Add a legend

Not every map needs a legend. When all of the symbols on the map are obvious or self-explanatory, no legend should be included. However, in the Cover Type map, it is not clear what each of the colors mean. You’ll add a legend for this map, remove any of its items that aren’t needed, and format it to be clear and consistent with the rest of the map’s design.

  1. If you completed the earlier tutorial Make a layout with two maps, reopen AmericanRiver.aprx. Otherwise, download AmericanRiver2.ppkx. Double-click the file to open it in ArcGIS Pro.
    Note:

    A .ppkx file is an ArcGIS Pro project package and may contain maps, data, and other files that you can open in ArcGIS Pro. Learn more about managing .ppkx files in this guide.

  2. If prompted, sign in to ArcGIS Pro using your licensed ArcGIS account.
    Note:

    If you don't have access to ArcGIS Pro or an ArcGIS organizational account, see options for software access.

  3. In the Contents pane, click the Cover Type map frame.
  4. On the ribbon, click the Insert tab. In the Map Surrounds group, click Legend.

    Legend button on the ribbon

  5. Click and drag anywhere on the layout to draw a large box.

    Cover Type legend on the layout

    A legend appears. It describes each of the colors in the Cover Type layer, but it also includes two layers—Outlines and World Hillshade—that do not need to be explained. Anything that doesn’t need to be explained should be removed from the legend. If these layers are left in the legend, they can distract from the map’s purpose and even cause confusion for map readers.

  6. In the Contents pane, under Legend, right-click Outlines and click Remove.

    Remove option in the Outlines legend item's context menu

  7. Also remove World Hillshade.

    Legend with only one remaining legend item in the Contents pane

    Tip:

    Alternatively, uncheck the check boxes for Outlines and World Hillshade to turn them off.

  8. Resize the legend box so it fits close around the remaining content.

    If you resize the legend too much, you will notice that the text becomes smaller. You want the text to be consistent with the labels on the map and other text elements that you’ll add later. You’ll change the legend’s fitting strategy to prevent its text from resizing.

  9. In the Contents pane, double-click Legend to open the Element pane.
  10. In the Element pane, click the Legend Arrangement Options button.
  11. For Fitting Strategy, choose Adjust frame.

    Fitting Strategy set to Adjust frame

    The legend resizes so that its size conforms to its content, rather than the other way around. Next, you’ll ensure that the legend uses the correct font.

  12. On the ribbon, click the Legend tab. In the Text Symbol group, click the Layout style.

    Layout text symbol style on the ribbon

    The legend’s text updates to the same font as the map’s labels.

    Legend with text symbol style applied

    The legend appears to have two titles: Cover Type and COVER. One is the name of the layer and the other is a heading for a group of symbol classes. Since there is only one group of symbol classes, the heading is redundant. You’ll remove it.

  13. In the Contents pane, under Legend, click Cover Type.

    The Element pane updates. Previously, it showed the properties of the legend. Now it shows the properties of the legend item. The properties of each legend item can be set separately from the overall legend.

  14. Under Show, uncheck Headings.

    Headings check box unchecked in the Element pane

    The COVER text disappears from the legend. The remaining title—Cover Type—is the same size as the symbol labels. It would be better if it was a little bit larger. A larger font will give the title greater visual hierarchy than the labels, encouraging people to read it first.

  15. At the top of the Element pane, click the arrow next to Legend Item and choose Layer Names.

    Layer Names in the Element pane menu

  16. For Size, choose 16 pt.

    Size set to 16 pt

    The Cover Type text in the legend becomes larger.

    Legend with formatted text

Make another legend

The other map—Tidal Class—also needs a legend. You’ll save your existing legend to a style so you can reuse all of its settings.

  1. In the Contents pane, right-click Legend and click Save to Style.
  2. In the Save Legend As window, for Name, type American River. Click OK.

    Last time, you made a legend and removed any unnecessary items from it. This time, you’ll select the layers you want to include in the legend first.

  3. In the Contents pane, expand the Tidal Class map frame. If necessary, also expand the Tidal Class map.

    Tidal Class map frame and map in the Contents pane

    Consider the layers in this map. Which should be included in the legend? None of the layers in the Labels group layer or the Basemap group layer need to be included in the legend. While the labels and imagery are essential information in this map, they need no explanation.

    Should the Pelican Lagoon Sanctuary Boundary layer be included in the legend? There is only one instance of this symbol on the map. In cases like this, it’s easier to read a label next to the feature rather than consult a legend. The boundary is already labeled, so you won’t include this layer in the legend.

