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ArcGIS Business Analyst Pro: Frequently asked questions about infographics and reports

By Gemma Goodale-Sussen

ArcGIS Pro users may be familiar with running infographics to learn about features they’ve mapped for an analysis. Many users first encounter infographics through the Infographics button found on the Map tab, in the Inquiry group.

Infographics button in ArcGIS Pro

However, to take full advantage of infographic and report capabilities in Pro, users should try running infographics and reports in Business Analyst Pro. In addition to the ability to batch-run hundreds of infographics and reports at once, Business Analyst Pro offers infographic editing and report editing capabilities that are only available through Business Analyst when connected to a local dataset.

Infographics in Business Analyst Pro

This article answers some of the most frequently asked questions about infographics and reports in Business Analyst Pro, including how they’re stored and how they relate to online data, local data, and Enterprise organizations.

 

Which infographic capability should I use?

Infographic capabilities in ArcGIS Pro vary depending on the type of data source you’re using, and your needs may also inform whether you use the lightweight Infographics button or the raw power of Business Analyst Pro infographics.

Infographics capabilities
Use ArcGIS Pro infographics capability if… Use Business Analyst Pro infographics capabilities if…
  • You’re using an online data source.
  • You only need one infographic.
  • You are ok with using credits.
  • You’re using a local data source and would prefer not to consume credits.
  • You’re using an online data source and want to run a lot of infographics at once (consumes credits).
  • You want to create your own infographic template.

 

Where are Esri infographics and reports stored?

Infographics and reports exist first as templates—meaning they’re prebuilt information products but contain no data until you run them. We’ll walk through where the templates are stored, and where the infographics and reports are stored after you run them.

Infographic and report templates

Templates for online data

When using an online data source, infographic and report templates are stored online by GeoEnrichment and accessed on the fly when you run them. You can only run one template at a time, and the item created is an HTML file that can be exported to your computer as a PDF, HTML, or Dynamic HTML file.

Templates for local data

When using local data, infographic and report templates are stored in the local dataset. For Business Analyst Pro local datasets, this means they’re in the data download folder. For Enterprise local data packs, they’re stored in the data pack folder.

Reports specific to Business Analyst Pro workflows

There are a number of reports that you can create using specific Business Analyst tools and workflows, such as the Wind Rose Report and the Measure Cannibalization Report. These workflow-related templates are stored on your computer along with ArcGIS Pro, at the following folder path: Program Files > ArcGIS > Pro > Resources > Business Analyst > Report Templates.

Business Analyst workflow templates

 

Infographics and reports you created

Infographics created from online data

If you run an infographic using the on-the-fly Infographics button approach, the infographic is not automatically saved anywhere. You can, however, export the infographic as a PDF, HTML, or dynamic HTML and save it to your machine.

Infographics created from local data

If you run one or more infographics using the Summary Reports tool in Business Analyst Pro, on the other hand, all infographics are saved in the project folder, in a subfolder called SummaryReports. A typical folder path is: Documents > ArcGIS > Projects > [project name] > SummaryReports.

Infographics created using local data

 

Reports created through Business Analyst workflows
Looking for workflow-specific reports you created? These are also in the project folder, in a subfolder named after the workflow. A typical folder path is: Documents > ArcGIS > Projects > [project name] > TerritoryReport.

Workflow-specific report

Where are my custom infographic and report templates stored?

Editing infographic and report templates, a capability introduced to Business Analyst Pro at the 3.2 release, is a popular activity for Business Analyst users. But where are those custom templates you created?

Custom templates are also stored as zipped folders, in the project folder (or another folder of your choosing). You can set this folder destination in the Options window, in the Business Analyst section, under Set options for report templates. By default, custom infographic and report templates are stored at the following path: Documents > ArcGIS > Projects > [project name] > Business Analyst Templates > [template name].

Default template destination

Alternatively, you can set your own storage destination in this window. To learn about best practices for storing infographics in a location you choose, rather than the default, visit How to work with infographics like a pro in ArcGIS Business Analyst Pro.

Template storage destination

 

How do I import an infographic into a local dataset?

You can create infographic templates using Business Analyst Web App through either an ArcGIS Online or Enterprise organization, and import the templates into Business Analyst Pro as .brpt files. For instructions on importing templates and the data they contain, see Import report templates.

Keep in mind that you can import templates through your organization, from an online data source into your local dataset. This means you can grab any template and run it without using credits.

 

How do I share a custom infographic within my organization?

You can share custom infographic templates with your colleagues using the following process:

  1. Copy the data and template folder to a new folder.
  2. Zip the folder.
  3. Send to your colleague.
  4. Have your colleague drag the data and template folder to the location where they store custom templates.

 

Can I work with the same templates when switching between data sources?

No. Templates are dataset-specific, meaning if you created a template using the U.S. 2025 dataset, you must have that dataset selected as your data source to work with the template. You cannot combine local and online data sources, even if the data is for the same year and country (such as the U.S. 2025 local data and the Esri 2025 online data source).

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