Editor Toolbar - Create Features - Creating Circles of the Same Size

Question

I use ArcMap 10 at work.  I am working on a project in which I am trying to map the locations of wells.  I am using the Editor toolbar to create features, and I am drawing small circles to represent the wells.  Ideally, I'd like there to be some standardization for the data I am producing.  Is there a way to draw multiple circles that are exactly the same size?  Right now, the circles I have drawn are very similar in size, but not exactly the same.  If what I am asking is not possible to do in ArcMap 10, that is okay.  Nonetheless, any suggestions would be helpful.  I appreciate it.  Thanks.

JonathanQuinn · Answer

Another thing you can do is use the R shortcut to create features with a specified radius; click on your template in the Create Features window, then the Circle construction tool, then click on the map to begin digitizing your feature.  Press R on your keyboard and a prompt will appear that will allow you to enter a radius for your circle.

RichardFairhurst · Answer

I use ArcMap 10 at work.  I am working on a project in which I am trying to map the locations of wells.  I am using the Editor toolbar to create features, and I am drawing small circles to represent the wells.  Ideally, I'd like there to be some standardization for the data I am producing.  Is there a way to draw multiple circles that are exactly the same size?  Right now, the circles I have drawn are very similar in size, but not exactly the same.  If what I am asking is not possible to do in ArcMap 10, that is okay.  Nonetheless, any suggestions would be helpful.  I appreciate it.  Thanks.

Save yourself a lot of time and create the wells as points (much easier to place then circles) and then when you finish buffer the points by an exact distance (the radius) to get circles of the same size.  You should be able to extract the Centroids of the wells you have already created to initially create the point data so that you do not have to start over.

If you have an ArcInfo license you can use the Feature to Point tool to extract the Centroid points from your circles into a new point feature class.

If you have ArcView or ArcEditor it takes a few steps to do this as follows (the exact steps assume you have version 10.0 or 10.1, but earlier versions can still use the basic process):

1.  Create two double fields in your polygon feature class called something like X_Coord and Y_Coord.
2.  Use the Calculate Geometry tool (accessed by right clicking the field header of these new fields in Tableview) to calculate the Centroid X and Y values of your circles.
3.  From the Tableview, export all of the well data to create a new Table (do not export from the TOC, because you need to create a Table not a Feature Class).
4.  In the ArcMap TOC right-click the table you just exported and choose the Make XY Event layer to create a point layer that generates features in memory.
5.  From the TOC right click the XY point layer you just created and export it.  This step will create a true Feature Class that retains all of your Well data as points.

When you finish creating all of the well points, anytime you want perfect circles of a given size that contains the points in the center, use the Buffer tool and input the radius you want.

Points have several advantages over polygons for symbology of small features in a map, so you may find that you are happy with them all the time.  Adding buffer around a point on the fly with the selection tool is also easy and on the fly buffers are supported by the Spatial Join tool, so about the only time you really need a Polygon Circle is if you are doing an Intersect with another polygon layer and want the wells to divide at crossing Polygon boundaries.

I hope this helps.