...to Geog 353 Main Page and Course Description
...to Geog 353 Syllabus
...to Geog 353 Course Schedule and Lecture Outlines
...to Geog 353 Laboratory Information and Student Projects

50 points

ASSIGNED: Monday November 26

DUE: Wednesday December 5

Before beginning this delectable lab, you should have the following in ArcGIS:

• 11 graduated color (choropleth) maps of your % population change data, all with the same classification and color scheme. Consider creating a 2nd or even 3rd set of maps: a 2 class map (gains/losses) for example. At this point, it is easy to create extra map series.

• 12 graduated symbol maps of your total population data, all with the same classification and color scheme.

• 12 proportional symbol maps of your total population data, all with the same color scheme.

• 12 dot density maps of your total population data, all with the same dot value ("one dot = 500 people" - or something like that), size, and color scheme.

Our next goal is to create graphic files in .gif format (one of the most common graphic file formats for the WWW). The means to this end is ArcGIS's Layout view, where ArcGIS allows you to arrange your map, add titles, legends, and export your maps to more generic graphic file formats. In Lab 9 you will animate the graduated color, symbol, and dot density maps and prepare them for the WWW. Your proportional symbol maps are not really comparable, but we will include them on your WWW pages as 10 static images.

Lab 8 Goal: Export your various population maps and legends using ArcGIS's Layout feature and use whatever means to get them into GIF format. Your GIF files should have good color, text, and exact sizing ready for animation (in Lab 9).

The Details:

1) As tidiness is still a virtue, create a new folder in your personal directory called GIF_Maps. You should save your files exported from ArcGIS (and eventually your animated GIF files) in this folder.

2) Take a moment to think about where you are going with your maps: the graduated color, graduated symbol, and dot density maps will be animated. The proportional symbol maps will not be animated, but will be included in your pages as a series of ten maps (they are not comparable). All of the following should be decided before you export your maps:

• You may want to consider adding additional map layers to your map - this could be roads, cities, rivers, etc. - do this if you claimed you would do it in your mid-project evaluation (Lab 7). You must add these elements to your maps prior to exporting the maps in this exercise. Do engage your medulla oblongata if you are using additional data: interstate highways, for example, did not exist prior to the 1950s, but major cities in most states did.

• You need a legend for each map or map animation: what should be included in the legend, and how should you produce it? Consider these issues:
  • show the classes, associated colors/symbols, and the class ranges; avoid decimals, add a % after each number if it is a percent, and make sure larger numbers are at the top of the legend. You can format the legend in the Symbiology window (I can show you how if you can't figure it out yourself).
  • do you need to include the word "Legend"? What the hell does that mean, anyway?
  • if you include other data on your map (roads, cities) should their symbol be in the legend?
  • I suggest that you save the legend separately from your maps (as a file, called legend.gif): since the legend is the same for all the maps, one legend can be used for all of the maps on your WWW pages. In some cases the high or low value in the legend for each layer of your choropleth map will adjust to the highest or lowest value in the data set. Make sure to use the legend from the map layer that includes all the values in your entire series of maps.

• You need a map title: this will communicate the year or span of years of each map. The title may be on each map, the title may be part of the legend, or the title may be part of the HTML code. What ever floats your boat.

• You need to consider the final size of each of the map animations (or static maps). You don't want people to have to scroll around to see your entire map, nor do you want the maps to be too small. You may want to have a few maps side by side. You need to export the maps from ArcGIS at the appropriate final size: you may attempt to reduce or enlarge the files later - in Photoshop or using HTML commands - but this can degrade the image (make it blurry) so don't do it.

  
  

The Layout View in ArcGIS is the means by which you will export your maps, and provides functions for creating titles, legends, etc. Access it by clicking on the small 'page' icon to the right of the icon for your data view in the lower left corner of your ArcMap window.

