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When creating a map for black-and-white publication, symbology needs to be customized to display the data in a way that is distinct and monochromatic. This requires manual changes to symbology. For instance, when symbology is black and white, choosing a fewer amount of classes aids in differentiating the colors of each class.

  1. In the Contents pane, right-click BlockGroupCensusData and select Symbology.
  2. In the new Symbology pane to the right, click the Symbology drop-down menu and select Graduated Colors.
  3. In the Field drop-down menu, select the MEDIAN_HOUSE_INCOME field.
  4. In the Classes drop-down menu, select 4.

We will now choose a monochromatic color scheme and use it as a baseline from which to customize it to suit our needs.

  1. Click the Color scheme drop-down menu.
  2. At the bottom of the menu, select "Show names."
  3. Scroll down the Color scheme menu and select Grays (4 Classes).

Now, we will make sure to manually customize the values in each class before changing the colors so we know exactly how many blocks have these colors before changing the colors. Observe the Upper value column in the Symbology pane. Right now, the Method is set to Natural Breaks (Jenks), which is ArcGIS's default algorithmic way to decide the class split. Unless you have a specific way you want to divide the data, my default recommendation is to use Natural Breaks and round the data to the nearest whole number that makes sense.

  1. Click on the Upper value cell of the first class that reads "≤ 52768.0"
  2. When the text becomes editable, type in  "50000" and press Enter.

The map should refresh to show the upper value of the first class equal to or less than a median household income of $50,000. We will now repeat for the other values.

  1. Click on the Upper value cell of the second class and type in  "90000." Press Enter.
  2. Click on the Upper value cell of the third class and type in  "150000." Press Enter.
  3. Leave the Upper value cell for the last class. We cannot change the upper value of the last class as that would exclude data.

View the Label column to the right of the Upper value column. This Label is the text that appears for each class in the Legend created for this layer. We will customize the Label text to translate to a Legend. NOTE: The Label text reverts to default every time the Upper value for the cell changes. Therefore, change all the Upper values for your data before customizing the Label.

  1. Click the Label cell for the first class that reads "≤50000" and type in "$0 - $50,000." Press Enter.
  2. Click the Label cell for the second class that reads "≤90000" and type in "$50,001 - $90,000." Press Enter.
  3. Click the Label cell for the third class that reads "≤150000" and type in "$90,001 - $150,000." Press Enter.
  4. Click the Label cell for the fourth class that reads "≤250001" and type in "$150,001 - $250,001." Press Enter.

Editing Class Symbology

In the symbol – upper value – label table, click the More dropdown on the top right corner. Navigate to Symbols>Format all symbols. Click on Properties, expand Appearance. Change the Outline color to Gray 80%. Click again on the Outline color drop down and click Color properties. Change each Red, Green, and Blue value to 60. Click OK.

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