15 tips for cartographers in ArcGIS Pro

I recently made a  map of the Sahara Deser t using data from  Natural Earth . I think it offers some nice examples of common tricks and techniques that go into making many maps.

You can download  Sahara.ppkx  to view the map and layout shown in this story and see how they were constructed in ArcGIS Pro. The map was created in ArcGIS Pro 2.9.

How to outline a polygon with dots instead of dashes.

In the Symbology pane, open the Properties tab and the Structure tab. Click Add symbol layer and click Marker layer. Delete the other symbol layers.

Click the Layers tab. Change Size to 3 pt. Under Marker Placement, change Placement to Along line. Change Placement template to 8.

This grayscale hillshade layer is beautiful, but I want a lighter version for this map.

Open the Symbology pane for the raster layer. Click Color scheme and click Format color scheme. In the Color Scheme Editor, click the black color stop and change its Color to Gray 70%. Click the white color stop and drag it towards the middle of the color ramp. Change its Position to 75 percent.

When you choose a hatched polygon fill symbol, all of the hatch lines will draw in same direction. Sometimes, you may want them to draw in different directions so you can see where polygons overlap.

In the Symbology pane, open the Properties tab and the Layers sub-tab. Click the menu button and turn on Allow symbol property connections. Expand the Pattern group. Next to Angle, click the attribute mapping button.

In the Set Attribute Mapping window, click the Set an expression button. Build an expression that will result in random numbers roughly between 0 and 360. For this map, I divided the values in an ID field by 3. Click OK, OK, and Apply.

I think the safest way to design a map is to start in black and white and add the color at the end. Here's one way to do that.

Add the World Imagery basemap. In the Contents pane, drag it to the top of the layers list. On the ribbon, on the Appearance tab, change Layer Blend to Hard Light. Change Transparency to 50 percent.

Note: This technique is one example of the benefits of using annotation instead of labels. Labels always draw on the very top of the map, so the color effect does not apply to them or their halos.

In this map, I liked how the imagery basemap colored the land, but I didn't want the effect to apply to the water. (I want the text to be white instead of blue.)

Select the basemap layer. the ribbon, on the Appearance tab, click Masking. Check the box for the ocean layer.

I'm not sure what projected coordinate system to use for this map, so I asked ArcGIS Pro to suggest one.

Open the Map Properties window and click the Coordinate Systems tab. Click the Add Coordinate System button and click New suggested projected coordinate system. Type a name.

In the Get extent from list, click the layer that best represents the extent of your map. For Projection property, choose the property that best suits your map's purpose. Click Save and click OK.

Symbol and text sizes change as I zoom in and out. I want to know what they'll look like in my final map.

Open the Map Properties window to the General tab. For Reference scale, type the scale that is used in your layout. Click OK.

When you add a map frame to a layout, you don't have to rely on eyeballing to place it exactly where you want it.

Right-click the map frame and click Properties. In the Format Map Frame pane, click the Placement tab. Set the Size values to match the size of your layout. Set the Position values to 0. In the position diagram, choose the lower-left corner.

How to make text halos match the most common background color in your map.

In the Label Class pane, on the Symbol tab, on the General tab, expand Halo. For Halo symbol, choose White fill.

For Color, open the color picker. Click the Eyedropper tool and click the most common background color on the map. Click Apply.

This map is focused on physical geography features like mountain ranges, which don't have defined borders. Curving the text helps map readers to understand better what is being labeled. It also looks classy.

On the ribbon, on the Edit tab, click Annotation. On the map, right-click the text, click Curvature, and click Curved.

On the ribbon, click Edit Vertices. Adjust the bezier handles on the annotation. Click the Finish button.

You can use the Annotation tool or the Edit Vertices tool

Select the annotation. On the ribbon, on the Edit tab, click Edit Vertices. On the map, right-click the dotted line below the annotation. Click Change Segment and click To Bezier Curve. Adjust the bezier handles on the annotation. Click the Finish button.

What to do when you change your mind about curving some text.

Select the curved annotation. On the ribbon, on the Edit tab, click the Annotation tool. On the map, right-click the curved annotation. Click Curvature and click Horizontal.

It may not always be clear that a small label represents a wide geographic area. In these situations, increasing the letter or line spacing of labels can help to clarify your map.

Select the annotation. On the ribbon, on the Edit tab, click Attributes. In the Attributes pane, click Symbol.

In the Format Text Symbol pane, on the Properties tab, click the Formatting tab. Change the Letter spacing value. Click Apply.

Select the annotation. On the ribbon, on the Edit tab, click Attributes. In the Attributes pane, click Symbol.

In the Format Text Symbol pane, on the Properties tab, click the Formatting tab. Change the Line spacing value. Click Apply.

Often, when working with annotation, I realize that I am missing a label. There's no need to create new labels and convert them to annotation, just copy and paste an existing piece of annotation.

Select a piece of annotation. On the ribbon, on the Edit tab, click Copy. Click Paste. A yellow dot appears, indicating that you can move the new text. Click and drag the new text to reposition it. Edit the text to the new place name.