Cartographic creations – Customize a basemap

Lake District National Park in England is famous for its mountainous terrain. In this five-part tutorial series, you'll make a web map of the Lake District to attract international visitors. You'll learn how to employ cartographic skills in Map Viewer and ArcGIS StoryMaps to make a professional interactive map.

You are encouraged to complete the first tutorial in the Cartographic creations with web maps series before this one.

In the previous tutorial, you mapped mountains according to their height and prominence. In this tutorial, you'll design the basemap. While basemaps serve as background information and usually go unnoticed in the final map, their design is just as important as the design of the thematic data. A well-designed basemap supports the theme of the map with helpful contextual information, without distracting from it. In this basemap, you'll add hillshading and contour lines to help describe the shape of the landscape. You'll also use the basemap to control the map's projection. Finally, you'll add data to help emphasize lakes and rivers, and you'll use a visual clipping technique so this emphasis is only visible within Lake District National Park.

This tutorial was last tested on September 27, 2024, using ArcGIS Online and ArcGIS Enterprise 11.3. If you're using a different version of ArcGIS Enterprise, you may encounter different functionality and results.

Requirements

• User, Publisher, or Administrator role in an ArcGIS organization: ArcGIS Online (see options for software access) or ArcGIS Enterprise (learn more)
• Enterprise users must complete the first tutorial in the Cartographic creations with web maps series before this one.

Configure a basemap with a different projection

You’ll replace the map’s current basemap with a similar one that uses a different projection. You’ll also add more detail to the basemap by adding two more tile layers that use the same projection.

Change the map’s projection

To represent the curved surface of the earth on the flat surface of a map, you must use a projection. A projection determines how and where to distort the earth and is one parameter in a projected coordinate system.

Most web maps use the Web Mercator projected coordinate system. This is because the coordinate system of a web map is determined by its basemap, and most basemaps are only available in Web Mercator. However, there are a variety of basemap layers available in ArcGIS Living Atlas of the World that use the British National Grid projected coordinate system, provided by Esri UK. These basemaps are preferable for maps of Great Britain because they avoid the area and distance distortions present in the Web Mercator projection.

You’ll change the basemap of the Lake District National Park web map to use GB Light Grey, instead of Light Gray Canvas. GB stands for Great Britain.

1. If you completed the earlier tutorial Cartographic creations – Style thematic data, sign in to your ArcGIS account or your ArcGIS Enterprise portal. Reopen your Lake District National Park web map.
2. If you did not complete the earlier tutorial, open the Lake District National Park 2 web map. Click Sign In and sign in with your ArcGIS account. On the Contents toolbar, click the Save and open button and click Save as. For Title, remove the 2. Click Save.

   Note:

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

3. On the Contents (dark) toolbar, click the Basemap button.

   

   There are more basemaps available in ArcGIS Living Atlas that are not listed in the Basemap pane.

4. Scroll to the bottom of the Basemap pane and click Living Atlas.
5. In the Search bar, type GB light grey.
6. In the search results, on the GB Light Grey card, click Add.

   

   The basemap is replaced and the map refreshes.

7. On the map, zoom out.

   

   The new basemap does not extend beyond Western Europe, and only contains detailed information for Great Britain. Its style is similar to that of the previous basemap, but not exactly the same.

8. Zoom back to Lake District National Park.

Add a hillshade layer

While the current basemap provides information about towns and roads, it does not depict the terrain, which is the primary concern of your map. You’ll add a hillshade layer to the basemap to help show the shape of the landscape.

1. At the top of the Add layer pane, click the Back button to return to the Basemap pane.

   Changes made in this pane will cause your current basemap to be replaced. You want to supplement the current basemap, rather than replace it.

2. At the top of the pane, click Current basemap GB Light Grey.

   

   In this pane, you can add layers to the basemap. You can also remove, reorder, or modify them.

3. Click Add.
4. Click My content and choose Living Atlas. Search for world hillshade.
5. In the search results, on the World Hillshade card, click Add.

