{"id":2076602,"date":"2023-09-14T02:30:29","date_gmt":"2023-09-14T09:30:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/?post_type=blog&p=2076602"},"modified":"2023-10-06T12:39:32","modified_gmt":"2023-10-06T19:39:32","slug":"basemap_or_just_map","status":"publish","type":"blog","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/arcgis-online\/mapping\/basemap_or_just_map","title":{"rendered":"Basemap\u2026 or just \u2018Map\u2019?"},"author":8492,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_searchwp_excluded":""},"categories":[22941],"tags":[43101,42641,23171,26451,763552],"industry":[],"product":[36581,36551],"class_list":["post-2076602","blog","type-blog","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-mapping","tag-arcgis-living-atlas-of-the-world","tag-arcgis-online","tag-basemaps","tag-cartography","tag-vector-tile-style-editor","product-arcgis-living-atlas","product-arcgis-online"],"acf":{"short_description":"Edit and customize base labels and blur the lines of what's possible with a basemap... ","flexible_content":[{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"

Did you know you can edit basemap labels?\u00a0 This changes everything right?<\/span><\/p>\n

What was a <\/span>dream is now a reality thanks to the developers of the Vector Tile Style Editor<\/a> (VTSE).\u00a0 With label editing they’ve given us keys to the library and access to the heart of Esri\u2019s core collection of Living Atlas Basemaps<\/a>.\u00a0 Apps like this restructure the way you think of and execute a map or plan a project.\u00a0 The Style Editor can be a place to retrieve global base data which can be filtered by roads, hydrology, contours, populated places, points of interest, or really any combination of what exists.\u00a0 The final piece was being able to customize the labels and now we have that.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It’s this combination of Vector Basemaps with the ArcGIS Online Map Viewer and Vector Tile Style Editor that is really changing the way that you combine basemaps into your work, to the point where you may begin to question whether it is still a <\/span>Base<\/span><\/i>map!<\/span> Let\u2019s go through the process, then talk about the implications with an example.<\/span><\/p>\n

We’ll start with the exciting enhancement of how to<\/span>\u00a0isolate specific labels, remove them, or change their style. The work is done in the JSON code, but the incorporation of a JSON editor into the VTSE makes this a relatively simple process.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The mechanics of making the change<\/h3>\n

For this example, I\u2019m using a single-layer version of the Light Gray Canvas Map, so I’ve opened it into the VTSE and saved it. I want to modify just the ‘France’ label.\u00a0 To do this I’ll remove it from the existing layer, then duplicate that layer and adjust the code to bring it back on its own. Once that is established, I can make my custom modifications.<\/p>\n

Step 1:<\/h3>\n

Clicking on the \u2018France\u2019 label in the map selects the relevant layer and opens the label tools. In this example, the layer is \u2018Admin0 point\/x large\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"image","image":{"ID":2066532,"id":2066532,"title":"Basemap_JustMap_Step1","filename":"Basemap_JustMap_Step1-1.jpg","filesize":377054,"url":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Basemap_JustMap_Step1-1.jpg","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/basemap_justmap_step1-2","alt":"Selecting the 'France' label layer by clicking on the name.","author":"4491","description":"","caption":"","name":"basemap_justmap_step1-2","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":0,"date":"2023-09-01 14:43:53","modified":"2023-09-14 17:31:55","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":1457,"height":872,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Basemap_JustMap_Step1-1-213x200.jpg","thumbnail-width":213,"thumbnail-height":200,"medium":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Basemap_JustMap_Step1-1.jpg","medium-width":436,"medium-height":261,"medium_large":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Basemap_JustMap_Step1-1.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":460,"large":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Basemap_JustMap_Step1-1.jpg","large-width":1457,"large-height":872,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Basemap_JustMap_Step1-1.jpg","1536x1536-width":1457,"1536x1536-height":872,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Basemap_JustMap_Step1-1.jpg","2048x2048-width":1457,"2048x2048-height":872,"card_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Basemap_JustMap_Step1-1-777x465.jpg","card_image-width":777,"card_image-height":465,"wide_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Basemap_JustMap_Step1-1.jpg","wide_image-width":1457,"wide_image-height":872}},"image_position":"center","orientation":"horizontal","hyperlink":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Basemap_JustMap_Step1-1.jpg"},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"

Step 2:<\/h3>\n

Keeping the layer selected, open the \u2018Edit JSON\u2019 option. It will take you to the relevant section of code.\u00a0 Find this:<\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"sidebar","content":"

The class number may vary depending on the layer you choose.<\/em><\/p>\n","image_reference":false,"layout":"code_snippet","image_reference_figure":"","snippet":"\"all\", [\"==\",\"_label_class\",1],","spotlight_name":"","section_title":"","position":"Center","spotlight_image":false},{"acf_fc_layout":"image","image":{"ID":2061642,"id":2061642,"title":"Basemap_JustMap_Step2","filename":"Basemap_JustMap_Step2.jpg","filesize":499616,"url":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Basemap_JustMap_Step2.jpg","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/basemap_justmap_step2","alt":"The VTSE in JSON mode, with the section of code to be changed highlighted.","author":"4491","description":"","caption":"","name":"basemap_justmap_step2","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":0,"date":"2023-08-28 18:00:50","modified":"2023-09-14 17:32:12","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":1457,"height":872,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Basemap_JustMap_Step2-213x200.jpg","thumbnail-width":213,"thumbnail-height":200,"medium":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Basemap_JustMap_Step2.jpg","medium-width":436,"medium-height":261,"medium_large":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Basemap_JustMap_Step2.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":460,"large":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Basemap_JustMap_Step2.jpg","large-width":1457,"large-height":872,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Basemap_JustMap_Step2.jpg","1536x1536-width":1457,"1536x1536-height":872,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Basemap_JustMap_Step2.jpg","2048x2048-width":1457,"2048x2048-height":872,"card_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Basemap_JustMap_Step2-777x465.jpg","card_image-width":777,"card_image-height":465,"wide_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Basemap_JustMap_Step2.jpg","wide_image-width":1457,"wide_image-height":872}},"image_position":"center","orientation":"horizontal","hyperlink":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Basemap_JustMap_Step2.jpg"},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"

Variations<\/h3>\n

Most of our label filters use the \u2018label class\u2019 format, but there are some variations. You may see: “filter”: [“==”,”_symbol”\u2026<\/p>\n

Occasionally the filter may look something like this (The \u201call\u201d instruction allows additional clauses to be added): \u00a0<\/strong>“filter”: [“all”, [“==”, “_label_class”, 1], [“!in”, “Viz”, 3]],<\/p>\n

Regardless, your new instruction should be added to the existing filter.<\/p>\n

Step 3:<\/h3>\n

In my example I\u2019m replacing it with this:<\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"sidebar","content":"