ArcMap Basics

Opening the program and adding data:

1. Click on Start > All Programs > ArcGIS > ArcMap

2. Click on “A new empty map” when prompted.

Now you have a new, blank map. The next step is to bring into it the information that
you will be using.

3. Find the “Add Data” button along the toolbar at the top of the screen:

4. The data you will need is located in the folder: C:/ > Gisdata

5. Select the data and click “Add”

**To add tabular data (database) to your project, follow the same procedure and then click
on the “Source” tab at the bottom of the Table of Contents. Right-click the table and click
“Open.”

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Layer Properties and changing the appearance of the map:

On the left hand side of the screen is the Table of Contents. This window shows what
layers of information you have brought into this map. From here you can turn layers on/off
by checking/un-checking the box to the left of the Layer Name.

**If you accidentally close this window, you can get it back by going to Window in the
main menu and clicking on “Table of Contents”

Table of Contents

When you double click on the name of the layer within the Table of Contents, a window
called “Layer Properties” opens.

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From this window you can specify many different properties of the layer by navigating the
tabs at the top of the window.

For example, you can change the Symbology of the map layer. Symbology refers to what
kinds of symbols, colors, and patterns are used to represent different features on the map.

There are many ways to display information on a map- depending on what you want
to show- but there are three basic methods we will use in GIS: Single Symbol,
Categories, and Quantities.

Single Symbol: Each feature is displayed the same way.

Example: This map displays every school

with the same symbol, same color and size.

The only information this map conveys is the

location of all the schools in Providence.

Categories: Features are displayed differently depending on their values. Values must be
contained in a single data field. Choose the desired field from the drop-down menu and
click the “Add All Values” button. You may add or remove categories from the display, as
well as group categories you would like to display with the same symbol.

Example: This map displays schools with the

same symbol and size in different colors.

The multiple colors allow the map to convey

information on the type of school as well as
their location.

Red are High schools, blue are Middle schools,

and yellow are Elementary.

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Quantities: Features are displayed differently depending on quantity. These are called
“Thematic” maps (or “Chloropleth” maps if you want to be a nerd). You can display
features by the quantity of a single field, or “normalized” by a second field. Think of the
second field as the denominator, or bottom half of a fraction. Normalizing will allow you
to calculate percentages using two different fields to display in the map.

Select your field(s) from the drop-down menus and then select a Classification. Examples
of classification include Natural Breaks, Quantile, Equal Area, Equal Interval, and
Standard Deviation. You may also change the number of classes. All combinations will
result in a different representation of the data.

**It is important to be able to justify your classification scheme. If you are unsure, it is
best to use the default classification of “Natural Breaks” with a number of classifications
that can be clearly communicated using a color ramp. Four or five categories is a good
start.
Fig. 1: This map color codes the neighborhoods based
on their total population. The value being displayed is
“total population.” The neighborhoods with more
Fig. 1 people are darker, and the ones with less are lighter.

This map is a good representation of total population

numbers. The West End is the most populous
neighborhood in Providence.

Fig. 2: This map color codes the neighborhoods Fig. 2

based on their total population, normalized by
area. The value being displayed is “total
population per acre.” The neighborhoods with
more people per acre are darker, and the ones with
less are lighter.

This map is a better representation of population

density. Since the neighborhoods are of irregular
shape and size, it is necessary to “normalize” by
land area to achieve a measure of population
density. Blackstone has the largest land area of
Providence neighborhoods but one of the lowest
population densities.
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You can also change the Labels of features from this window.
Be sure to check
this box!
Choose the field you want to label from. For
example, in the ‘Neighborhoods’ layer you
will want to pick ‘LNAME’ to label the
features (this is short for ‘Long Name’).

OPEN THE ATTRIBUTE TABLE to find a

useful field for labeling!

Here you can change the style of the

labels. **Labels will change size at
different zoom levels so choose a
size that will be legible on your final
map product!

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Tables (opening them up, selecting features manually):

To open the attribute table of a layer:

Right-click the name of the layer in the Table of Contents.

Show buttons allow you to

toggle display of All features
or just Selected features

To select features:
Click the left column next to the feature you would like to select. This will select the entire
row instead of just a single cell of information.
** To select/unselect multiple features, hold the Ctrl button on the keyboard as you click.