   

   An error appears at the bottom of the map. It says that the layer is not compatible with the current basemap. This is because the World Hillshade layer is in the Web Mercator coordinate system, rather than the British National Grid coordinate system used by the map.

   

   While feature layers (such as the fells and parks layers) can be reprojected on the fly to the coordinate system used by the map, tiled layers (such as World Hillshade) cannot. You must find a hillshade layer that uses the same coordinate system as the map.

6. Close the error message.
7. In the search bar, type GB hillshade. In the search results, on the GB Hillshade card, click Add.

   

   The hillshade appears on the map.

   

   Note:

   In this case, a hillshade layer was available in your desired coordinate system. For other maps, there may not be. You must decide which is more important for your map: the hillshade or the projection.

   The hillshade layer hides the rest of the basemap. You’ll change its blending property to allow the basemap to show through.

8. If the Properties pane is not open, on the Settings (light) toolbar, click the Properties button.
9. Ensure that GB Hillshade is the selected layer.

   Tip:

   The selected layer is listed at the top of the pane, on a black banner. To change the selected layer, click the black banner.

   

10. Change Blending to Multiply. Close the Blending menu.

    

    The basemap is now visible as well as the hillshade.

    

Add contour lines

Visual hierarchy is an important concept for map design. It means that some features (the more colorful, contrasting, and detailed ones) will appear to be in the foreground of the map, while other features (the pale, desaturated, and plain ones) will appear to be in the background.

The basemap should normally have the lowest visual hierarchy in a map. It should act as the background and not distract from the thematic data. Some maps require more background information than others, and for these, finding the balance between detail and distraction can be a challenge. Next, you’ll add contour lines to your basemap and ensure that both hillshade and contours have low visual hierarchy.

1. Zoom in and out and explore the map.

   The light gray basemap is a good choice for most thematic maps because it has very low visual hierarchy: it has low contrast, almost no saturation, and minimal detail. However, when you added the hillshade, you also added contrast and detail. The basemap now competes with the mountain layer for the viewer’s attention.

2. In the Properties pane, ensure that GB Hillshade is the selected layer. Change Transparency to 25 percent.

   

   The hillshade now appears softer and lighter on the map. It is dark enough to clearly define hills and valleys, but not so dark as to dominate the map.

3. Zoom in to some of the mountains on the map.

   

   At large (zoomed in) scales, the hillshade becomes blurry. In this map, you want to encourage people to zoom in to the mountains and imagine the landscape that they could be hiking through. More detail at large scales would be helpful. You’ll configure your map so the GB Light Grey basemap appears at small scales and a more detailed basemap with contour lines appears at large scales.

4. In the Add layer pane, search for and add the GB Cartographic tile layer.

   

   Contour lines and other features appear on the map. This layer also uses the British National Grid coordinate system, so it can be included in your map. It can’t be added to maps using the Web Mercator coordinate system.

   

5. At the top of the pane, click the Back button.

   This layer can be used as a stand-alone basemap. However, in this case, you added it as a supplemental layer to your existing basemap instead.

6. Next to the GB Cartographic layer, click the Reposition button and drag it between the GB Hillshade and GB Light Grey layers.

   

   On the map, the hillshade reappears, blended with the cartographic layer.

   

7. Zoom in and out on the map.

   The new basemap is much more detailed than the other one. In addition to contour lines, it has more labels and colors. Detail and color often result in a higher visual hierarchy, and the basemap once more is distracting from the thematic data.

   

   To limit this effect, you’ll ensure that the more detailed GB Cartographic layer is only visible at large scales.

8. In the Properties pane, ensure that GB Cartographic is the selected layer. Under Visibility, set the menus to City and Room.

   

9. On the map, zoom in and out to observe the transition as one basemap replaces the other.

   

   The transition feels abrupt. You’ll soften this transition by desaturating the cartographic layer.

10. On the Settings toolbar, click the Effects button.

    

11. In the Effects pane, turn on the Saturate effect and set its Strength to 15.

    

12. Close the Saturate window and zoom in and out on the map to observe the change.

    Now the transition between the two basemaps appears smoother and more natural. The cartographic basemap also has a much lower visual hierarchy and no longer distracts from the green triangles.

