1.9 Print and Export the Map

With your map elements arranged on your layout, you are finally ready to create your first project output: a printed map. In many cases, though, it may be more useful to export your map as a PDF document or image file. Exporting the map to a PDF document allows you to easily transfer it to a different computer, view it, and print it outside of ArcGIS Pro.

The layout you designed in the last two sections is intended for printing, and can also be used to generate a PDF document. However, it is not really suitable if you intend to just use the map in digital form, say on a website or in a slideshow presentation. For those uses, the layout and map elements should be resized to fit screen specifications, and exported as an image file.

When sizing a digital layout, you should think not in inches or centimeters, but in pixels, the units in which screen dimensions are measured. You should also think about the aspect ratio, or the ratio of width to height of the image. These dimensions vary by device and change frequently, but there are some conventions you can go by. In the early 2000’s, most computer monitors were CRT screens with a 4:3 aspect ratio, and the most common screen size was 1,024 pixels x 768 pixels. These are still appropriate dimensions for an image that will be embedded into a web page. Today, most computer and TV screens use a 16:9 aspect ratio. The default size of a Microsoft PowerPoint presentation slide is 1,280 pixels x 720 pixels, so you may want to use this size if you will show your map using a projector. Another common 16:9 screen size is 1920 pixels x 1080 pixels; this is good for higher-resolution displays.

The image resolution defines how finely detailed the image is. Because screens can inherently show less detail than paper, map images meant for screens are output at a lower resolution than maps meant to be printed. The generally accepted standard is to use 300 dots per inch (dpi) for an image that will be printed and 72 ppi (pixels per inch) for a screens-only image (dpi and ppi are treated interchangeably in ArcGIS Pro). For more information about how dpi/ppi is applied in each setting, see the “Dots per inch” Wikipedia article.

Print the layout

Since you already designed your printable layout in Sections 1.7 and 1.8, printing it is very easy. The only trick is knowing where to find the print button in the ArcGIS Pro interface.

Action Sequence

1. With the Layout View active, click the Share ribbon tab.

2. In the Output group of the Share ribbon tab, click the “Print Layout” button, which has an image of a printer.

3. In the Print Layout pane, choose a printer that is on and connected to your computer from the “Printer Name” dropdown (Figure 1.43).

4. Under “Paper”, ensure the paper Size and Orientation match your layout page size and orientation, that the “Print in black and white” checkbox is unchecked, and that “Tiling” is set to “Actual”.

5. Examine the “Tiling” preview at the bottom of the pane to ensure it looks like the layout will fit the page correctly. If it does not, readjust the paper settings to ensure they match the layout dimensions.

6. Click the “Print” button.

Perception and Interpretation: A progress bar appears at the bottom of the Print Layout pane. Printing the layout may take a minute or two. When it is done, a green checkmark with “Printing Completed” appears at the bottom of the pane. The map should print on the selected printer.

7. Examine your printed map to ensure it printed correctly.

Export the layout as a PDF document

There are many situations for which you may need a document in a standard format that can be printed outside of ArcGIS Pro. Perhaps you need to print from a different computer than you used to make your map, and ArcGIS Pro is not installed on it. Perhaps you want to share your map with someone else who does not have ArcGIS Pro in a way that allows them to print it themselves. For these purposes, the best output is a PDF version of your map. Exporting as a PDF is also simple and requires no changes to the layout.

Action Sequence

8. In the Output group of the Share ribbon tab, to the right of the Print button, click the “Export Layout” button.

9. In the Export Layout pane, under “File”, change the “File Type” dropdown to “PDF” (Figure 1.44).

10. Under “Name”, to the right of the input, click the Browse button (the yellow folder icon).

11. In the Export window, navigate to your project folder, enter a file name for your document ending in a .pdf extension, and click the “Save” button.

12. In the Export Layout pane, ensure the “Clip to graphics extent” checkbox is unchecked.

13. Under “Compression”, move the “Quality” slider to “Max”.

14. Under “Resolution”, set “Vector resolution” to 300 DPI (if it isn’t already).

15. Leave all other options in the pane as the defaults and click the “Export” button.

Perception and Interpretation: A progress bar briefly appears at the bottom of the pane, followed by an “Export Completed” checkmark. A PDF file containing the map layout is generated in the project folder (or other location specified in the “Name” field).

16. In Windows Explorer, navigate to your project folder and open the .pdf file to ensure it exported correctly.

Copy the map for a second layout

Here is where things start to get tricky. Certain parameters of your map, such as its scale, the sizes of points and lines, and the sizes and placement of labels, are perfected for a particular layout size and view setting. In this case, you created a map that was intended for printing. However, if you want your map to look its best on a different layout designed for viewing on screens, you may need to adjust some things. It’s a good idea to start by duplicating your map before creating a second layout, so that you can change the look of map symbols and labels to fit screens while preserving the original map for printing.

Action Sequence

17. In the Catalog pane, expand the “Maps” item at the top of the list.

18. Under “Maps”, right-click on the map, then click “Copy”.

19. Right-click on “Maps”, then click “Paste”.

Perception and Interpretation: A second copy of the map, named “Map1”, appears directly below the first map.

