Jun 28, 2017

Firefly Basemap

By John Nelson

It’s here, it’s here! A firefly basemap service! Check it…

The new Firefly basemap
A sample of Firefly in ArcGIS Online
Hang on, what/why is Firefly?
Cool-blue and warm-red firefly picture symbols

Progressive Saturation

At broad scales, the firefly basemap is nearly fully desaturated. As you zoom in, color is gradually restored until street-level imagery is shown in full color.

How to Add a Label Reference Layer

If you’d like a labeled reference layer atop the Firefly basemap tiles, I’ve found the “Human Geography Dark Label” reference layer to be the best. In ArcGIS Online, you can find it by choosing Add then Search for layers.

Give It A Spin

So try out this service and let us know what you think here in the comments. This is a beta version of the Firefly basemap so I’d sure love it if you share how you are using it and what ideas you have. Thanks!

Happy Firefly Mapping, John

John Nelson

I have far too much fun looking for ways to understand and present data visually, hopefully driving product strategy and engaging users. I work in the ArcGIS Living Atlas team at Esri, pushing and pulling data in all sorts of absurd ways and then sharing the process. I also design user experiences for maps and apps. When I'm not doing those things, I'm chasing around toddlers and wrangling chickens, and generally getting into other ad-hoc adventures. Life is good. You might also like these Styles for ArcGIS Pro: esriurl.com/nelsonstyles

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Firefly Basemap

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