Creating a locator map for a map book

Locator maps provide a reference to map users when the spatial location of the detail map might be hard to determine. They can also be used to track where the current page falls within an area.

The example above shows a topographic map book for Arenac County, Michigan. This 22-page series can be easily created by any ArcMap user with an Internet connection. The data comes from the USA Topographic map service available at ArcGIS online. No other data is needed to re-create this map series. You can easily re-create this simple reference series using Data Driven Pages, the geoprocessing tools available from the Data Driven Pages toolset, data frame properties, and dynamic text.

Using the following steps, you can re-create the locator map you see in the above map book.

This is but one example of a locator map. There are many different ways you can design such a map. For other examples, see Using extent indicators to enhance overview or locator maps and Customizing your map extent.

The steps below assume you have completed the steps outlined in the following topics:

• Starting the map book
• Creating grid index features
• Modifying the grid index features layer
• Enabling Data Driven Pages

Caution:

Though you can adapt these steps for your own maps or map book, keep in mind that the steps cited in this example are specific for the sample map book shown above. Using these exact steps on a different set of maps may lead to unexpected results.

This particular locator map uses a new feature class copied from the grid index layer and edited to create a mask layer (gray) and to create a layer to highlight the current page. Since the grid is irregular (after deleting unnecessary grids), you need to replace this "lost" area with a new feature to keep the regular shape of the locator map. This new feature will not be associated with a page. It is used simply to keep the gray mask consistent across the map. You need to retain the features and attributes of the grid index to use page definition queries to filter the proper features from the mask and highlight layers for each page in the map book. The original layer is used to label the grids.

Steps:

1. Create a new data frame and name it Locator Map.
2. Position and size the data frame on the layout.
3. Copy the grid index layer and the basemap layers from the Detail data frame and paste them into the Locator Map data frame.

   If you followed the steps outlined in Creating grid index features and used the suggested naming conventions, the grid index layer should be Arenac_grid_index and the basemap layer should be USA_Topo_Maps.

4. Create a new feature class by right-clicking the grid index layer and clicking Data > Export Data. Save the output feature class to the same location of your grid index features, name the feature class Locator_Mask, then click Yes to add the layer to the locator map.
5. Edit Locator_Mask so that the new feature closes off the mask.

   For detailed editing steps, see Creating adjoining polygons. Once the edits have been completed, copy the Locator Mask layer so that you have both the mask and highlighted portions and apply the appropriate page definition queries to each layer.

6. Right-click the Locator Mask layer and choose Copy from the shortcut menu.
7. Right-click the Locator Map data frame and choose Paste Layer(s) from the shortcut menu.
8. Rename the new layer Locator_Mask Current Page.

   This layer will "highlight" the current page.

9. Double-click the Locator_Mask Current Page layer and click the Symbology tab.
10. Click the symbol and change it to Hollow style with a black outline and a width of 1 and click OK.
11. Click the Definition Query tab and click the Page Definition Query button.

    If you do not see this button, check to see if Data Driven Pages is enabled. Page definition query functionality is only available when Data Driven Pages is enabled.

12. Check the Enable check box.
13. Click the Page Name Field arrow and choose PageName.
14. Choose Match and click OK to exit the Layer Properties dialog box.
15. Double-click the Locator Mask layer and click the Symbology tab.
16. Click the symbol and change it to one of the full styles (doesn't matter which) with an outline width of 0 and a black fill color and click OK.
17. Click the Definition Query tab and click the Page Definition Query button.
18. Check the Enable check box.
19. Click the Page Name Field arrow and choose PageName.
20. Choose Don't Match and click OK to exit the Layer Properties dialog box.
21. Click the Display tab, type 60 for the percent transparency, then click OK.

    Now you have the gray mask and highlight for the current page. Now change the symbol for the grid index features and their labels.

22. Double-click the original grid index layer (Arenac_grid_index) and click the Symbology tab.
23. Click the symbol and change it to Hollow style with a white outline and a width of 1 and click OK.
24. Click the Labels tab.
25. Choose PageName for the Label Field and choose appropriate label properties.
26. Check the Label features in this layer check box and click OK.

You now have a locator map for the map book. The next step is Adding dynamic text for a map book.