idea Transformation Tab in ArcGIS Pro in ArcGIS Pro Ideas

Transformation Tab in ArcGIS Pro

StevenLowman — Wed, 15 Sep 2021 17:08:11 GMT

Transformation Tab in ArcGIS Pro

Desktop has a Transformations Tab to key in the transformation data in a cad file and bring it to the right location. I use this all the time and find it quite accurate and useful. I would like to see this feature added to ArcGIS Pro as well.

I am often given the CAD transformation settings and use this all the time. Two Point does not work in most cases because I do not have real world points to register to only the CAD file in an undeveloped area typically.

Add CAD file to Desktop. Right-Click -> Properties. Transformations Tab, enter CAD Transformation information on the tab, check "Enable Transformations" and OK

Re: Transformation Tab in ArcGIS Pro

David_Brooks — Wed, 15 Sep 2021 17:38:42 GMT

@StevenLowman when you open up the Manage CAD data context menu in the ribbon, are there no tools there to do what you're asking.?

Re: Transformation Tab in ArcGIS Pro

StevenLowman — Wed, 15 Sep 2021 17:50:19 GMT

Brooks

I would have to say NO, I can not find such a tool and ESRI Support says there is no such tool. The reference the old 2 point registration as a solution. Which is not bad if you have two known points in both the CAD file and the Real world but often I do not have known points in the real world, but I do have the CAD file transformation information in those cases. Scale, Rotation, Shift.

Re: Transformation Tab in ArcGIS Pro

KoryKramer — Wed, 15 Sep 2021 18:24:25 GMT

Thank you for submitting this request. The development team is aware of it and will be looking at it for a future release. For now, try this add-in: https://www.arcgis.com/home/item.html?id=86a6c58aac9441ffa1d067d1c43d5b03#overview

Re: Transformation Tab in ArcGIS Pro

StevenLowman — Wed, 15 Sep 2021 18:58:01 GMT

Steps:

1. Select the CAD layer in the table of contents.
2. The contextual ribbon for the CAD layer becomes available to access the add-in button for Grid Scale from the Alignment group.
3. Click the button and enter the grid scale value.
4. Click the OK button to transform the CAD layer based on the entered scale.
With CAD layer selected and "CAD Layer" active where is "Grid Scale" and "Alignment Group"?
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Re: Transformation Tab in ArcGIS Pro

JeffreyReinhart — Mon, 15 Nov 2021 17:34:37 GMT

An add-in called Transform CAD Layer was published last week. It provides the same input parameters as used in the ArcMap Transformations tab.

It will work on ArcGIS Pro 2.6 and higher. It is available here: https://arcg.is/1vnymX

Please see this blog post for more information:

https://community.esri.com/t5/arcgis-parcel-fabric-blog/transform-cad-layers-in-arcgis-pro/ba-p/1116212

Re: Transformation Tab in ArcGIS Pro

StevenLowman — Mon, 15 Nov 2021 17:51:21 GMT

Tool has been published

https://community.esri.com/t5/arcgis-parcel-fabric-blog/transform-cad-layers-in-arcgis-pro/ba-p/1116212

This works great!

Thanks to Tim Hudson Esri Contributor; for getting this tool on line

Re: Transformation Tab in ArcGIS Pro

StevenLowman — Fri, 22 Jul 2022 15:36:27 GMT

Received this email for those migrating to ArcGIS Pro 3.x

Hi Steve,

Just a quick note, that when you move to ArcGIS Pro 3.0 (if you haven’t already) the version of the add-in that you got from the link below will not be compatible. The functionality is unfortunately not yet in the core software with 3.0 either.

However, there is a new version of the add-in that will be compatible with ArcGIS Pro 3.0 and higher, that you can get from this location:

https://www.arcgis.com/home/item.html?id=6780e4c95d5e4fcb920a5aaafe052457

-Tim

Tim Hodson | Product Engineer

Esri | 111 Market Street NW, Suite 250 | Olympia, WA 98501-1073 | USA

thodson@esri.com,

THE SCIENCE OF WHERE™

Re: Transformation Tab in ArcGIS Pro

TimHodson — Tue, 21 Nov 2023 22:10:10 GMT

Hello All,

In ArcGIS Pro 3.1 this add-in was not refreshing the CAD layer properly after the tool was run. The workaround was to shut down and restart Pro to see the layer properly placed. For ArcGIS Pro 3.2 and higher a new version of the add-in is available that properly refreshes the layer.

If you are using ArcGIS Pro 3.2 or higher, it's recommended that you download the latest version of this add-in from here.

In general, add-ins are designed to be forward compatible, however in some instances changes in the underlying .Net SDK require that a newer version be compiled to get improved functionality, as is the case here.

If you have the prior version installed, first remove it, and then replace it with this version.

-Tim

Re: Transformation Tab in ArcGIS Pro - Status changed to: Under Consideration

MichaelDavidsonPM — Mon, 26 Feb 2024 22:40:31 GMT

In addition to the functionality offered by the plug-in, we're also considering adding built-in functionality to ArcGIS Pro in the future.

Re: Transformation Tab in ArcGIS Pro

StevenLowman — Mon, 26 Feb 2024 22:55:49 GMT

Michael, It was built into Desktop since one of the patches in 8.x and something I use a lot. Would be nice if ArcGIS Pro had it built in as a standard function, especially since desktop has reached maturity and is being phased out. IT locks things down so tight it is sometimes hard to get add-ins into the system.

Re: Transformation Tab in ArcGIS Pro - Status changed to: In Product Plan

MichaelDavidsonPM — Tue, 20 May 2025 13:04:08 GMT

Re: Transformation Tab in ArcGIS Pro - Status changed to: Implemented

MichaelDavidsonPM — Wed, 19 Nov 2025 02:44:03 GMT

Thanks for voicing this idea, @StevenLowman and many others. I am happy to share that this was included in the November 2025 release of ArcGIS Pro 3.6.

Re: Transformation Tab in ArcGIS Pro

SteveLowman — Wed, 14 Jan 2026 16:12:26 GMT

This is now available in 3.6.0, finally after nearly 10 years they have add the tool from Desktop (that I used a lot) to Pro! Thank you. I would only add one change. The temp plugin that was available would remember the values entered so if you had multiple files to Transform it was easier, I also believe Desktop Transformation Tab did this as well. This tool does not remember previous values, so you have to enter the same values over and over again if bringing in multiple files. But finally the tool is there by default, thank you for that!!!