ArcGIS Pro: Your questions answered – Part 3

We’re answering your questions from our “ArcGIS Pro: Take Desktop GIS to the Next Frontier” seminar in a three-part series. In Part 1, we covered templates and data storage. In Part 2, we touched on 3D and notebooks. In this final post, we cover topics including layers, labeling and more.

Thank you to everyone who joined us for the “ArcGIS Pro: Take Desktop GIS to the Next Frontier” seminar. We received many great questions throughout the session. As we didn’t have time to cover all questions during the event, we have answered them through a three-part blog series. In this post, we’ll cover questions from the third session. Watch the recordings

Q: Can you run the latest version of ArcGIS Pro and still share content with previous versions of ArcGIS Pro? (Excluding the fact that the new tools would not be available in previous versions) Can you run two versions of ArcGIS Pro on the same computer?

A: Like ArcMap, this really depends on the tools or data you're using and what you're trying to accomplish. You cannot run two versions of ArcGIS Pro on the same computer. You could consider virtual machines if you wish to accomplish this.

Q: Is there an easy way to do a selection summary in ArcGIS Pro? For example, in ArcMap do I just make a selection then right-click on the attribute that I want to summarize? What’s the best way to do this in ArcGIS Pro?

A: It's very much the same in ArcGIS Pro. Additionally, there's a summary statistics tool available.

Q: You used a few shortcut keys in your demo. ArcMap had a reference guide/booklet to these. Is there a similar reference for ArcGIS Pro?

A: Yes, learn more about ArcGIS Pro shortcuts.

Q: Can you re-confirm where the watercolour styles can be accessed?

A: These can be located in the catalog pane. Go to the portal tab, then click the ArcGIS Online tab. Search for “water colour.stylx” then right-click and choose “add style”.

Q: How do you reproduce the picture files in print?

A: The recommended practice is to export the layout to a pdf for printing. There are options in the export to PDF pane for controlling the resolution of raster data and images. 300 DPI is considered a standard resolution for print media.

Q: Can you convert labels to annotation in the map as opposed to the geodatabase?

A: We can't seem to save annotation in our enterprise database. Yes, you can convert labels to annotations or label to graphics. The action of converting labels to annotation is done in the map, but the annotation is stored in a geodatabase. When you convert, you have the option to specify the output geodatabase, so you could have a separate file geodatabase just for storing the annotation if you want.

Q: Are there limitations to publishing this level of symbology to ArcGIS Online?

A: Yes, when you publish a web layer or web map to ArcGIS Online, you're limited to what ArcGIS Online publishes.

Q: Is there a way to organize maps and layouts in folders? It would help to simplify complex projects with multiple types of maps/layouts to allow users to easily find a layout or map they are searching for.

A: You can have disk folders in your project folder, and you can make these within ArcGIS Pro, but the ArcGIS Pro "project" folders (like maps, toolboxes) don't have sub-folders.

Q: I have a layout question not covered in the webinar. I can only import "picture" graphics (jpg, png, etc.). How do we import vector-based items such as .eps .pdf and .xls files? Is the only option to export these vector files to raster .jpg, etc.?

A: You can add Excel files into ArcGIS Pro by following these steps. You could then add it to a layout as a table frame. You can't add a PDF or EPS file into an ArcGIS Pro layout.

Q: Where are the vegetation layers from? It would be nice to take two years for detecting changes. Is it just based on canopy or does it consider the impervious details underneath?

A: You can download the dataset from BC's Open Data catalogue. Historical data is also available. You can read the descriptions for more details on how the data was derived.

Q: If I share a project/layer to ArcGIS Online, will the pop-up setting be carried over as well, so I don't need to set it up again in ArcGIS Online?

A: Yes, the pop-up setting does get carried over. Just remember that the clients of the web layer might behave differently.

Q: Can you control the graph labeling in the profile?

A: Not directly. You can export the elevation profile as an image, then modify the graphic as needed. However, you can change other properties such as graph colours and the statistics displayed.

Q: Do you need an extension license to create the cross section?

A: No. This tool is available in ArcGIS Pro without requiring the 3D Analyst extension. Read more about interactive elevation profile basics or watch this video about exploratory analysis.

Q: Can the elevation tool values be exported to MS Excel?

A: No, the only export formats for the interactive elevation profile tool are as images (jpg, tif, png, bmp).

If you haven’t moved to Pro yet, learn more about migrating to ArcGIS Pro.

Discover the latest features in ArcGIS Pro. Register now for the “All Systems Go! ArcGIS Pro 2.8” webinar on June 22.

This post was translated to French and can be viewed here.