3) Once in the Layout View go to the Layout Menu and change the percent view to 100% to see the actual size of your map. Remember that your map, once exported, should fit on your web page - not too large or small. If the map is too large or small, change the scale (and size of the map) using the plus or minus magnifying glass tool in the main toolbar.

4) While in Layout View go to the Layout Menu and change the percent view to 50% so you can see the entire page your map is on. Take care to use the Layout Menu percent view to change scale in the Layout View, and not the plus or minus magnifying glass icon in the main toolbar - the latter will change the scale of your map and you don't want that.

5) From the Insert menu select Title. Right mouse click on the title and select Properties. Give your map a decent title (such as "Wisconsin Population Change, 1900-2010") and consider the type font you want to use for your final map. Review the type chapter in the Making Maps book. Keep the same font for your title, legend, and any other text on your map. I changed mine to Times New Roman from Ariel. Position the title in an appropriate place (probably above your map) and make sure the size is appropriate for the map size.

6) Modify the information in each layer's legend in the Table of Contents as below: click on and edit the table field name to more clearly show the years, and add a percent symbol after each number:

7) While at 100% and viewing your 1900-1910 map: from the Insert menu select Legend. Just hit OK for everything: you can go back and adjust details later (by right-mouse clicking on the legend and selecting Properties. The legend will probably be too large. Grab the corner of the legend while it is selected and drag it smaller. Find a good place to place the legend in relation to your map. Some states, like Wisconsin, have a nice little notch within which to tuck your legend. Other states are less optimal when it comes to legend-tucking. Ask you instructor if you are unsure of where to place your legend.

8) Double click on the legend. Under the Legend tab un-check Show as we don't have to include the word Legend on the legend.

9) If your title indicates your state or states, which it should, then you don't really need to repeat the state name in the legend. You can go back to your Table of Contents and simplify the title of each layer (to something like "% Population Change"):

10) Go back to 50% in the layout view. From the Insert menu select Neatline.

• select Place inside margins
• set the border to 4.0 Point
• set the background to Blue
• ... then hit OK
• the wide line and blue background will help differentiate the Neatline from the Dataframe You will go back later and change these settings.

11) While the neatline is still selected (blue boxes at corners) adjust it to fit around your map, leaving room for a title and legend. If you grab and adjust the Dataframe by accident, the map will move: no good! undo! Once the neatline box encompasses your entire map, title and legend, without too much or too little white space around it, right-mouse click on the neatline and select Properties. While in Properties change the width of the neatline box to 1 point and the background to None.

12) Deselect the neatline by clicking in the white area off the page. Select 100% from the layout menu. This is the size your map will be on your web pages. If it seems too large or small you can change the scale by using the magnifying tools on the main tool bar, but you will have to also adjust the title, legend, and neatline.

13) Consider some of the other options, in the Layout View Insert menu, such as Title, North Arrow, and Scale Bar. IMHO, you don't need any of them, really.

Have your dear instructor review the size of your map as well as the title, legend, and neatline placement before you proceed. An example of an ok map, title, legend and neatline is below:

Ok: Think about what we need at this point: the finalized legend on each population change map in the same exact place. The legend numbers (data ranges) and colors should not change. If the legend itself is not in the exact same place on every map, it will look bad (be wiggling around) in your animations. But the years in the legend (1900-1910) do have to change from map to map.

14) Select then Cut (not copy) the legend. Then Paste the legend. It should show up in the same approximate location as the original legend. Adjust to the proper location.

15) Turn off your 1900-1910 layer, and turn on the 1910-1920 layer. The legend title should change appropriately, but not move. Do this for the rest of the layers to make sure they are all stable and showing the correct years.

16) If you go to the Data View then back to the Layout View your legend size may change. Don't panic, just select and re-scale the legend on one layer and it should resize for all layers.

17) Once you have made all changes, and you have double checked that your legends for all population change maps are correct and not moving around, and that your layout menu says 100% and that is the final size you want (you may want to have me have a look):

• With your first layer (1900-10) on...

