{"id":188931,"date":"2008-02-12T22:25:38","date_gmt":"2008-02-12T22:25:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/?post_type=blog&p=188931"},"modified":"2018-12-18T11:59:31","modified_gmt":"2018-12-18T19:59:31","slug":"customizing-multi-layer-symbols","status":"publish","type":"blog","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/arcgis-desktop\/mapping\/customizing-multi-layer-symbols","title":{"rendered":"Customizing multi-layer symbols"},"author":4351,"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":[38211,38411,31301],"industry":[],"product":[36991],"class_list":["post-188931","blog","type-blog","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-mapping","tag-arcgis-methods","tag-mapping-center","tag-symbology","product-arcgis-desktop"],"acf":{"short_description":"One issue we hear about from the folks who teach cartography with\u00a0ArcGIS is that users who are new to ArcGIS have some frustration in learning","flexible_content":[{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"

\"Example<\/p>\n

One issue we hear about from the folks who teach cartography with\u00a0ArcGIS is that users who are new to ArcGIS have some frustration in learning how\u00a0to make minor customizations to symbols in the style files\u00a0that come with ArcGIS.\u00a0 For example, removing a layer from a multi-layer\u00a0symbol, changing the color of part of a multi-layer symbol, or other minor edits that (in theory) ought to be easy to figure out how to do.<\/span><\/p>\n

The good news is that there are only two steps to get to
\nthese settings, and knowing these steps is half the battle.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Left-click\u00a0on a symbol in ArcMap\u2019s table of contents<\/li>\n
  2. Click\u00a0the Properties button in the Symbol Selector dialog.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    The rest of this posting is dedicated to explaining the
    \nbasics of how to use the Symbol Property Editor, which is shown here for one of\u00a0the marker symbols in the Esri.style:<\/p>\n

    \"Customizing<\/p>\n

    The first thing to know about the Symbol Property Editor is\u00a0that even though many symbols are just one layer, the editor is designed to create\u00a0multi-layer symbols. Admittedly, there is a lot going on within this dialog\u00a0box, so if you\u2019re fairly new to ArcGIS or this part of ArcMap, be sure to take\u00a0advantage of the context sensitive help button (it\u2019s the question mark next to
    \nthe red X in the upper left).\u00a0 Just click\u00a0on the Question mark, which will change the cursor, and then click on any\u00a0control in the dialog to read about what it does.\u00a0 Each of the four numbered areas in the image\u00a0above play a role in the process of customizing symbols:<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. The\u00a0preview is just that, you can see what the complete symbol looks like \u2013 note that you can change the zoom factor to get a more detailed look at your symbol here.<\/li>\n
    2. The Layers window is where these most of the work for symbol customizations\u00a0start.\u00a0 Click on a symbol layer in\u00a0the list to select it.\u00a0 A symbol\u00a0layer can be deleted by clicking the delete button just below the\u00a0list.\u00a0 When you select a symbol\u00a0layer in the list, its properties are shown on the right portion of the\u00a0Symbol Property Editor (#3 and #4).<\/li>\n
    3. If\u00a0building a new symbol, the most important property of a symbol layer is\u00a0what type of symbol is being used for that symbol layer (character, picture, simple, etc.).\u00a0 It is possible that you may need to create or edit a symbol which is comprised of layers from different marker or line types (e.g. an arrow on top of a picture), therefore you will need to become familiar with the different properties for each type.\u00a0 For example, if you use a Picture Marker Symbol, you can select any file with a BMP or an EMF data type.\u00a0 The difference between the two is that you can use the ArcMap Symbol Property Editor to change the default color of the BMP, but\u00a0not\u00a0<\/em>the EMF.<\/li>\n
    4. This\u00a0is where each symbol\u2019s specific settings can be changed. For instance, if\u00a0a symbol layer has its color locked, you would need to change its color\u00a0here instead of in the Symbol Selector or in ArcMap\u2019s table of contents.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      All that said, quite a few of the symbols in the styles that\u00a0come with ArcGIS were designed for use with a specific kind of map (transportation, geology, etc.).\u00a0 That means colors\u00a0are often locked for some symbol layers, making it important to be aware of the\u00a0information described above. However, now that you have the basics you\u2019ll find that it is pretty easy to make use\u00a0of and customize these symbols.<\/p>\n"}],"authors":[{"ID":4351,"user_firstname":"Charlie","user_lastname":"Frye","nickname":"Charlie Frye","user_nicename":"cfrye","display_name":"Charlie Frye","user_email":"cfrye@esri.com","user_url":"","user_registered":"2018-03-02 00:15:58","user_description":"I am the Chief Cartographer at Esri and work on the Living Atlas Team. I have been with Esri in Software Products since 1994. I specialize in GIS engineering and information product design. I am the author of many global scientific and thematic layers on topics that include ecosystems, landforms, population, climate, emissions, etc. Contact me at cfrye@esri.com with questions or feedback.","user_avatar":""}],"related_articles":"","card_image":false,"wide_image":false},"yoast_head":"\nCustomizing multi-layer symbols<\/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\/customizing-multi-layer-symbols\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Customizing multi-layer symbols\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/arcgis-desktop\/mapping\/customizing-multi-layer-symbols\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"ArcGIS Blog\" \/>\n<meta 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