GIS Fundamentals Supplementary Lessons with ArcGIS Introduction to ArcGIS Lab 1 Introduction to ArcGIS What You ll Learn Start ArcMap Create a new map Add data layers Pan and zoom Change data symbology Change display properties Set relative paths Add layers to features Select data Measure distances Use raster Create map layouts to print Add legends titles North arrows and other elements Print a map to a PDF Data for this exercise are located in the L1 subdirectory or the class web page Videos for this exercise are located in the class web page What You ll Produce Four maps one of lakes and roads one of wetlands a third map of the Cloquet Forestry Center and a fourth a map of topological errors Background This is the first in a series of introductory exercises for ArcGIS ArcMap These are practical skills that complement the theory and practice of GIS described in the textbook GIS Fundamentals A First Text on Geographic Information Systems by Paul Bolstad These exercises use datasets available at the course web page undergraduates http paulbolstad cfans umn edu Courses FR3131 FR3131 html or grad students http paulbolstad cfans umn edu Courses FR5131 FR5131 html We assume you have a functioning copy of ArcMap running on your computer The exercises were developed with ArcGIS ArcView version 10 student edition If you wish refer to the video Start ArcMap on the class web page Each lab assumes you have a copy of the needed data files on your personal jump drive Before each lab copy the needed files from the Network directory S FR3131 or S FR5131 or download from the class web sites 1 GIS Fundamentals Supplementary Lessons with ArcGIS Introduction to ArcGIS Part 1 Starting ArcGIS adding data and creating your first map First find the ArcMap icon shown to the right The icon is often located 1 as a desktop or taskbar shortcut or 2 in an ArcGIS folder In Windows XP it may often by found by left clicking on the Start button in the lower left of the screen and selecting Programs ArcGIS ArcMap Double left click on the ArcMap icon and be patient while a start banner displays Depending on your startup option you may or may not see the ArcMap Getting Started screen below to the right If you do get this window then elect to open an existing map create a new empty map from a custom template or from a standard template You indicate your choice by left clicking on the entry in the left pane as shown Note you may want to check the Do not show this dialog in the future as all of our labs begin with a Blank Map Now single left click on the OK button in the lower right corner of the popup window This will open the main ArcMap window similar to that displayed at right Note there is a Table of Contents window pane a mostly blank area forming the left part of the screen beside a bar where various icons and menu bars each of which allows you to perform some action Table of Contents window pane Left click on the Add Data button in the top center of the screen to add data layers also called themes You will see a dialog box to select a layer or layers for the map 2 Data View pane GIS Fundamentals Supplementary Lessons with ArcGIS Introduction to ArcGIS However sometimes a directory or drive does not appear in the list of sources You may need to create a connection using the Connect to Folder button shown in the figure to the right This opens a list of available folders at least those on your hard disk and perhaps any additional available through your network Navigate to the folder containing your data by clicking down the directory tree and selecting the appropriate folder shown at the right in this case L1 Clicking OK makes this folder available so that you may add data from it to your map This should open the L1 directory If not or in the future you may navigate to a connected drive by clicking on the Add Data button then on the display triangle to the right of the Look in sub window see left until you see your data folder in this case named LabData L1 You ll likely be using data that has be copied to your personal portable drive so the directory tree and name may be different but the important point is to know how to find your data and add and navigate to directories Navigate to the L1 folder shown here and double left click on the file named lakes shp This will add this data layer to your map Note that the lakes shp layer data are displayed in the data view pane and data names are listed in the table of contents pane on the left Repeat the process to add the roads shp data layer 3 GIS Fundamentals Supplementary Lessons with ArcGIS Introduction to ArcGIS Panning and Zooming ArcMap allows you to change the magnification and area that you view in your data pane There is a cluster of zoom buttons see at right They are typically near the table of contents pane but because the toolbars are dockable the may be anywhere along the edge of the ArcMap window and may be arranged horizontally instead of vertically as shown here Left click on the zoom and pan icons to change cursor function Left clicking on the plus magnifying glass changes it to a zoom in cursor then click on the data pane will zoom in on a point You can also left click and hold drag to define a zoom area The minus cursor zooms out and the arrows in and arrows out buttons found below the magnifying glass buttons zoom the entire pane by a fixed amount Next there is a pan button a hand that does not change the magnification but allows you to click drag position the data There is also a globe zoom button that zooms to the full Extent of your data Below this are arrows in and arrows out buttons to zoom by fixed amounts and buttons that zooms back and forth among previous zoom levels To exit the pan or zoom cursors click on the arrow button near the cluster of the pan and zoom tools You may also specify a scale by typing into the scale window along the top of the main menu bar Changing Data Symbology We can customize a layer s appearance Left double click on a symbol icon the colored patch below the name of the lakes data layer in the table of contents see right Video Intro Symbology Layout The Symbol Selector window will appear left You can select a symbol type from the examples on the left of the window and change the properties with the controls on the right of this window 4 GIS Fundamentals Supplementary Lessons with ArcGIS Introduction to ArcGIS Left click on the blue patch shown highlighted in the figure on previous page or another that suits your