Extent Indicator in map series in Pro

Question

Hello all.  I am trying to add an extent indicator map to a map series project in Pro.  My problem is I cannot get the indicator map to act independently of the main Map Frame.  When I turn on/off a layer in the indicator map, the same layer is turned on/off in the main Map Frame.  I do not want this.  I want to be able to have control over the indicator map like I do in ArcMap, where, once "Activated", the inset map operates like a separate entity where layers can be added, labeled, symbology changed, etc., without affecting the main map.  Any ideas on how to achieve this?  I tried "locking the element", but that did not work.  I tried R clicking on the Map Frame & choosing "Activate", and that did not work.  I reviewed help documents & videos, & no one else seems to have that problem.  Any help is appreciated, Thank you!

TomBole · Answer

Hi Daniel,

Thanks for the feedback.

The key to understanding how to author a layout in ArcGIS Pro is understanding what a map frame is. A map frame is a container on the page layout that points to a map in your project. The map contains contains the layers, along with other properties that the map frame inherits.

You can have X number of map frame on Y number of layouts all pointing to the same map.  Each map frame can have different extents (this includes time and range extents). You can X number of map frames on the same layout all pointing to the same map. However, all map frames are dependent on the map on what layers are available in the map. If you want different layers for different map frames you will need separate maps.  See Add and modify map frames—Layouts | ArcGIS Desktop for more information.

Extent indicators - Extent indicators—Layouts | ArcGIS Desktop - can be applied to any map frame in the layout providing that there is another map frame in which to reference. It does not matter if both map frames point to the same map, or to different maps.

There is more detailed information regarding the steps to create a reference (overview) map in the section "Add an overview map and extent rectangle" within the online tutorial - Make a layout—ArcGIS Pro | ArcGIS Desktop.

As far as the poor rendering of the legend text could you provide an example screenshot?

Hope this help,

Tom

DanielMatranga · Answer

Tom Bole‌ Thanks for the info on reference maps. On a side note, I think Esri could really use better tutorials for adding reference maps to Layouts. The guy in the YouTube video skips right over that part like it's a piece of cake, when the workflow is actually pretty mind-boggling. Need more reference and instruction on the required setup for including reference maps in Layouts on the ArcGIS Pro help site.

Also, maps look amazing in ArcGIS Pro but why do the legends look so terrible? There's just something wrong with the way the Legend text is rendered and set up by default.

Thanks,

Dan

TomBole · Answer

Hi Catherine,

It sounds like you have map frames (main map & overview) pointing to the same map.  You will need to create a separate map if you want to add different layers to it. This is similar to adding a new data frame in ArcMap.

Hope this helps,

Tom