Creating A Base Map

Sometimes when you are producing a piece of coursework, whether it be a report, essay, or presentation, you need to include a map of an important location. Quite often there is a temptation to just take a quick screenshot of Google Maps and include this in your coursework:

Aside from breaching all kinds of copyright rules, this practice is very unprofessional and would not be acceptable when producing professional maps in industry. When making maps for your coursework you should use a professional map making service to produce them - this can be just as quick as taking a poor quality Google screenshot! This short guide explains some of the options available to you at UWE - the two key services we have are  Digimap  and  ArcGIS Online .

For most locations in the UK you can use the 'Map Viewer' function within the various Digimap Collections we subscribe to. Here you can create Ordnance Survey base maps, base maps of historic collections, marine charts, high resolution aerial imagery, and population data. Below are some example Base Maps you can produce from Digimap.

The 'Map Viewer' interface looks very similar for each of the different DigiMap collections. Below is a workflow for accessing an OS map, however the same steps can be applied for the other types of base map available in Digimap.

• Log into  Digimap . Your log in details will be the same as your MyUWE details.
• Select the 'Ordnance Survey' tab.
• Click 'OS Digimap'.

• If this is the first time that you have accessed this collection this academic year, you will need to accept the license agreement for this. Just follow the prompts on screen to do this.

• Use the interface to zoom into your area of interest.
• You will notice that as you zoom the OS map product will automatically adjust to the scale of the display.
• If you wish to customise your map, select 'Drawing Tools' from the options on the left-hand side.
• Here, you can add annotations, create points or polygons and edit the features of the map (an example of this is shown below).

Once you are happy with your base map, click the 'Print' icon along the top of the screen. This will generate a file for printing. Here you can change the settings to suit your needs.

• Give the map a sensible title
• Change the file format - do you need a PDF or a JPEG image to include in a Word document?
• Change the page size and orientation as appropriate.
• Add a legend if needed.

• When you are ready you can click 'Generate Print File' to create your map.
• After a few moments a .Zip folder will be downloaded containing your new map. You should right-click it and select 'Extract All' and specify a sensible location for it to be extracted.
• Your new map will then be ready for you to use in your coursework. Note how all of the map elements have been added for you which make this a professional quality map.

For creating base maps for locations internationally, the best tool for the job is ArcGIS Online. There are a number of ready to go base maps within AGOL which you can quickly use to map sites of interest. The below steps explain how to use AGOL to create a quick and simple base map.

• Log into  ArcGIS Online . The log in is not your standard UWE username and password. You should have an ArcGIS Pro account already - these are the log in details for AGOL as well. If you have forgotten these details contact Harry West (harry.west@uwe.ac.uk).
• Once you are signed in select 'Map' along the top of the display.

• This will open the ArcGIS Online Map Viewer.
• Here, you can now zoom to anywhere in the world and start creating your base map.
• However.... If the location is international, you will first have to change the basemap that is being shown in the map (the default is 'GB Topographic' which only covers Great Britain).
• Click the 'basemap icon' from the options on the left-hand side, and choose a new one that does not have 'GB' in the name!
• There are a number of different basemaps available, so I would recommend trying a few options out and choosing the best one.

• Like Digimap, you can add annotations, create points or polygons and edit the features of the map.
• To do this click the 'Add Icon' on the left-hand side, and then select 'Create Sketch Layer'.
• This will then open the 'Sketch' pane on the right-hand side.

• Using the 'Sketch' pane, you can then create, customise and configure new map elements (an example is shown below).
• Once you are happy with your map, click on the 'Save' icon on the left-hand side.

• Once your map is saved and ready, click the '...' icon on the left-hand side and select 'Print'.
• You should specify the print options, including the 'advanced options' and then press 'Export'.
• After a moment or two, the exported map will appear below the 'Exported Files' heading.
• You now have a map that you can bring into your coursework.

Sometimes you might need something mapped that is a little more bespoke or customised to what you are working on. A few example scenarios are shown below, although these are not as quick and simple as the options explained above.

Sometimes you might have accessed a Shape File that you wish to quickly make a map from. For example a river catchment boundary from the  NRFA , or some demographic datasets from  Bristol Open Data . You can very easily import these shapefiles into ArcGIS Online following the steps below.

• Log into  ArcGIS Online . The log in is not your UWE username and password. You should have an ArcGIS Pro account already - these are the log in details for AGOL as well.
• Once you are signed in select 'Map' along the top of the display.

• Select 'Add'.
• Then click 'Add layer from file'.

• Locate your zipped up Shapefile using the 'Choose file' button.
• Then click 'Import Layer'.

• Once imported you can change the styles of the spatial dataset using the settings on the right-hand side.

• Once finished you can add annotations and export the AGOL map using the steps explained under the 'International Sites' heading above.

The base map options for the defaults in Digimap and ArcGIS Online are fairly restrictive. They are great for basic locational maps, however sometimes you might only want to make a map of a specific thing. For example you only need to show roads and a city outline on your map.

 OpenStreetMap data  is perfect for this. You can download OSM through Digimap and import this into ArcGIS Pro. Once in ArcGIS Pro you can add in the different parts of the OSM dataset and use tools such as 'Select by Attributes' to pick out certain features.

Feel free to contact any of the GIS teaching staff who can help you if this is something you wish to explore for your Base Map.

If you have any questions regarding what’s covered in this guide (or any other technical aspect of working with geospatial data), please email me at  mason.rhode@uwe.ac.uk , or stop by the office (3Q77) and I'll be happy to help.