    

13. On the Contents toolbar, click the Save and open button and click Save.

So far in this tutorial, you replaced the Light Gray Canvas basemap with a custom basemap consisting of three tile layers: GB Light Grey, GB Hillshade, and GB Cartographic. All three layers use the British National Grid projected coordinate system.

Emphasize hydrography within the park boundary

True to its name, Lake District National Park has many large lakes. However, the lakes are difficult to see on the map because their color is very similar to the color of the land. The rivers are even harder to see. This is one of the disadvantages of desaturating the cartographic basemap.

Since your map is focused on the natural landscape, the lakes and rivers are important information. Next, you’ll increase their visual prominence while ensuring that they still have lower visual hierarchy than the thematic data.

Add feature layers to emphasize lakes and rivers

You can change the appearance of basemap features using ArcGIS Vector Tile Style Editor, but for this map, you’ll add data to the map instead.

The lake and river data that is available are feature layers, so they can’t be added to the basemap. Only tile layers can be added to a basemap. You must add these layers to the Layers pane instead.

1. On the Contents toolbar, click the Layers button. Click Add.

   

2. Click My content and click Living Atlas.
3. In the Search bar, type UK rivers. In the search results, on the OS Open Rivers card, click Add.

   

   Blue lines appear on the map.

4. Search for UK lakes.

   There is no feature layer of United Kingdom lakes in ArcGIS Living Atlas, so you’ll broaden your search to all of ArcGIS Online.

5. At the top of the pane, click Living Atlas and choose ArcGIS Online.
6. If necessary, search again for UK lakes. Add the UK Lakes – Lakes Portal (UKCEH) layer.

   

7. At the top of the pane, click the Back button.
8. Next to the UK Lakes – Lakes Portal (UKCEH) layer, click the Options button and click Rename.

   

9. Type Lakes and click OK.
10. Rename the OS Open Rivers layer to Rivers.

    

Style the lakes and rivers

Next, you’ll style the Lakes and Rivers layers to look like they are part of the basemap. They are not listed in the Basemap pane, but map viewers will not know that. Stylistically, they will belong to the basemap.

1. If necessary, zoom to Lake District National Park.
2. In the Layers pane, point to the LakeDistrictFells layer and click the Visibility button.

   

   The mountain symbols disappear from the map, making it easier to see the Lakes and Rivers layers and assess their styles.

3. Click the Lakes layer to select it.

   A blue bar appears next to the layer when it is selected.

4. On the Settings toolbar, click the Styles button.
5. In the Styles pane, on the Location (single symbol) card, click Style options.
6. Click the Symbol style menu (the blue bar).

   

7. Click the Fill color menu. For #, type adb6cc.

   

   This color is a very desaturated blue, almost a pure gray. This dull color helps to lower the visual hierarchy of the lakes and makes them look like they are part of the gray basemap.

8. Click Done. Next to Outline color, click the No color button.

   

   Outlines increase visual hierarchy and visual clutter. Removing them helps to de-emphasize the lakes.

9. In the Layers pane, click the Rivers layer to select it.
10. In the Styles pane, on the Location (single symbol) card, click Style options.
11. Click the Symbol style menu and change the Color to #848db5.

    This is a darker version of the blue-gray color used for the lakes. Thin lines need to be darker than large polygons to remain visible.

12. For Width, type 0.5.

    

13. On the Settings toolbar, click the Properties button. Ensure that the selected layer is Rivers.
14. In the Properties pane, under Visibility, set the menus to Metropolitan area and Room.

    Lakes and rivers are now easier to see on the map, without clashing with the basemap or overshadowing the theme. They look like they are part of the basemap.

    

Clip the hydrography layers to the park

The lakes and rivers add detail to the map. You’ve balanced this detail so far by using dull colors and thin lines. Next, you’ll clip the detailed hydrography data so it only appears within the boundaries of Lake District National Park. This will help to increase the visual hierarchy of the park and decrease it for the surrounding areas.

