{"id":164211,"date":"2009-08-06T22:18:51","date_gmt":"2009-08-06T22:18:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/?post_type=blog&p=164211"},"modified":"2018-12-18T12:01:07","modified_gmt":"2018-12-18T20:01:07","slug":"map-within-a-map","status":"publish","type":"blog","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/arcgis-desktop\/mapping\/map-within-a-map","title":{"rendered":"Map within a map"},"author":4331,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_searchwp_excluded":""},"categories":[22941],"tags":[38411],"industry":[],"product":[36991],"class_list":["post-164211","blog","type-blog","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-mapping","tag-mapping-center","product-arcgis-desktop"],"acf":{"short_description":"Here is how you can create an inset map in ArcGIS","flexible_content":[{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"

Question:<\/strong>\u00a0I am trying to blow up an area and show in on a larger map. Just like in a road atlas where the city or area is blown up to show a more detailed area. I don\u2019t have a clue how to do this! Can someone point me in the right direction? Thanks.<\/p>\n

Answer:<\/strong>\u00a0You are referring to an inset map.<\/p>\n

For a detailed review of what an inset map is and its purpose, see this Mapping Center Blog:<\/p>\n

http:\/\/blogs.esri.com\/Support\/blogs\/mappingcenter\/archive\/2008\/03\/04\/cartographic-design-inset-maps.aspx<\/a><\/p>\n

Here is how you can create an inset map in ArcGIS:<\/p>\n

1.\u00a0 In Layout View, insert a new data frame and rename it Inset Map.\u00a0 To do this, in the top bar under Insert, select Data Frame.<\/p>\n

2.\u00a0 Resize and position the Inset Map data frame where you want it to appear on your map.<\/p>\n

3.\u00a0 Copy and paste the feature layers from the main map\u2019s data frame into your Inset Map data frame.\u00a0 To do this, you can select all of the feature layers in the main map\u2019s data frame, right click and select Copy and then right click on the Inset Map data frame and click Paste.<\/p>\n

4.\u00a0 Use the data frame zoom and pan tools to zoom to the area that you want to show in more detail at a larger scale.<\/p>\n

Another element that you will likely want to include in your map is an\u00a0extent rectangle<\/a>.\u00a0 Extent rectangles are a way to show the extent of one data frame within another data frame.<\/p>\n

To do this, first right click on the main map\u2019s data frame and click Properties.<\/p>\n

On the Extent Rectangles tab, under \u201cOther data frames:\u201d, select the data frame of your inset map.\u00a0 Click the arrow to move the inset map data frame to the column on the right hand side under \u201cShow extent rectangle for these data frames:\u201d to show an extent rectangle for the selected data frame.<\/p>\n

If you would like to modify the symbology of the extent rectangle (the default is a red, 4pt line width box), click on the Frame button on the right hand side.\u00a0 Here you can modify the style of the extent rectangle that appears on the map.<\/p>\n

You also have the option to create more than one inset map on a single map.\u00a0 Just follow the steps outlined above for each geographic region you\u2019d like to display at the larger scale.\u00a0 You could then assign a different color for each inset map border, and then match the color of the extent rectangle to the corresponding data frame\u2019s border\u00a0color.<\/p>\n

Formerly a Mapping Center Ask a Cartographer \u00a0Q & A.<\/em><\/p>\n"}],"authors":[{"ID":4331,"user_firstname":"Aileen","user_lastname":"Buckley","nickname":"Aileen Buckley","user_nicename":"abuckley","display_name":"Aileen Buckley","user_email":"abuckley@esri.com","user_url":"","user_registered":"2018-03-02 00:15:57","user_description":"Dr. Aileen Buckley is a cartographer researcher and Senior Principal GIS Engineer at Esri. I'm on the ArcGIS Living Atlas of the World Team, making, writing, and talking about maps. I'm also involved in a number of cartographic societies and association, and I'm the chair of the ICA Ethics in Cartography Commission.","user_avatar":""}],"related_articles":"","card_image":false,"wide_image":false},"yoast_head":"\nMap within a map<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/arcgis-desktop\/mapping\/map-within-a-map\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Map within a map\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/arcgis-desktop\/mapping\/map-within-a-map\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"ArcGIS Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/esrigis\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" 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