20. Under “Maps”, rename “Map” to “Print Map” and rename “Map1” to “Screen Map”.

21. Right-click on “Screen Map”, then click “Open”.

Perception and Interpretation: Renaming the map in the Catalog Pane also renames its map view tab. A new tab for the web map should open in the Center View, with its contents identical to that of the print map (Figure 1.45).

Create a new layout for screen viewing

You have learned how to create a layout, and how to export it; now you will practice these skills to make a map document that is designed to be viewed on a screen. Given the lower resolution of screens than printing, you will need to think carefully about how you size your layout, and resize the map elements for a smaller page. ArcGIS Pro uses points as units for sizing layouts based on screen dimensions. Points are primarily used for sizing type, and there are 72 points to an inch; thus, when you export the layout at a resolution of 72 ppi, 1 point equals 1 pixel. Instead of recreating all of your map elements from scratch, you can copy and paste your print layout elements onto your screen layout, then resize them as necessary. One important step to remember, though, is to change the map frame’s contents from the print map to the screen map, to ensure that you do not mess up your print map elements as you are designing your screen layout.

Action Sequence

22. In the Project group of the Insert ribbon tab, click the “New Layout” button.

23. At the bottom of the New Layout dropdown, click “Custom page size…”.

24. In the Page Setup tab of the Layout Properties window, change “Page units” to “Point” (Figure 1.46).

25. Under “Page size”, change “Width” to 1280 pt and Height to 720 pt, the standard dimensions of a presentation slide (or use other screen dimensions of your choosing).

26. Click the “OK” button.

27. Save the project.

Perception and Interpretation: A new layout is generated with the given dimensions. The rulers on the top and left sides of the Layout View show numbers in points.

28. In the Catalog pane, expand the “Layouts” item, then rename “Layout” to “Print Layout” and “Layout1” to “Screen Layout” (Figure 1.47).

29. At the top of the Center View, switch to the “Print Layout” tab.

30. In the Contents Pane, under “Print Layout”, click the top item to select it, then hold the Shift key on your keyboard and click the bottom item (probably the map frame; Figure 1.48). Alternatively, hit Control-A on your keyboard.

31. Right-click on one of the selected map elements, then click “Copy”. Alternatively, hit Control-C on your keyboard.

32. In the Center View, switch back to the “Screen Layout” tab.

33. Right-click on the layout page, then click “Paste”. Alternatively, hit Control-V on your keyboard.

34. Save the project.

Perception and Interpretation: The selected map elements appear on the page and in the Contents Pane, but at different sizes relative to the page and each other than in the print layout.

35. In the Contents pane, right-click on the “Map Frame” item, then click “Properties”.

36. In the Format Map Frame pane, in the Options tab (the left-most button, which looks like a layout with a speech bubble), under “Map Frame”, change the “Map” dropdown to “Screen Map” (Figure 1.49).

37. Resize the map frame to fit the page. If using a fluid layout with no frame border, make its width the full page width (1,280 pt); if using a compartmentalized layout with a frame border, leave even margins on each side. See Section 1.7, Steps 7-10 to review how to size the map frame.

38. Activate the map. See Section 1.8, Steps 14-17 to review how to activate, scale, and close activation of the map.

39. Rescale and center the map to fit the map frame.

40. Increase the sizes of labels for each layer. Use a minimum 10-point font size (suitable for screen viewing). See Section 1.5, Steps 7-8 to review how to adjust the appearance of labels.

41. Close the map activation.

42. Select each of the other map elements in turn and adjust their position and appearance for the new layout. Ensure all text uses at least 10-point font size. As you are editing, you may make mistakes; keep the Undo button in the title bar in mind! See each element’s action sequence in Section 1.8 to review how to adjust the element.

43. When you are finished making adjustments to the layout, save the project.

Export the screen layout as an image

Documents that are intended to be viewed on screens commonly use a resolution of 72 ppi. For maps, the best screen-viewing image format is PNG. This format is considered a web standard, meaning web browsers can display PNG images that are embedded in websites. The other web standard image formats you may be familiar with are GIF and JPEG. GIF is an older format that supports animation. JPEG is best for continuous images such as photos, as it stores pixels in a way that smooths hard edges. In contrast, PNG is good for maps that use vector linework, as it tends to preserve the fidelity of edges and lines.

Action Sequence

44. In the Export group of the Share ribbon tab, click the “Export Layout” button.

45. In the Export Layout pane, change the “File Type” dropdown to “PNG” (Figure 1.50).

46. Under “Name”, to the right of the input, click the Browse (folder) icon.

47. Navigate to your project folder, name the file, and click the “Save” button.

48. Ensure that the “Clip to graphics extent” checkbox is unchecked. You may wish to check the “Transparent background” checkbox if you want the background of your map to be hollow; to keep it white, leave this unchecked.

49. Under “Resolution”, change the input to 72 DPI.

50. Click the “Export” button.

Perception and Interpretation: A progress bar appears on the bottom of the Export Layout pane and is replaced by the green checkmark when the export is complete. A .png image file is generated in the project folder.

51. From your project folder in Windows Explorer, open the .png file to ensure it exported correctly.