• From the File menu select Export Map

• Click on Save as type to see all the file formats you can save into. .gif is what we need to do our GIF animations in the next lab.

• Under Options change the resolution of the file to 144.

• Give the export a logical name (such as wi_00-10.gif). Remember to use all lower case characters, no spaces, etc. Navigate to your GIF_MAPS folder and save the file.

TIP: If you find a file extension (.eep, .pip, etc.) you are confused and/or amused by, you can try and find what kind of file it is at one of the following sites: FIL EXT or File-Extensions.org or just Google the extension.

18) Open Photoshop Lite (on the computer desktop), then open and carefully inspect your file at 100% scale. Check that the colors and resolution and all the elements look good.

• Carefully crop the file based on the neatline. This is an exacting process: if you are off by even a pixel, your animation may be wobbly. Crop right on the line!

• Save. If you want a transparent GIF file (the white is transparent on a WWW page) do the following:
  • Under the File menu select Export and GIF89a Export...

  • Options: you may use the dropper tool here to select a color that will be transparent. For example, you may select white. This will make the white background in the file transparent when you view the file on the WWW. This is helpful if you want your WWW page background to surround your map, but can cause problems if you have white somewhere else on your map. You can give it a try and reexport without a transparent color if it does not work.

  • Another option: the interlace option creates that effect you have probably seen where an image on the WWW is initially blurry and becomes more focused. This is good to do when you have a single image, but avoid it for any files that are to be animated: un-check the box.

19) Add the image to one of your HTML pages and critically examine it.

• To get a higher quality image, we exported at 144 dpi. This will make your image exactly 2 times the size is should be. Use the scaling capability of the IMG command in HTML to scale your image down to the correct size.

• Did the colors carry over through all the transformations? Compare to the original colors in ArcGIS. Sometimes lighter colors disappear, and that would be a bad thing. Also make sure there are no odd resolution problems, or that the size of the map is wrong.

• If you have type in the image, did the type hold up? You might want to have your instructor review your map at this stage if you think there is a problem.

20) If you are having color problems, then consider one of the myriad of other ways to get your maps out of ArcGIS. Try a different file format when you export from ArcGIS, such as TIFF, and then use Photoshop to convert and export as a GIF file.

Of course the good old it almost always works fine option is to use the Print Screen feature of your computer. Get your map on the screen, in ArcGIS, at 100%. Hit the Print Screen button on the keyboard. Open Photoshop Lite and create a new empty file. Paste will drop the entire screen in the file. Crop back, carefully, to the neatline. Under the Image menu change the mode to Indexed Color and hit OK to any windows that pop up. Save as a GIF file. Once again, it is good to be reminded that if something is not working, there is probably an alternative way to do it. You should already know how to do the Print Screen routine. Just modify the Mode and follow the same procedure as outlined in step 9 above.

TIP: Sometimes Print Screen ceases to work after the 2nd time (the previous saved screen shows up when you Paste into Photoshop). This is a Windows bug. It is hard to believe that Windows has any bugs. To fix it, go to the Edit Menu in Photoshop and select Purge then Clipboard after you have pasted a Print Screen image. This should solve the problem. Do that every time after you paste.

21) Once you are happy with your map (color, size, type) return to ArcGIS and export the rest of your maps - however worked best for you. You must repeat this process for the rest of the map types. In total, a whole mess of exported maps:

• 11 graduated color (choropleth) maps and 1 legend as GIF files

• 12 graduated symbol maps and 1 legend as GIF files

• 12 proportional symbol maps and 1 legend as JPG files (we will not animate, so you don't need to save as gifs).

• 12 dot density maps and 1 legend as GIF files

Next: Animating your exported maps.

E-mail: jbkrygier@owu.edu

...to Geog 353 Main Page and Course Description
...to krygier teaching page.
...to krygier top page.

OWU Home
OWU Geology and Geography Home