    The Tidal class layer should be included in the legend. Otherwise map readers will not know what the black symbols mean.

  4. In the Contents pane, click the Tidal class layer to select it.
  5. On the ribbon, on the Insert tab, in the Map Surrounds group, click the bottom half of the Legend button.
  6. In the legend menu, click American River.

    American River in the Legend gallery

  7. Drag to draw a legend anywhere on the layout.

    Tidal class legend

    The legend only contains one layer: the one you had selected. It has the same font and other properties that you configured for the other legend. However, the heading—TIDALCLASS—is not removed. That’s because the setting you changed to remove the heading was on the legend item, not the legend. Legend items have their own styles separate from legends.

    You could redo the steps to turn off headings for the Tidal class legend item. But instead you’ll save and apply a legend item style.

  8. In the Contents pane, under Legend, right-click Cover Type and click Save to Style.

    Save to Style option in the Cover Type legend item's context menu

  9. In the Save Legend Item As window, type No headings. Click OK.
  10. In the Contents pane, under Legend 1, click Tidal class.
  11. On the ribbon, click the Legend tab. In the Legend Item group, click Legend Item Gallery. Click No headings.

    No headings in the Legend Item Gallery

    The TIDALCLASS heading disappears from the legend.

    Formatted Tidal class legend

  12. In the Contents pane, rename Legend 1 to Tidal Class Legend and rename Legend to Cover Type Legend.
    Tip:

    To rename an item, click it once in the Contents pane to select, and then click it again or press F2 to make the name editable.

  13. Collapse the Tidal Class map frame and both legends.

    Renamed and collapsed legends in the Contents pane

Add a scale bar

Not all maps need a scale bar. They are only necessary if distance measurements are relevant to your map's purpose or theme. No one will need to take measurements from this map, but map readers might like to have a general sense of how large the estuary is. If there were buildings in the imagery, they might provide a sense of scale, but there are no houses or other visual clues, so you’ll create a scale bar.

  1. On the ribbon, on the Insert tab, in the Map Surrounds group, click the bottom part of the Scale Bar button.

    Scale Bar button on the ribbon

  2. Under Metric, choose Alternating Scale Bar 1 Metric.
  3. On the layout, draw a box to add a scale bar.

    Scale bar on the layout

  4. On the ribbon, click the Scale Bar tab. In the Text Symbol group, click the Layout style.

    Layout text symbol style on the ribbon

    Next, you’ll configure the properties of the scale bar to make sure it’s easy to read.

  5. In the Element pane, ensure Map Units is set to Kilometers. For Label text, change the spelling to Kilometres.

    Map Units and Label Text properties

    This is the correct spelling in Australia.

  6. At the top of the pane, click the Properties button.

    Properties button in the Element pane

  7. For Fitting Strategy, choose Adjust width.

    Now the width of the scale bar will be determined by the division values that you choose, rather than the division values being determined by its width.

  8. For Division Value, type 0.5. For Divisions, choose 4.

    The scale bar is now two kilometers wide, which is wide enough for map readers to get a sense of the size of the estuary. Making the scale bar any wider might draw unnecessary attention to it.

    Next, you’ll remove the clutter of numbers from the right end of the scale bar.

  9. For Subdivisions, choose 1.
  10. Under Numbers, for Frequency, choose Divisions.

    Scale bar properties

    You now have a clear and tidy scale bar.

    Formatted scale bar on the layout

    Some maps include scale text in addition to or instead of a scale bar. For example, you could add the text Scale: 1:36,000 or 1 centimeter equals 360 meters. The disadvantage to this method is if the map is printed at a different size, the scale text will no longer be accurate. Your client might decide to print the map at different sizes later, for example as a pamphlet or a poster, so a scale bar is safer than scale text.

Add an inset map

Next, you’ll add an inset map to show the location of the American River estuary. Like legends and scale bars, you should ask yourself how necessary a locator map is before creating one. Who will be reading your map? Are they likely to recognize the area from the map? How much extra information will they need before they understand where it is located?

You called your client and asked some more questions about your map’s target audience. You learned that most visitors to the museum are from Australia. Many of them live in Adelaide, the nearest city. Based on this information, you’ll add a locator map of the wider area including Adelaide. You decided that a map showing all of Australia won’t be necessary.

  1. On the ribbon, click the Insert tab. In the Map Frames group, click the arrow next to Rectangle and choose Circle.

    Circle map frame option

    Inset maps are typically shown in a small box in a corner of the layout. However, in this layout, there isn’t a natural place for a rectangle. Adding one might appear jarring. You’ll add a circular map frame instead. A circle sometimes feels more natural floating on top of a layout. It will also mimic the shape of the estuary mouth.

