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How to make a coastal halo in ArcGIS Pro...and what color?

By John Nelson

Adding a faint coastal halo to your map’s water bodies can help the eye visually distinguish between land and water. It’s a pleasing effect, but also practical.

water bodies with and without a coastal halo.

Use the gradient fill type for the water’s polygon symbology. Choose the absolute extent so the coastal halos are the same size for all water polygons. I like to set the interval (the number of steps transitioning between the two colors) to be the same number as the distance (the total distance of the gradient transition), so the gradient is smooth rather than stepped in appearance. Optionally, open up the gradient editor to make the transition less linear so the coast is darker and fades slowly into the overall water color.

What color should you make the coastal halo? As a general guideline, I like to use a tone that contrasts with my basemap. So if the basemap is light, I use a darker version of the water color for the halo. If the basemap is dark, I use a lighter version of the water color for the halo. Here’s an example with a relatively dark imagery basemap and thus a lighter blue halo along the coasts…

dark basemap with contrasting light water halo.

But this is just a suggestion; you know what’s best for your own map. Here’s a quick one-minute how-to if you feel like following along…

Happy coastal halo-ing! John

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Robert Burke(@rburke-bsrc)
March 8, 2022 8:09 am

Where can you find these templates? When I go to create a new site, I can search for templates, but these aren’t there.

Emilia Walton(@emilia-waltonscrd-ca_myscrd)
July 21, 2022 7:03 am
Reply to  Robert Burke

Same! I don’t see these as templates. Where can I view them?

Victoria McKennan(@mckennav_greeley)
January 31, 2023 8:41 am
Reply to  Robert Burke

Hello @katiethompson I’m also not seeing these templates. Where can I find them?

Jennifer Sniffen(@jennsniffen)
October 6, 2022 8:02 am

We are interested in creating a HUB site that would allow the public to submit filed map applications to our office. This would involve allowing them to upload attachments and possibly also make a payment. Would the HUB be able to accommodate this use case?

Jennifer Sniffen(@jennsniffen)
October 6, 2022 8:03 am

@katiethompson

Ryan Barrett(@ryanbarrett)
August 25, 2023 12:44 pm

Hi Katie, we would be interested in checking out the map survey template too yet it seems to be hiding. Could you shed any light on where to find in Hub?

Heather Eisan(@heisan)
June 18, 2024 10:45 am
Reply to  Ryan Barrett

After creating a new Initiative, click on the initiative name drop-down arrow in the header and choose Feedback. On the top right of the page, click the New drop-down arrow and choose Feedback. You’ll see Feedback templates.