TABLE OF CONTENTS

Obtaining the Tutorial Data

There are three ways of obtaining the tutorial data. The best option for getting the full GIS project experience is to follow Option 1 and learn how to download and prepare data from online GIS data portals independently. You will also gain exposure to the best GIS data websites for the Houston region.

If you have already completed the Introduction to Data Management tutorial, but did not save a copy of your files or if you would prefer to complete this tutorial first, then you may follow Options 2 or 3. Option 2 is best if you are completing this tutorial in one of our short courses or from the GIS/Data Center and Option 3 is best if you are completing the tutorial from your own computer.

Before beginning the tutorial, you will copy all of the required tutorial data onto your Desktop. Follow the applicable set of instructions below depending on the particular computer you are using.

OPTION 1: Accessing tutorial data from Fondren Library using the gistrain profile

If you are completing this tutorial from a public computer in Fondren Library and are logged on using the gistrain profile, follow the instructions below:

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

OPTION 2: Accessing tutorial data online using a personal computer

If you are completing this tutorial from a personal computer, you will need to download the tutorial data online by following the instructions below:

1. Click Intro.zip above to download the tutorial data.
2. Open the Downloads folder.
3. Right-click LayoutTutorialData.zip and select Extract All...
4. In the 'Extract Compressed (Zipped) Folders' window, accept the default location into the Downloads folder and click Extract.
5. Drag the LayoutTutorialData folder onto your Desktop.

Establishing a Map

Creating the Map

1. In the Insert ribbon, under the Project group, click the New Map button.
2. In the Catalog pane, expand the Maps folder.
3. Right-click on "Map" and select Rename.
4. Rename the Map "Median Household Income by Census Block Group."

When creating maps for a purpose in publication, you will likely always create more than one map. Because of this, it is best practice to name each map according to what you are displaying in it. Otherwise, you have Map, Map1, Map2, and so on.

1. In the Map ribbon, in the Layer group, clickBasemap and selectLight Gray Canvas.
2. In the Contents pane, uncheck the World Light Gray Reference layer to toggle it off.
3. In the Catalog pane, in the Databases folder, expand the LayoutTutorialData.gdb geodatabase.
4. Right-click the BlockGroupCensusData feature class and select"Add to Current Map."
   
   

Editing Class Boundaries

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.

For the Outline width, type 0.5 pt. Click Apply. Click the upper left back arrow.
Now, left-click on the first symbol. Go to Properties. Expand Appearance. Change the color to Gray 10% and click Apply.
Click on the second symbol. Change the color to Gray 30%. Click Apply.
Change the 3rd symbol to Gray 50%.
Change the 4th symbol to Gray 70%.
On the Contents pane, under the BlockGroupCensusData layer, there is the MEDIAN_HOUSE_INCOME symbology title. Click the title twice until the text is editable. Type Median Household Income by Census Block Group.

Establishing the Layout

Creating the Layout

In the Insert ribbon in the Project group, click New Layout>Custom page size.
Under General, for the Name, type: Median Household Income by Census Block Group.
Under Page Setup, change the Width and Height to 5 x 4 inches. Click OK.
In the Insert ribbon in the Map Frames group, click Map Frame, and under the Median Households group, click Harris County. This zooms the map to the Harris County bookmark created earlier.
On the top rulers, at 0” and 5”, right click and Add Guide. Repeat on the left side. Snap the corners to the guides.
In the Layout ribbon, in the Map group, click Activate. In the Map ribbon, in the Navigate group, click Bookmarks>Harris County. Scroll into the map as wide as it will let you without Harris County extending beyond the map frame borders.
Click and drag the map up so that there is an inch of space at the bottom of the map for a legend.

Adding Map Surrounds

In the Insert menu, in the Text group, click Dynamic Text>under the Layouts heading>Service Layer Credits. Move the text box with the Basemap credits off of the map frame.
Under the Activated Map Frame Ribbon popup, the Layout Ribbon, in the Map group, click Close Activation.
In the Insert ribbon, in the Map Surrounds group, click Legend, and draw a box on the lower left corner of the map frame.
On the Insert ribbon, in the Map Surrounds group, click the North Arrow button and select the middle arrow in the first row. Move it to the lower right corner.
In the Contents pane, click on the North Arrow. The North Arrow Element pane pops up on the right side. Under the North Arrow drop down menu, select Point Symbol. Change the Color to Gray 50%.
On the Contents pane, right click the Map Frame and go to Properties. In the Element pane on the right, under the Map Frame drop down menu, go to Border. For Color, choose No color. Click Apply.

 Adding a Legend

In the Contents pane, right-click on Legends>Properties. The Legend Element pane pops up in the right side of the screen.
Under Legend Items, click Show properties… Under the Show drop down menu, uncheck Layer name.
Resize the Legend box so it fits in the space provided by the map.
Still in the Legend Element pane, under the Legend drop down, select Headings. Expand Appearance. Change the size to 18pt and the color to Gray 70%. At the bottom of the screen, click Apply.
Under the Headings drop-down, select Labels. Change the size to 14pt and the color to Gray 80%.

Export

In the Share ribbon under the Export group, click the green arrow Layout. Navigate to your folder and save it as a pdf, 600dpi. Click the Layout button again and save it as a tiff, 600dpi.