...

This tutorial uses data from Utah's Zion National Park, which contains such geologic wonders as red and tan sandstone rocks, steep cliffs, and multitudes of canyons. You will use the editing environment in ArcMap to create and modify spatial features to represent various natural and human-made phenomena in the park. After completing these exercises, you are able to create different types of new features, including points, lines, and polygons; assign attribute values; edit shapes; and build and use feature templates. You will also become familiar with many of the tools and parts of the user interface available to you when editing. 

...

1. On the Desktop, double-click the Computer icon → gisdata (\\file-rnas.rice.edu) (Z:) > Short_Courses > Creating_Vector_Data.
2. To create a personal copy of the tutorial data, drag the Editing folder onto the Desktop.
3. Close all windows.

Or, download and extract the data linked here:

Exercise 1

...

Exercise 1a: Creating new points

Opening an existing project

...

This action stores the attribute values for that feature. Notice that the entry for the feature on the top of the pane is no longer a generic number but has been replaced with the more descriptive Visitor Center, as shown below. 

10. Close the Attributes pane.

...

12. To stop creating new features, close the Create Features pane and click the Explore button on the Map toolbar in the Navigate group. 

Exercise 1b: Digitizing lines and snapping

...

In this exercise, you learned how to set up snapping and use it to help you digitize a new road that connects to existing roads.

 

Exercise 1c: Creating new feature templates

...

You are now ready to create features using the properties specified in this feature template.

 

Exercise 1d: Creating new polygon features

...

Creating adjoining polygons

...

You now need to create one more polygon to fill in the space between these two polygons. You could snap to every vertex, but an easier way is to use the Auto-Complete Polygon tool, which uses the geometry of existing polygons to create new adjacent polygons that do not overlap or have gaps.

1. In the ‘Create Features’ window, click the Tracts template, then the Auto Complete Polygon tool  to make it the active construction tool.
2. Snap to the lower left corner of the rectangle you just created and click.
3. Move your pointer southward, snap to the corner of the original existing J-shaped polygon, as shown below, and click to add a vertex.
   
4. On the Feature Construction mini toolbar, click the Finish Sketch button. 
   
   When using the Auto-Complete Polygon tool, ArcMap automatically uses the shapes of the surrounding polygons in that layer to create the geometry for the new polygon.
   
5. On the Edit toolbar, click the Save button to save your edits. 
6. Click the Save button on the top-left of the window to save your map project. 
   
   The new features have been created with the default attribute values (Private) specified in the template. If you wanted to add other information, such as ID numbers, you would select the features and type the values into the ‘Attributes’ window.

Exercise 2

...

Now that you have added a feature template for the new type, you are ready to start creating features.

...

In this exercise, you used an editing command, Buffer, to generate a feature from an existing feature

...

In this exercise, you learned how to clip polygons and split them by tracing along an overlapping line feature. 

...

1. Above your map display, click the 03 Editing Features map.
2. Click the Bookmarks drop-down menu on the Map toolbar and select the Trail bookmark.
3. Click the Edit toolbar and click the Select tool.
4. Select the trail line (the brown and gray dashed line) that connects to the road.
5.  On the Edit toolbar, click the Vertices tool. 
   
   When you are viewing the sketch geometry of a feature, the Edit Vertices toolbar appears, giving you quick access to commands used when editing a feature's vertices and segments.
   
   
   
   When compared to the aerial photograph, notice that this line is straight when it should be curved, and it also has some extra vertices. You can easily change a straight segment into a circular arc or Bézier curve, and vice versa, and delete the extra vertices. A Bézier curve is smooth and has on each of its two endpoints handles that can be moved to change the direction and the steepness of the curve. You can create Bézier curves by digitizing them using the Bézier Curve sketch construction method or by using certain editing commands, such as Smooth on the Advanced Editing toolbar.
   
   
6. Move your pointer over the middle of the trail line segment closest to the road, as shown below, and notice that the pointer changes to indicate you are working with a segment.
7. Right-click the middle of the trail line segment and selectChange Segment > Circular Arc.
   
   The segment changes to an arc.
   
   
8. Click, drag, and drop the arc over the trail on the aerial photograph. You can hold down the SPACEBAR key to turn off snapping temporarily if you are having difficulty placing the curve where you want it, because it is snapping to its original location.
   
   
   
   
9. Click the map away from the new line feature to update its shape.
10. Double-click the trail line feature, which accomplishes the same thing as using the Edit Vertices button.
11. On the Edit Vertices mini toolbar, click the Delete Vertex tool. 
12. Draw a circle around the three vertices that form a zigzag shape between the previous segment and the horizontal segment, as shown below.
    
    This deletes those vertices, as they are in the incorrect locations and are not needed to maintain the shape of the line in this area.
    
    
    
    
13. On the Edit Vertices toolbar, click the Normal Vertices tool  (the white Edit tool).
    
    This allows you to continue working with the segments and vertices.
    
    
14. Right-click the northernmost trail line segment and selectChange Segment > To Bézier Curve.
    
    A new set of Bézier curve handles is added, and the segment changes into an S-shaped curve. You can see the locations of the vertices and handles, which are displayed in blue.
    
    
15. Rest your pointer over a green vertex, then rest it over a blue handle.
    
    You get different pointer icons depending on the type of point you are over.
    
    
16. Drag the blue handles to reshape the curve to match the aerial photograph, as shown below.
    
    
17. Click the map away from the trail line feature to update the changes to its shape.
    
    If you need to refine the line's shape further, double-click it again with the Edit tool and modify the segments. If you want to insert or delete a vertex, use the tools on the Edit Vertices toolbar.
    
    
18. On the Edit toolbar, click Save. 
    
    
19. You changed segments into different types and edited vertices.

...