Data View screen to Layout View from the View menu, or using the buttons shown in Figure 1. It is important to note that what you see in the Layout View is how it will look when printing or exporting the map. 

The configuration of the elements in Figure 53 is as follows:

Title (1)

From the Insert menu select Title, and in the dialog box set the title as: My first map in ArcGIS.

Body of the map (2)

The data frame is automatically displayed by default when you switch to the Layout View screen. The body of the map is the fundamental part of a map, which contains all the layers to be represented within a map. To reduce or enlarge the map body, click on the map rectangle and adjust the borders as required.

Grid (3)

To insert a grid in UTM coordinates, use the Grids and Graticules Wizard (see Figure 55), performing the following steps:

• Go to the View menu.
• Click on Data Frame Properties.
• Go to the Grids tab.
• Click on New Grid to open the wizard (click the Next button to complete the configuration in each window).
• In the Grids and Graticules Wizard window, select Measured Grid to display the coordinate grids projected on the map.  Graticule: for crosshairs divided by longitude meridians and parallel meridians of latitude. Reference Grid generates a reference grid divided into rows and columns.
• If Measured Grid is selected, the Create a measured grid window appears. In the Appearance section, select the shape and style of the grid. By default the Coordinate System section shows the coordinate system used in the current map, but it is possible to change it. In the Intervals section, the XY axis spacing is defined, in this case 100 meters.
• If Appearance is selected in the Grid and Labels option, the Axes and Labels window will appear where you can configure the Axes of the grid and line style. To customize the text style, click on Text style. When all parameters have been set, click Next.

Finally, the Create a measured grid window appears, in which you can configure the place of the borders in the grid. The Grid Properties section allows you to store the grid as a static or upgradeable graph in the event of changes in location and scale of the map.

Usually when a projected coordinate grid is added, the axis labels show six decimal places (e. g., 691900⁰⁰⁰⁰⁰⁰ 9532700⁰⁰⁰⁰⁰⁰). In the properties of each grid, existing grids and reticles can be managed. To remove the remaining decimal places from the grid axes, follow these steps:

• Go to the View menu.
• Click on Data Frame Properties.
• Go to the Grids tab.
• Select the grid and click on Properties.
• Go to the Labels tab.
• Click on Additional Properties.
• Click on Number Format.
• In the Rounding section, leave the number of decimal places at zero.

Geographic North (4)

To indicate the orientation of the map, use the North arrow. From the Insert menu, select Insert North Arrow. Then place it on the required North 2 arrow symbol (ESRI North 2) and click OK to add. With the Selects Elements button on the Draw toolbar you can select the North arrow and resize it and move it freely over the map.

Location map (5)

Knowing where the study area is located allows the map reader to be spatially orientated in a wider context. In ArcMap you can add location indicators to connect data frames (Data Frame). The location map can be added by considering the following steps:

• Go to the Insert > Data Frame menu to add a new blank data frame.
• Use the Select Elements button on the Draw toolbar) to adjust the size and position of the new data frame.
• Add one or more layers to indicate the spatial extension greater than the study area using the Add Data button (on the Standard toolbar). For example, if the study area is Ecuador, it would be convenient to add the South American layer.
• Configures the symbology and design of the layers of the new data frame.
• In the Table of Contents, right click on the New Data Frame and select Properties.
• Go to the Extent Indicators tab (Figure 56).
• From the Other data frames box add the Data Frame (Layers) to the Show extent indicator for these data frames box.
• Optionally, you can configure the style of the Data Frame in the Options section (name of the Data Frame).
• Insert a text box from the Insert > Text menu to add the title (for example: Location map).

As many data frames as required can be inserted. Try not to use a study area that is too small in comparison with the area showing its location.

To switch between each data frame in the table of contents, right click on Layers and select Activate. You can only manipulate the layers of a Data Frame when it is active.

Legend (6)

A legend allows the map reader to know the meaning of the symbols used to represent each element built into the map. To open the legend wizard, proceed as follows:

• Go to the Insert menu and select Legend (to advance between windows, click Next).
• In this window, in the Choose which layers you want to include in your legend section, from Map Layers you must pass the layers you want to show to Legend Items using the existing arrows. When there are several elements in the legend, you can choose to organize in columns in Set the number of columns in your legend.
• In the next window, in Legend Title you must assign a title to the legend. The text can be customized at the bottom.
• The following window in Legend Frame allows you to customize the border, background and shading of the legend. Styles should be combined carefully for an attractive design.
• The following window allows you to change the size and shape of the symbols used to represent lines and polygons. Usually the default settings are left.
• In the last window you can configure the spacing between each part of the legend. If everything has been configured successfully, click Finish.
• Use the Select Elements button (on the Draw toolbar) to adjust the size and position of the legend.

Numerical scale (7)

The numeric scale shows the relationship between the length values shown on the map and the actual length values of the terrain. Before inserting the numeric scale into the map, specify the scale value (3000) on the Map Scale in the Standard toolbar (Figure 5).

To do this, go to the Insert menu and click on Scale Text. From the list of various numerical scale formats select Absolute Scale and click OK. It can be verified that the denominator of the generated numeric scale is dynamic: when modifying the scale of the map the denominator of the scale is automatically modified.

The Select Elements button can be used to adjust the position of the map. In addition, you must also go to the Insert > Text menu to add a text box. Write the word “Scale:”. Use the Select Elements button to set the text box in front of the numeric scale. So that you can read: “Scale 1:3.000”

Graphic scale (8)

The graphic scale is a bar divided into parts that visually indicates the length on the ground. To add a graphic scale, go to the Insert menu and select Scale Bar. From the list of scale bars you can select the preferred scale (e. g. Alternating Scale Bar 1). Use the Select Elements button to adjust the position.

To configure the graphical scale, the following aspects must be taken into account:

• Click the Select Elements button to right click on the graphic scale and select Properties.
• Go to the Scale and Units tab.
• In the Units section select meters as the division unit. In Label write: Meters.
• In the Scale section, in When resizing select Adjust width. Insert the value 2 in Number of divisions and Number of subdivisions; in Division value insert 50 (the length of the graphic scale is obtained by multiplying the values of Division value and Number of divisions).

Geodetic reference parameters (9)

It is always necessary to specify the geodetic reference system used in mapping. To do this, go to the Insert > Text menu and type the following text:

• Universal Transverse of Mercator Projection.
• Elipsoid and Horizontal Datum WGS 84 Zone 17 South.

Area of cards or boxes (10)

The cards or boxes allow you to add information to the map. You can include the names of those responsible for its elaboration, the name of the project or program, logos, the source of the cartographic inputs, date of elaboration, working scale, etc.

To add a logo, go to the Insert > Picture menu. Browse and select the image to use. Adjust the size and position with the Select Elements button. In addition, you can build an information box with ArcMap drawing tools.  But it is recommended to insert it as an object. To do this, go to the menu Insert > Object > Microsoft Word Document. In the Word document that opens, as an example, you can copy Table 6, then close Word. Finally, the size and position is adjusted with the Select Elements button.

When you have entered all the elements to be published on the map, it is recommended to organize each one of the elements to improve the visual presentation. For example, selecting multiple items and right-clicking on them displays options for grouping, aligning, distributing, and so on.

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