  2. On the ribbon, click Map Frame. Under Locator map, click Default Extent.
  3. On the layout, click and drag to draw a circle.
  4. Reposition the circle so it is centered on the center guide, under the title. Resize it so it fills the space between the two estuaries, without touching them.

    Circular map frame on the layout

  5. Right-click the new map frame and click Activate.
  6. On the map, zoom to Australia and then to Kangaroo Island. Pan and zoom until all labels are visible within the circular map frame.
    Tip:

    If you can’t find the map’s data, in the Contents pane, right-click Annotation and click Zoom To Layer.

    For more precise zooming, press and hold the right button of your mouse.

    Inset map zoomed to Kangaroo Island

  7. Above the layout, click the Back to Layout button.

    Back to Layout button above the layout view

  8. In the Contents pane, rename the map frame as Inset Map. Collapse the map frame.

    Inset Map element in the Contents pane

Add credit text

The inset map frame has credit text for the basemap written at the top of the circle. This is redundant information, because the same text is repeated at the bottom of both the larger maps. You must include this text, but only once. You’ll use dynamic text to control the placement and style of the credit text.

  1. On the ribbon, on the Insert tab, in the Graphics and Text group, click the Rectangle text button.

    Rectangle text button on the ribbon

    Clicking this button first will ensure that the dynamic text you add will use the rectangle text format. Rectangle text is preferable when there is more than one line of text. Resizing the element will change the number of lines of text, rather than the size of the font.

  2. Click the Dynamic Text button.
  3. In the menu that appears, scroll to the Layout section and click Service Layer Credits.

    Server Layer Credits option in the Dynamic Text gallery

  4. Click and drag anywhere on the layout to draw a box.

    The existing credit text disappears from all three maps, replaced by the new text. Now you can change its font to match the rest of the layout.

    Credit text on the layout

  5. With the new text box selected, on the ribbon, click the Text tab. In the Text Symbol group, click Text and choose the Layout style.

    Text style menu on the ribbon

    It’s important for your map’s layout to include text that acknowledges its data sources. However, this text should be one of the last things that the map reader notices; it should have very low visual hierarchy. You’ll make the font smaller and lighter to help achieve this.

  6. On the ribbon, change the font size to 9 pt and the style to Light.

    Text properties on the ribbon

    You’ll also change the color of the text so it has less contrast with the background.

  7. On the ribbon, click the Text Color menu and click Eyedropper.

    Eyedropper button in the Text Color menu

  8. On the Cover type map, click the dark turquoise color representing seagrass.

    Eyedropper tool on the layout

    The credit text changes color. You’ll save this color to a style in case you want to use it elsewhere in the layout later.

  9. On the ribbon, click the Text Color menu again and click Color Properties.

    Color Properties button in the Text Color menu

  10. In the Color Editor window, click Save color to style.
  11. In the Save Color As window, for Name, type Estuary.
  12. Click OK. Click Cancel.

    Next, you’ll add some more information to the credit text.

  13. In the Element pane, in the Text box, type or copy and paste the following text in front of the serviveLayerCredits tag:

    This map was created by Your Name on Current Date, following the tutorial Design a layout in ArcGIS Pro. The coordinate system is WGS 1984 UTM Zone 53S.

    The data is derived from Estuarine Habitats of South Australia, a dataset provided by the Government of South Australia, Department for Environment and Water. Other data sources include: Maxar,

    Text in the Element pane

  14. Replace Your Name with your name and Current Date with today’s date.

    This is a large block of text. You’ll add some formatting to the text to make it easier to find information within it.

  15. On the layout (not in the Element pane), highlight the text This map.

    This map text highlighted

  16. On the ribbon, on the Text tab, in the Text Symbol group, change the style to Bold.
  17. Make the text The data bold as well.

    Credit text with some words in bold

    The bold letters act like headers, breaking up the monotony of the text block.

  18. In the Contents pane, rename the Text 2 element as Credit Text.

Add descriptive text

The last element you’ll add to the layout is a paragraph of text to describe the estuary.

  1. On the ribbon, click the Insert tab. In the Graphics and Text group, click Rectangle text and drag a box anywhere on the layout.
  2. Paste the following:

    American River, also called Pelican Lagoon, is a marine estuary on Kangaroo Island in South Australia. It is part of Encounter Marine Park and includes Pelican Lagoon Sanctuary Zone, an area that has been continuously protected since 1914. This estuary is a hotspot for marine biodiversity. It is a significant site for shorebirds, seabirds, and fish, thanks to the varied habitats that it provides.