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Select by Attributes (Table Query):

This function gives you control over what data use. Suppose you are interested in labeling
the ‘Downtown’ neighborhood, but not any of the others. Using this function you can
‘Query’ (ask a question of) the data, and have it return only the data you are interested in.

Click the Options button in the Attribute Table, and click “Select By Attributes…”
This will open the “Select by Attributes” window.

1.

3.

4.

2.

1. Select the field you would like to query.

2. Click the ‘Get Unique Values’ button to display field values.
3. Complete the query statement by adding an equals sign ( = ) and
4. Add a field value.
5. hit Apply

Essentially, you are saying to the program:

1. “Look in the field ‘LNAME’ (which is the field that has the long name of the
neighborhoods)”
2. “Show me all the values that exist for that field”
3. Here you make the mathematical statement: Give me the values where Name
equals Downtown. This will look like: “LNAME” = ‘Downtown’
4. You pick the value you want. In this case, ‘Downtown'

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To clear any selection
Click “Selection” on the Main Menu and click “Clear Selected Features”

Select by location (Spatial Query)

This allows you to select features from one layer based on where they are located in
relation to features in another layer. For example, you can automatically select schools in
selected neighborhoods.

Click “Selection” on the Main Menu and click “Select By Location…”

This will open the “Select By Location” window.

1.

2.
3.
4.

1. Check the layer you would like to select

features from. (Schools)
2. Choose your selection criteria from the
drop-down menu. (Are Contained By)
3. Choose the layer you would like to use to select
your features from. (Neighborhoods)
4. Check the box next to “Use Selected Features”
**If this box is inactive, go back to the
map and select your features.

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 Downtown is
selected using
the tool

Interactive Selection

Use the “Select Features” tool on the toolbar.

You can select features by drawing a box around them, or selecting one by one.
To select/deselect multiple features, hold down the Ctrl button on the keyboard as you
click.

You can control which layers are selectable by accessing the “Set Selectable Layers” menu
located under “Selection” on the Main Menu.

This will open the “Set Selectable Layers” window.

Choose the layers you would like to be able to select using the Select Features tool.

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 Basic Toolbar Functions:

Zoom In / Out
Click the Zoom In / Out Magnifying Glass buttons on the toolbar.
To zoom, click anywhere on the map or draw a box.

Fixed Zoom In / Out

Click the Fixed Zoom In / Out buttons on the toolbar. This zooms the whole map in/out at
fixed intervals.

Pan
Click the Pan Hand button on the toolbar.
Click, hold, and drag the map in the desired direction.

Zoom to Full Extent

Click the “Full Extent” button on the toolbar

Zoom to Previous / Next Extent

Click the Previous / Next Extent Arrow buttons on the toolbar

Zoom to Feature Extent

Right-click on the layer in the Table of Contents, Go to “Zoom to Layer”

Zoom to Selected Features

Right-click on the layer, Go to “Selection” and choose “Zoom to Selected Features”

Identify
With this tool, you can click anywhere on the map and all the information about that
location is brought up in a table.

From this dropdown,

you can specify what
layers of information
you would like to view.

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Layout:

This step is where you create the layout for the map you are about to print. Think of this
step as the “print preview” where you add all the final touches.

First, you need to switch from the “Data View” to the “Layout View”.
You can do this in two places.
1. From the View menu in the main toolbar, choose Layout View.
OR
2. Click on the Layout icon in the bottom left corner of the View screen

The next step is to add elements to the map that will allow it to make sense to the viewer.
Features that should always be included in maps are:
1. Title: This should convey what is being depicted in the map. A good thing to
include
here is the Location of the map.
2. Legend: This explains what the symbols on the map represent.
3. Scale Bar: This shows the scale of the map.
4. North Arrow: This orients the reader to North, South, East and West.

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 Some other optional elements to include are:
5. Neatline: draws a border around the map and serves to make it look neater
6. Text: adds text to the final map
7. Picture: allows you to insert pictures into final map

These elements are added by choosing from the Insert dropdown in the Main Menu.

Title

North Arrow

Legend
Scale Bar

Saving!!

Final Step: Saving the project!

File > Save Project>

Make sure that you save to a place you will have access to next time you log in!!!!
Leave your name and number so you can get back to it!

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