You can use the Overlay Layers tool to clip data in Map Viewer. However, you only need to visually clip the data, so you’ll use a blend mode instead.

1. Zoom until you can see all or most of the park.

   To visually clip the lakes and rivers, you’ll first create a group.

2. In the Layers pane, next to the Lakes layer, click the Options button and click Group.
3. Next to Group Layer, click the Expand button.

   

4. Drag the Rivers layer inside the group, below the Lakes layer.
5. Drag Group Layer below all other layers.

   

   Next, you’ll create a copy of the park boundary and add it to the group. This layer will clip the hydrography layers with a blend mode.

6. Point to Lake District National Park and click the Options button. Click Duplicate.

   

7. Rename Lake District National Park-Copy to Clip.
8. Drag the Clip layer into the group. Place it above the Lakes and Rivers layers.

   

   On the map, the basemap is now hidden by the Clip layer.

   

   The blend mode of the Clip layer is set to Multiply, but blending is only applied within groups, so it only blends with the Lakes and Rivers layers and not the basemap layers beneath the group.

9. Select the Clip layer.
10. In the Properties pane, set Blending to Destination In. Close the Blending menu.

    

    This form of blending makes the selected layer act as a kind of window: you can look through the window to see the layers underneath, but anything outside of the window (the park boundary) is hidden. Because the blend mode is applied within a group, only the other layers in the group are affected. The result is that the Rivers and Lakes layers are dynamically clipped by the Clip layer.

    

    The park now appears more detailed than the surrounding area. The increased detail attracts your attention and helps to give the park a greater visual hierarchy than the rest of the map.

11. Zoom in to one of the lakes.

    The basemap labels are hidden wherever they overlap a lakeshore.

    

    You can prevent this with the multiply blend mode.

12. In the Layers pane, select Group Layer. In the Properties pane, change Blending to Multiply.

    The basemap labels become visible beneath the lake polygons. The lakes and rivers appear slightly darker due to the blend mode. In this case, the darker colors look good, but in other maps, you may need to reconsider colors after blending layers.

    

13. In the Layers pane, next to LakeDistrictFells, click the Visibility button to turn the layer on.

    

    The green triangles reappear on the map. They have an even greater visual hierarchy than the park and attract your attention first.

14. Zoom and pan on the map and observe how all the layers—basemaps, hillshade, hydrography, and mountains—work together to describe the landscape of the Lake District.

    

15. On the Contents toolbar, click the Save and open button. Click Save.

In this tutorial, you configured a custom basemap for your map of fells in Lake District National Park. You learned how to change the projection of a web map, add layers to a basemap, emphasize features in a basemap by adding feature layers to a map, and control visual hierarchy with blending and effects. In the next tutorial, you’ll create pop-ups and labels for your map.

Acknowledgements

• The LakeDistrictFells layer was adapted from The Database of British and Irish Hills v18.
• The National Parks (England) layer is from Natural England and the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs. Natural England copyright. Contains Ordnance Survey data. Crown copyright and database right 2024.
• The Lake District National Park and Clip layers are filtered views of the National Parks (England) layer described above.
• The Lakes layer is from the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology and The Rivers Trust. Contains Ordnance Survey data. Taylor, P.J. (2021). Spatial inventory of UK waterbodies. NERC EDS Environmental Information Data Centre. (Dataset). https://doi.org/10.5285/b6b92ce3-dcd7-4f0b-8e43-e937ddf1d4eb
• The Rivers layer is from Esri UK and Ordnance Survey. Contains OS data. Crown copyright and database right 2024.
• In the basemap, the GB Light Grey, GB Hillshade, and GB Cartographic layers are from Esri UK and have the following sources: Contains OS data. Crown copyright and database right 2023. Contains data from OS Zoomstack.
• Light Gray Canvas map sources: Esri, TomTom, Garmin, FAO, NOAA, USGS, OpenStreetMap contributors, and the GIS User Community