Ideas / Techniques / Tutorials…
- See also:
- StoryMap Tutorials and Links
- Advanced ArcGIS Online Techniques and Tutorials…
- ESRI’s Maps We Love (examples of recent maps, most of them made with ArcGIS Pro) https://www.esri.com/en-us/maps-we-love/overview
One-Minute Map Hacks
- One Minute Map Hacks (1-5):
- main link not working – but can use:
- One Minute Map Hacks (6-10):
- One Minute Map Hacks (11-15):
- One Minute Map Hacks (16-20):
- (main link not working – but you can use:
- One Minute Map Hacks (21-25):
- Hacks 26-30: format symbols, text style…
- Hacks 31-35: histograms, shady icons…
- Hacks 36-40: monochrome basemap, neatline placement…
- Hacks 41-45: layer labels, 3D mist…
- Hacks 46-50: Flatten rasters, Picture fills, Coastal Rake, Faded hatch edges…
POINT Symbology
- See Also Dot Density links under Polygon Symbology, below
- Water Area
- Bombing Missions Vietnam
- Clustering Tools
- Heat Map symbology
- Density Based Clustering
- Symbolize by Size (graduated, proportional, 3D…), also Scale-Bases Symbol Sizing
- Using images as point symbols
LINE Symbology
- Lines Using Only Label Text (Map Hack)
- Water Lines (2017)
- (Forest cover and) Rivers Maps
- Arrowhead Direction Lines
- Firefly Effects for Lines
- Lightsaber Lines
- Boundary Shadows (2017)
- Distributive Flow Maps (2019)
- Pencil-sketch lines (Map Hack)
- See also VIGNETTES below
FILL / POLYGON / AREA Symbology
- See also Fill Symbol Layers
- Multivariate Dot Density (ethnic populations) (2018)
- Dot Density (Covid 19)
- Ethnic Multivariate Dot Density
- Historic Survey Plan maps (2018)
- UK Election Results, ala Jackson Pollock
- https://carto.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=661d96be9fe64b3db4124546b67b2f39
- Note that this is a web map, but the symbology was created in ArcGIS Pro. Check it out, and the discussion)
- Sun Glints (2018)
- Firefly Effects for Polygons
- Fill a Forest Area with Random Trees
- Faded Edge for Hatch Fills
- Blend Modes – See below and in ArcGIS Online Techniques…
COLOR
TEXT Tips
- See also, SAL Tutorials for general Text Effects https://huxley.wwu.edu/sal/tut-cart-arcgis-pro
- ArcGIS Pro Map Text (2019):
- Labels
- Annotation
- Knockouts
- Layout Text
- Map of Rivers using only Labels (link not working…)
- Style That Text! Map Hack (Text fill symbols)
- Polishing Halos:
- Cartographic Text Effects (Or, how to make crisp lettering less crisp… so as to match the style of the rest of the map)
Symbol STYLES
- WARNING: Some Styles (especially picture fills) can be very SLOW… (turning layers off can help)
- See also: Adding Styles to a Project (w/ links to some styles) https://www.esri.com/arcgis-blog/products/arcgis-pro/health/new-arcgis-pro-style-files/
- See also: Using Styles (Map Hack) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxJSIjXjDsY
- See also: Making / Saving an ArcGIS Pro Style https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkE6TxdkjtI
- See also: Adding Styles (.stylx files) to ArcGIS Pro (SAL) https://huxley.wwu.edu/sal/tut-pro-styles
- See also: ESRI Styles https://esri-styles.maps.arcgis.com/home/index.html
- See also: ESRI Styles Gallery https://esri-styles.maps.arcgis.com/home/gallery.html
- See also: Importing Older Styles into ArcGIS Pro https://www.esri.com/arcgis-blog/products/mapping/mapping/importing-older-styles-into-arcgis-pro/
- Luminance Symbols (2017)
- Also Points Symbols Glow with Firefly
- Firefly Symbology
- https://www.arcgis.com/apps/Cascade/index.html?appid=bf439954e2b64d418aedd2fe11217d83
- Also (2018) https://www.esri.com/arcgis-blog/products/mapping/mapping/steal-this-firefly-style-please/
- Also https://nation.maps.arcgis.com/home/item.html?id=bf439954e2b64d418aedd2fe11217d83
- Also https://www.arcgis.com/home/item.html?id=93a6d9ea3b54478193ba566ab9d8b748
- See also Firefly Effects for Lines and Polygons
- Lightsaber Lines
- Wood-Cut Terrain Model (2022)
- National Park Symbol Set (2018)
- Hachures (downhill markers along contour lines)
- Pirate style
- Tattered Paper Effect (Map Hack)
- Overlay Fade style
- https://www.esri.com/arcgis-blog/products/arcgis-pro/mapping/steal-this-faded-overlay-style-please/
- https://www.arcgis.com/home/item.html?id=e9c4f4cd7c1d4bac884091689b2985d1
- Note that you’ll need to create a ‘mask’ layer (i.e., everything except for the area you want to focus on) to use this effect. You can use the Erase tool to remove your area from a larger area (i.e., the surrounding country or world) to create this mask layer. The instructions include a link to a blank ‘world’ polygon that can be used if needed.
