GENERAL GUIDELINES FOR CREATING LAYOUTS IN ARCMAP

**Examine a sample map as you read these guidelines***

 1)  Essential elements: A map layout should ALWAYS have all of the following:

• title – stating subject and location
• scale bar; preferably in meters and with intervals that end in zeros, e.g. 50, 100, 1000, etc.  An R.F. scale is also desirable (e.g. 1:12,000).  Projected maps of large portions of the globe, where scale is not constant, should not contain scale bars.
• legend (also known as an Explanation)
• a north arrow ( unless lines of longitude are shown)
• your name and the date of creation (in the upper right hand corner for our class)
• some indication of location: a context map, lines of latitude/longitude, or a description of the location in the title

2)  Space use: Make good use of the space in the layout.  White space is as important as content.  Your layout should look well-balanced.  Avoid leaving a lot of unused space around your map, legend, etc.  On the other hand, avoid crowding.  Look at the many maps in the halls of this building for layout ideas.

3)  Color:  Avoid excessive use of bright, prominent colors.  The color scheme should attract the eye without putting a strain on it!  Rule of thumb: go with subtle colors for large areas of your layout, and save rich colors for highlights and accents.  Experiment with sets of colors to achieve aesthetically pleasing results.  Critically examine published maps in the halls of this building, noting the use(s) of color.  Many of the ESRI symbology defaults are quite good, particularly the color ramps.

4)  Bells and whistles: Use accessory graphics (decorative icons, cartoons, photographs, drop shadows) sparingly and wisely (if at all).  Make sure the use of such items is appropriate in each case before inclusion in your layout, and make sure that they do not shift focus away from the more important items (i.e. the map).

5)  Font: Use sans serif fonts.  In other words, fonts that do NOT have the “little feet and hats” on the letters.  A good font to use is Arial, whereas a poor choice in font is Times New Roman.   Italic font should be avoided in most cases unless the map theme calls for it (e.g. some symbol sets, or in historical or old-world style map).  You may wish to use boldface to accentuate some text elements, particularly the title.

6)  Text size: Your title should have the largest point size of all text elements.  Secondary title lines should be slightly smaller than the main title line.  Example:

Analysis of Soil Quality

Tracts 2237 and 2242, Williams Ranch, Collin County, Texas

 Other size choices will vary depending on the purpose and style of your layout, but text should not be smaller than 8pt when printed.  Make sure your legend text isn’t the most prominent text on the page!  Stay with the default symbol and label sizes.  The symbol sets and label sizes generally work well at all scales if used properly.  The ESRI default text size for legends is generally too large, as are "patch" sizes.  Edit these to a smaller size.  A sample page-size geologic map shows an example. 

By default, ArcMap scales all text and symbols relative to the Data Frame reference scale; if you know you will be printing at a particular scale, set the reference scale to match and your symbols and text will be what you specified when you created them.  Alternatively, if you don't want the symbols and text to scale, turn off  "scale map elements proportional to page size" in Print setup, and turn off "Scale symbols when a reference scale is set" within each layer's display Properties.

7)  Position: Arrange the elements of your layout so that they are well balanced.  In most cases, you will want your map centered.  USE THE PRINT PREVIEW option to check your layout before printing.  Again, see an example.

Tim Pierce, Fall 2002; Ryan Ewing, Fall 2005; M. Helper, 2008