Vector tile layer as mask

Question

Hi Cartography Warriors!

I’m a new user of Arcgis pro and I’m learning this software because i have to work and create beautiful maps for hydrology and oceanography for the SWOT satellite. :satellite:️
I don’t understand why Arcgis purpose to isolate the vectors of rivers and lakes on the « Vector Tiles Layer » but i’m wondering why it’s not possible to use them as vector masks. Indeed, I have to display SWOT WSE data into the right mask on the right basemap (from Arcgis).
Do you know if there is another process to use « Vector tile layer » as masks? 🎉
Kind regards 🙏
Sébastien

ThierryGENTET · Answer

Thank you for your answer. I'm searching a solution to mask some "Water Surface Elevation" data from satellite (SWOT satellite) with the same river vector polygon delivered by Arcgis. My only solution is to export a georeferencing Tiff, import it and use "raster to polygon".

Furthermore, the "Extract by mask" function display only the pixels inside and not the "cutting" pixels.

jcarlson · Answer

You can layer a vector tile layer over the top of everything else and make it fully opaque and the same color as your canvas background, effectively masking things out. Or you could use some layer blending modes, perhaps. But you cannot use the features from a vector tile source in the actual masking settings for your layer / layout display.

Part of the reason for this is the actual "features" displayed in the vector tile source are changing based on your zoom level and cut by tile lines. It's not a fixed thing, and I think your layer mask needs static polygons to work properly.