- Dot Matrix Elevation
- George Washington Texture fills
- J.R.R. Tolkien Style Mapping
- See also PAPER, FELT, LEGO below
- See also HAND DRAWN below
PAPER, FELT, FABRIC, LEGO… (see also Hand-Drawn, below)
- Paper Cut Map Style (2019)
- Paper Cut Lakes example (from Maps We Love)
- Paper Cut Lake Maps
- Absurd Paper Cut Maps (2017)
- Stacked Paper (‘Bonkers’) (Map Hack)
- Felt style (points, lines and fills)
- Cross-Stitch
- Lego Style (2019)
- https://www.esri.com/arcgis-blog/products/arcgis-pro/mapping/steal-this-lego-map-style-for-arcgis-pro-please/
- Plastic Brick Oceans (2018) https://www.esri.com/arcgis-blog/products/arcgis-pro/mapping/plastic-brick-oceans/
- (Be sure to see update at the end)
- Also https://warrenrdavison.wixsite.com/maps/post/brick-by-brick
- Also Lego (Map Hack) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xIHW5DTnXI
- Chalkboard style map (Craigslist) (with details about the chalk “line” symbol and the chalkboard polygon fill
- Blueprint style basemap
ANTIQUE, ‘HAND’ DRAWN, HAND PRINTED, WATERCOLOR, PAINT
- “Hand Drawn” Symbology (digital)
- Hand Drawn Maps (Digital to Hand)
- Pen and Ink Style
- Block Print (Pixel to Grain) (Part 1)
- Tattered Maps, see also Tattered Paper Effect (Map Hack)
- Pencil Sketch lines (Map Hack)
- Watercolor Maps:
- Watercolor Style for Pro (2018) and Watercolor style
- Mega Easy Watercolor Painting (2019) https://adventuresinmapping.com/2019/12/03/mega-easy-watercolor-painting-in-arcgis-pro/
- Land Cover and Paints (2020)
- Porcelain Style
VIGNETTES (for SHORELINE, Map Frames, etc.)
- Coastal Edge Hack (shoreline vignettes)
- Shoreline Vignettes
- Coastal Stipple Effect
- Coastal Rake Effect
- Waterlines
- Map Frame Vignettes (Mack Hack)
- Soft-Edges for Area of Interest
- Spotlight Area of Interest (2022)
- Layout Vignettes
MISC
- Charts – What is a chart
- Using Bivariate Colors to Map Change in Election Turnout (2020)
- Island Election Maps (2017)
- Cube Cartograms– Electoral College Cubo-Gram (2017)
- Hexagons for (USA) Population
- How to do Round Map Frames (for an Inset locator or detail map – one part of a larger tutorial)
- Layout Gradients in Pro
- Fade Effects (part of the Ice Roads series) (2019)
- Custom Projection (part of the Ice Roads series) (2019)
- Colors and Color Pallets (2014)
- Color: Beyond simple choropleth maps (basketball viewership) (2017)
- Grid Lines
- Old-Style, Two-Tone (BW) Western “Tough” Maps
- Techniques for Showing Areas of Interest
- Symbol Effects
- Drop Shadows (see Move effect)
- Figure-Ground Feathering (for ArcMap but the concepts would apply / translate to Pro)
- Measured Hatches along Line symbols
- Vary Transparency by Attribute
- Digital Map Folding (Part 1: 2D) (making a map appear as a folded piece of paper)
- Monochrome Mapping
- Terraced Contour Lines
- Smash Neatlines (2022)
- Scale Grids (instead of Scale Bars) (2022)
BIVARIATE Mapping…
- Age and Social Vulnerability (2020)
- Bivariate Relationship Mapping (2018)
- Bivariate Choropleth Maps (not ArcGIS Pro, but the concepts can be adapted)
- Bivariate contextual mapping (point symbols for Fire and Population)
- Using Bivariate Colors to Map Change in Election Turnout (2020)
- Bivariate mapping using tessellating hexagons(drought, 2016)
- Split-Polygon Fills (2022)
- Boosted Thematic Terrain Map (2022)
- See also Bivariate Color Schemes in Brewer’s Designing Better Maps (page 160-164)
BLEND Modes
- (there’s lots of cools stuff you can do with Blend Modes… but since we’ve done that with elevation and hillshades already, you’d have to find something very different than elevation data to work with…)
- Callouts and Map Graphics with Blend Modes
- See also notes on Blend Modes for ArcGIS Online techniques…
RASTER (Elevation and Hillshades)
- Show only a slice of a DEM using the Histogram Chop
- Boost Drama with Mountain / Valley Mist (Map Hack, 2019)
- Vintage Shaded Relief (2019)
- Eduard Imhof-ish Cartography (Swiss Hillshades) (2020)
- Ambient Hillshade
- Bathymetric Blending
ADOBE ILLUSTRATOR
- Maps for Adobe Creative Cloud (ArcGIS Pro / Adobe Illustrator bridge, released June, 2017)
- Using Adobe’s Maps for Creative Cloud
- Tips for Making Maps in Adobe Creative Cloud
- Making a “Top 10 Locations” Map with Maps for Creative Cloud
- Pro to Illustrator Tip (2019)
ADOBE PHOTOSHOP
- ArcGIS map for Adobe with Photoshop (using ArcGIS Maps for Adobe Creative Cloud)
- ArcGIS Maps for Adobe with Photoshop
- Creating an Ocean Graphic with ArcGIS Pro and Photoshop
…