    Text block on the layout

  3. Select the text box. On the ribbon, click the Text tab. In the Text Symbol group, click the Text button and choose the Layout style.

    Blocks of text often look tidier with the justify alignment. This is the kind of text alignment used in newspapers and novels. It spaces the words unevenly to create a straight line of text on both the right and left sides.

  4. On the ribbon, in the Text Symbol group, click the Justify button.

    Justify button on the ribbon

  5. Apply the Justify alignment to the credit text as well.
  6. In the Contents pane, rename the Text 2 element Descriptive Text.

    Descriptive Text element in the Contents pane

Arrange map surrounds

The layout now has all of the elements you planned for. Next, you’ll rearrange them on the page. You’ll use the guides, as well as the Align and Distribute tools to ensure a tidy arrangement.

You have already placed the two estuary maps and the title. This is wise because they are the largest and the most important elements of your layout. It is easier to arrange other elements around them than the other way around.

  1. Confirm that the two large maps and the title have not moved. Confirm that the letters of the title and the estuaries do not overlap the outer guides.

    The next largest element is the inset map. Unless you change its size, there is only one place where this element can fit.

  2. Confirm that the inset map is snapped to the center guide and not overlapping the estuary in either map.

    Inset map selected on the layout

    The rest of the elements are small and you have more choice about where to place them. They are also more flexible: text boxes and legends can change their shape to fit an available space.

    Tip:

    Sometimes it helps to move all of the surround elements off of the layout before placing them, to get a clear view of the available space.

  3. Place the scale bar at the top of the Cover type map, under the word American. Snap it to the left guide.
    Tip:

    If an element is hidden behind another element, you can select it in the Contents pane.

  4. Place the Cover Type legend under the scale bar. Snap it to the left guide.

    Scale bar and Cover Type legend positioned on the layout

  5. Place the Tidal Class legend next to the locator map, under the word Australia.

    Tidal class legend positioned on the layout

    When a layout contains multiple maps, as this one does, try to arrange their legends and other surround elements in the same locations relative to the maps. This makes it easier for a map reader to find information.

    In this case, the Tidal class legend can’t be in exactly the same position as the Cover Type legend, because the inset map is in the way. But it is close enough to be consistent. You’ll make sure that both legends are set to the same vertical position.

  6. Click the Cover Type legend. Hold the Shift key and click the Tidal class legend to select it as well.
  7. Right-click, point to Align, and click Align Top.

    Align Top option in the context menu

    The Tidal class legend (selected second) moves to align with the top of the Cover Type legend (selected first).

    Layout with aligned legends

    Next you’ll arrange the two text boxes. The largest available space is along the bottom of the layout. This space would also benefit from being filled to help balance the layout, which currently has more content in the top than the bottom.

  8. Snap the credit text to the bottom right corner of the guides. Extend the box to the top or the right until all of its text is visible.

    Credit text positioned on the layout

    A red ellipsis symbol will appear in the lower corner of the text box if it is not big enough to fit all of the content.

    You’ll set the size and position of the descriptive text to match that of the credit text.

  9. Select the credit text. Hold the Shift key and select the descriptive text as well.
  10. Right-click, point to Distribute, and click Make Same Height.

    Make Same Height option in the context menu

  11. Right-click again, point to Align, and click Align Bottom.
  12. Click elsewhere on the layout to deselect the two text boxes, and click the descriptive text box to select it.
  13. Drag the right and left sides of the text box until all of the text is visible.

    Descriptive text positioned on the layout

  14. On the Quick Access Toolbar, click the Save button.
  15. Optionally, experiment with the layout, moving items around to find an arrangement you prefer.

In this tutorial, you added map surrounds to your layout. You created legends, a scale bar, an inset map, credit text, and descriptive text. You then arranged them on the page to create a balanced, consistent, and tidy layout design.

In this tutorial, the design and placement of each item was decided for you. When you design your own layouts, you’ll need to spend time experimenting. As you move things around, you may decide to change the appearance of the elements. For example, a legend may work better in a horizontal format, or there may be room for more descriptive text. You may decide to make changes to the map’s design to better suit your layout’s design. Designing a layout is a creative task, so there is no one right way to do it. If you want to create an effective design, create multiple designs and compare them. Use your map’s audience and purpose to help you decide which of the designs is best.

Next, try the tutorial Finish and export a layout to learn how to assess and export a layout.