{"id":2235602,"date":"2024-01-31T08:17:20","date_gmt":"2024-01-31T16:17:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/?post_type=blog&p=2235602"},"modified":"2024-01-31T09:26:57","modified_gmt":"2024-01-31T17:26:57","slug":"tidy-legends","status":"publish","type":"blog","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/arcgis-online\/mapping\/tidy-legends","title":{"rendered":"Tidy legends"},"author":7411,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_searchwp_excluded":""},"categories":[430042,22941],"tags":[23201,26451,29271,31301,27911],"industry":[],"product":[36551,36561],"class_list":["post-2235602","blog","type-blog","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-education","category-mapping","tag-cartographic-design","tag-cartography","tag-legends","tag-symbology","tag-tutorial","product-arcgis-online","product-arcgis-pro"],"acf":{"short_description":"To improve a map's legend, often all that\u2019s needed is a bit of tidying: renaming, reordering, and removing items. ","flexible_content":[{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"

A map’s legend is not just a list of all its layers. It\u2019s an important key to help people understand and interpret the map. You don\u2019t need to be a fancy designer to make an excellent legend. Often, all that\u2019s needed is a bit of tidying: renaming, reordering, and removing items.<\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"image","image":{"ID":2235632,"id":2235632,"title":"before and after legend","filename":"before-and-after-legend.png","filesize":36679,"url":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2024\/01\/before-and-after-legend.png","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/arcgis-online\/mapping\/tidy-legends\/before-and-after-legend","alt":"Legend before and after tidying","author":"7411","description":"","caption":"","name":"before-and-after-legend","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":2235602,"date":"2024-01-31 12:42:00","modified":"2024-01-31 12:42:24","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/png","type":"image","subtype":"png","icon":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":672,"height":447,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2024\/01\/before-and-after-legend-213x200.png","thumbnail-width":213,"thumbnail-height":200,"medium":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2024\/01\/before-and-after-legend.png","medium-width":392,"medium-height":261,"medium_large":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2024\/01\/before-and-after-legend.png","medium_large-width":672,"medium_large-height":447,"large":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2024\/01\/before-and-after-legend.png","large-width":672,"large-height":447,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2024\/01\/before-and-after-legend.png","1536x1536-width":672,"1536x1536-height":447,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2024\/01\/before-and-after-legend.png","2048x2048-width":672,"2048x2048-height":447,"card_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2024\/01\/before-and-after-legend.png","card_image-width":672,"card_image-height":447,"wide_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2024\/01\/before-and-after-legend.png","wide_image-width":672,"wide_image-height":447}},"image_position":"center","orientation":"horizontal","hyperlink":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"

Below are three short videos that can help you tidy up your map legends.<\/p>\n

Improve layer names in a map<\/h3>\n

Good cartography is not just about colors and symbols, it\u2019s also about the words on your map. The symbols you chose may be excellent, but if the layer names describing them aren\u2019t clear, the symbols won\u2019t work. This video shares an example in ArcGIS Online of how to create clear and concise layer names.<\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"kaltura","video_id":"1_5ikrfku1","time":false,"start":0,"stop":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"

Improve a map legend<\/h3>\n

One of the easiest ways to improve a map is to improve its legend. This video shares an example of creating a clear legend in ArcGIS Online.<\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"kaltura","video_id":"1_8tpd7kur","time":false,"start":0,"stop":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"

Remove layers from a legend<\/h3>\n

Not every layer on your map needs to be featured in the legend. This video shares examples in ArcGIS Map Viewer and ArcGIS Pro. It demonstrates four times when a layer can be removed from a legend.<\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"kaltura","video_id":"1_vpb6uxya","time":false,"start":0,"stop":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"

If you want to follow along with the maps shown in these videos, you can find them here:<\/p>\n