Creating Layouts

Creating map layouts is a simple process of adding the elements you want to the map, arranging them, and selecting a page size and orientation. After you have a layout defined, you can save that layout as a template for later use with other maps and you can export the current map and layout as either a low resolution or high resolution PDF or image (.jpg, .png, .bmp) file.

To add an element to the map, drag and drop it from the left pane and place it where you want it to be on the map. Any item you drag and drop onto the map you can re-size. You can also click and drag to move and re-size the map image itself. Resizing the map image adjusts the map scale to match. To delete an item from the map, select it and press the Delete key.

The map extent available to print in the AOI print view is determined by the map extent you define on the map view. You can resize the map in the AOI print view, but you cannot change the map extent. If you want to change the map extent, do so on the map view.

Using title blocks

Spatial Explorer provides you with four default title blocks that you can use as-is or customize to suit your needs. You can also save customized title blocks for later re-use by clicking in the title block. When you save a title block, Spatial Explorer saves the logo, the company name, and the size of the title block only. Title blocks you save appear in the Custom section of the left pane.

All title blocks contain a number of common elements, each arranged differently depending on the title block:

Map title
Description
Logo
Company name
Date
Map scale
Map projection information (only available in 3 of the 4 layouts)

When customizing title blocks, you can modify the content but not the structure of the title block. For structure, you can only pick from the four layouts provided. For the text in title blocks, you can format the font, font size, font color, emphasis (bold and italics), and underlining. You can also set the transparency of the title block and whether to display the grid lines between title block elements.

The scale on the title blocks is determined by the map and updates automatically if the map scale changes.

Using north arrows

The North Arrows tab contains a number of north arrows you can drag and drop onto the Spatial Explorer map. On the map, you can scale and position the North arrow to suit your needs.

Using scale markers

Spatial Explorer provides you with a large number of scale markers to use on the map, all of which are based on either a one inch scale or one centimeter scale, depending upon the project settings. The numeric values shown on scale markers are determined by both the size of the map on the page and the size of the scale marker.

By default, the scale in the AOI print view matches the scale in the map view. Resizing the map on the page causes the scale values to change, as does resizing the scale marker itself. For example, if the scale marker indicates a total distance of 10,000 feet, if you double the size of the map on the page the scale marker value changes to 5,000 feet. Halving the length of the scale marker itself will have the same effect.

When you resize the map in the AOI print view, Spatial Explorer selects the Map scale option on the Scale Bars pane (it is not selected by default) and displays the scale value that matches the map size. You can also manually select this option and specify a specific map scale by typing in the scale value you want. The map scale and size of the map on the page changes to match any value you type in. After the Map scale option is selected, the AOI print view maintains the scale defined by this option, even if you change the map scale in the map view. If you want to synchronize the map view and AOI print view scales, clear the Map scale option.

Adding legends

You can drag and drop one or more legends onto the AOI print view. The available legends correspond to the data layers in the Layers list of the Map View tab. You can position and size each legend, as well as change the font face, point size, color, and text decoration (bold, italics, underline) of the legend title. You can also change the transparency of the legend.

Defining grid lines