The University of Texas at Austin, GK12 GIS Workshop

GIS Tipsheet

Adding a data frame to show two or more maps on a layout

You can add a second (or more) data frames to your ArcMap session. Only one data frame will appear
at a time in the data frame view (right-click on the data frame name and choose Activate to see the data
frame you want). But in the layout, all the data frames will appear. This can be handy for showing two
maps on one poster, or for putting in a small "locator" map.

Multiple data frames can get a little tricky, and will take some practice. Play with them some, and
remember to save map files frequently under different names in case you mess up and want to return to
a previous view.

1. To add a second data frame, I recommend that you go back to the Data view (choose View -
Data View).
2. Choose Insert - Data Frame
3. Your map disappears because a new empty data frame has taken its place. The new data frame
can be found by scrolling to the bottom of the table of contents.
4. You can add data to this data frame just as you did to the first one, or you can copy layers from
the first frame to the second. Try copying layers. Right click on Major Roads (cenart) in your
original data frame and choose Copy
5. Right click on the new data frame name and choose Paste Layer.
6. If you need to go back to your other data frame, you can activate it by right-clicking on the
data frame layer name, and choosing Activate.
7. Now go to Layout view (View - Layout View) and you will see both data frames in the layout.

8. You can select one data frame for moving or resizing by using the Select pointer icon ( ).
Play around with moving and resizing data frames. To switch data frames, you must select it
with the pointer icon. This is what can get confusing, but when you finally get the hang of it, it
can be a very powerful tool.
9. In Layout view, you can activate one of the data frames by double-clicking on it. For example,
say you want to set the scale of one data frame to 1:24,000 and the other data frame to
1:100,000. Double-click on the first one, and set the scale, then double-click on the second one
to set the scale for that one.
10. Try making a small locator map using a second data frame - it should have the major roads and
rivers in it.
11. As you play, make sure you save your map file, preferably under a new name so that if you
mess up you can reload an earlier version.

For an example showing several census maps on one map poster, go to this PDF document on the web:

web.austin.utexas.edu/architecture/courses/parmenter/ppm/tipsheets/census_tract_map_example.pdf
 The University of Texas at Austin, GK12 GIS Workshop

ArcGIS Tipsheet

Labeling individual layer features based on an attribute field by pointing to them

When you checked the "Label Features" button for major roads, you were using a function that allows
you to label features based on an attribute field for the layer. Using the "Label Features" function
(right-click on the layer name, click "Label Features") labels all the features in the map. You can also
label features one at a time by pointing to them. First, however, you need to set up the Label properties
to choose which field you will use to label, font, color, etc.

Interactively labeling some city parks

1. Before we can label with an attribute field, we have to know which attribute field would be
good as a label. Open the COA Parks attribute table (right-click on the layer name and choose
Open Attribute Table).
2. Look through the table. You will see that a field called Name1_ contains the park name. We
want to use this field for labels.
3. Close the table, and open the layer properties of COA Parks (right click on the parks layer
name and choose Properties).
4. Click on the Labels tab.
5. Make sure that the Label field says Name1_. All the attribute fields are listed here, so you could
choose a different one if you needed to.
6. You can choose the font, size and color of your labels by clicking on the Symbol... button.
7. When you are done, return to your map.
8. No labels appear yet. Try labeling all the park features at once by right-clicking on the layer
name and choosing Label Features. It will take a few minutes, and creates a mess.
9. Turn off the Label Features function.
10. Zoom into the map so that you can see some parks better - try to get the Zilker Park area just
south of the river and a little west of downtown.
11. To label features interactively (one by one) you need the Draw toolbar. Choose View-
Toolbars, and click on the Draw. It should appear near the bottom right of your screen.
12. Click on the "A" icon to see your label options as shown below:

13. Click on the tag icon ( ). A pop-up box appears on screen - you can ignore it for now.
14. Click on a park (e.g., Zilker Park). The label should appear after a few seconds.
15. Label some other parks.

16. You can move or delete a label by selecting it with the pointer (select elements) icon ( ) on
the Tools menu. To move it, click on the label with the pointer icon (this selects the label) and
move it to where you want it. To delete it, select the label and press the delete button. There is
also a "select all elements" option under the Edit menu if you need it.
 The University of Texas at Austin, GK12 GIS Workshop

ArcGIS Tipsheet

Labeling with a highway shield symbol

1. You can also use the interactive labeling method to do special labeling, e.g., put in an interstate
highway shield label for Interstate 35.
2. Make sure you can see Interstate 35 clearly in your map. Use the identify tool ( ) if you're
not sure which one it is.
3. Click on the label tag icon again, and in the pop-up box, under Label Style, select Choose
a Style. A window of styles appear.

4. One of the styles is the US Interstate HWY symbol. Click on this.

5. Now carefully click directly on the Interstate 35 line in your map where you want the label to
go. The highway shield should appear with "IH-35" inside it. Ideally we would like it to say
simply "35" but the value in the Name attribute field for the major roads layer says "IH 35"
6. If the label doesn't appear or is wrong, delete it and try again - be very careful to click just on
the highway line. Zoom in for a better view if necessary.

Save your map file when you are finished playing with labels!