Introducing Geographic Information Systems with ArcGIS: A Workbook Approach to Learning GIS, 3rd Edition

Making Graphics out of Geographic Features

____ 77. Right-click Sewers in the T/C. Click Convert Features to Graphics. In the window, specify Convert All Features of Layer Sewers. Only draw the converted features. Click OK. With Select Elements on the Draw toolbar click a line of sewer pipe to select it. You will find that you can now move on or change it around like any other graphic. Dismantle the sewer system, and pile the pieces up in the southeast corner of the data frame.

____ 78. Use Ctrl-O to open an existing mapfile. Open the map file

___IGIS-Arc_YourInitials\Map_Making\LWP3.mxd.

In Layout View, put the data frame in focus. With the Layout toolbar, zoom up on the DOQ. Pick Splined Text from the Drawing toolbar. Make a spline paralleling the curve of the river, about an inch to the east of the GPS track, starting with the fix at the end of the track and continuing up to the edge of the DOQ. In the text box, type “Kentucky River” and press Enter. Change the text color to White. Change the text size to 16. Slide and rotate the text until it fits nicely in the bend of the river. If you don’t like the result, delete it and try again. Zoom to the whole page, and save the map as LWP4.

As you can see, ArcMap has a remarkable number of tools that aid you in making maps. Admittedly these tools are not as extensive as those in various drawing programs, but don’t forget: you retain the advantage of having a dynamic map with all the “intelligence” that GIS gives.

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