topic Re: Blurry basemap in Pro layout view in ArcGIS Pro Questions

Blurry basemap in Pro layout view

TheodoreF — Mon, 23 Apr 2018 16:38:43 GMT

In ArcGIS Pro layout view, my OS Mastermap WMS layer appears very blurry. I need it at 1:1250 scale but it looks like this:

I need the image to be crisp and sharp. The exported image/pdf also displays blurry basemaps.

Same problem when using the open basemaps supplied in Pro.

When in Data view, these basemaps are nice and clear when zoomed in.

Re: Blurry basemap in Pro layout view

DanPatterson_Retired — Mon, 23 Apr 2018 17:32:43 GMT

Maybe you are suffering from Pro making things look better than they really are...

http://pro.arcgis.com/en/pro-app/help/projects/drawing-behavior-in-arcgis-pro.htm

check out the image there ( features such as antialiasing to improve appearance). Could be the resolution is not as good as it appears,.

Re: Blurry basemap in Pro layout view

DanPatterson_Retired — Wed, 25 Apr 2018 11:22:59 GMT

did you resolve the resolution issue or was it as suspected?

Re: Blurry basemap in Pro layout view

TheodoreF — Wed, 25 Apr 2018 15:54:20 GMT

No I can't improve it at all. All my display settings are set to highest quality in Pro options. But that shouldn't affect the output PDFs I export anyway.

For reference here is a close up of an exported PDF map:

Same blurriness at 96, 250, or even 500dpi

Here is what the basemap looks like in Data view (albeit zoomed in to 1:500 scale, but this is the crispness I'm after)

Re: Blurry basemap in Pro layout view

DanPatterson_Retired — Wed, 25 Apr 2018 18:55:37 GMT

The printed image is correct... what you see onscreen has been improved by the video drivers as per my link

Re: Blurry basemap in Pro layout view

Shauna-RaeBrown — Thu, 17 Oct 2019 18:31:50 GMT

I'm having the same problem with the World Imagery. The blurriness is TERRIBLE. This issue has NOT been resolved!

Re: Blurry basemap in Pro layout view

JohnGaiot — Fri, 26 Jun 2020 01:21:54 GMT

I would argue the printed image is not correct. I would say it's more related to the rendering capability of Pro/ArcMap when trying to handle projections and maybe scale. Logic might dictate that images would appear at their best in their native projection, but oddly that's not the case. Using the ESRI World Imagery in its native WGS 84 Web Mercator projection, the image appears blurry exactly like Theodore's example above. The blurry phenomenon happens at various scales. For example, it's blurry at 1:8000 (and coarser scales) and seems best when viewed at 1:6000. However, when I change the map projection to NAD 83 CSRS UTM Zone 17N, it appears clear within a larger range of scales (between 1:3000 and 1:10000). Note I was able to replicate this in traditional ArcMap Desktop 10.3.1 (I know.. ancient!) as well. So this rendering issue does not seem to be platform specific.

Perhaps it could be the graphics card?? My specs are the following although I personally think it's still a pretty good card:

https://www.nvidia.com/content/dam/en-zz/Solutions/design-visualization/documents/75509_DS_NV_Quadro_K620_US_NV_HR.pdf

Re: Blurry basemap in Pro layout view

JosephRigley — Wed, 21 Apr 2021 16:12:22 GMT

"...the printed image is not correct. I would say it's more related to the rendering capability of Pro/ArcMap when trying to handle projections and maybe scale...this rendering issue does not seem to be platform specific."

Agree, and this remains an issue in 2021 for both apps. Setting the map projection to the basemap's native scale and maximizing output resolution do help sometimes, at the cost of a bloated output file that requires post-processing in 3rd party apps to reduce the bloat without dunking the quality. Almost every time I attempt to use ESRI World Topo, end user: 'can we make the background less blurry?'

Re: Blurry basemap in Pro layout view

ZacharyUhlmann1 — Tue, 10 May 2022 17:04:46 GMT

This is really bad. Has anybody found a solution? None of the stock basemaps (map --> basemaps) export to PDF to a professional presentation quality. Even taking vector layers from Living Atlas or Portal render well when exporting to PDF. USGS National Map for instance. I thought I'd solved this setting the map to Web Mercator WGS 84, but nope. Any workarounds or solutions? Thanks.

Re: Blurry basemap in Pro layout view

GregoryBalzer — Thu, 19 May 2022 03:33:25 GMT

Here's a clue. I had a crystal clear base map. I changed my coordinate system, the map refreshed, and now everything looks "soft". I tried setting things back but no change.

Re: Blurry basemap in Pro layout view

GregoryBalzer — Thu, 19 May 2022 04:01:48 GMT

I messed with all the video settings - hardware, software, antialiasing, no change. BUT when I switched my active Portal from our ArcGIS server to arcgis online, the basemaps look beautiful again. Not sure what this all means. Maybe arcgis online has more robust servers and/or higher resolution base maps?

Re: Blurry basemap in Pro layout view

pkorst_coa — Thu, 12 Jan 2023 22:41:50 GMT

Experiencing the same issue. Orthophotography is acceptably clear in the map window but becomes unacceptably blurred in the layout window and when sharing\printing from layout.

ESRI please help. 😩

Re: Blurry basemap in Pro layout view

Robert_LeClair — Thu, 12 Jan 2023 23:05:13 GMT

I did find an ENH-000150703 request - "ArcGIS Pro is drawing the level of detail for the scale of the layout. The users' expectation is that the application should request the highest LOD. That request would be a large number of tiles AND would change the appearance of the map for some services."

This is currently under review by the ArcGIS Pro Development team and has been observed in the "World Imagery", "Imagery Hybrid", and "Firefly Hybrid Imagery" basemaps in ArcGIS Pro 2.9.3 and 3.0. Hopefully more to come in the ArcGIS Pro 3.1 release this year!

Re: Blurry basemap in Pro layout view

JosephRigley — Thu, 12 Jan 2023 23:19:03 GMT

Glad to hear this is on the table, but the resolution of this issue should not necessarily require any additional tiles and especially should *NOT* change the content of the map. It simply needs to match the resolution of the output (PDF, JPG, etc) to what is displayed in the application.

Re: Blurry basemap in Pro layout view

arcwills — Fri, 17 Feb 2023 15:58:02 GMT

sorry for the bad new guys but this is an email i got. I was one of the "requesters" for ENH-000150703.

Bug fixes are addressed in upcoming releases or general patches, or they may be addressed as ad-hoc fixes. Enhancement requests are implemented in upcoming releases.

Updates have been made to the following defect which you are associated with:
ENH-000150703 - Need improvements in ArcGIS Pro to display a better quality basemaps in its maps and layouts.

Status: Will Not Be Addressed (Learn More)
Additional Information: ArcGIS Pro is drawing the level of detail for the scale of the layout. The user\'s expectation is that the application should request the highest LOD. That request would be a large number of tiles AND would change the appearance of the map for some services.

Re: Blurry basemap in Pro layout view

JessicaMorrissey1 — Thu, 13 Apr 2023 15:18:54 GMT

I have also been having this issue for some time now. The only workaround that I have found works for me personally is by adding the basemap in from ArcGIS Online with in Add Data, bringing in one I have saved on my portal, or bringing in outside ortho imagery. It would still be really great to use the provided basemaps and not jump through all these hoops.

Re: Blurry basemap in Pro layout view

arcwills — Tue, 23 May 2023 21:44:04 GMT

I'm going to give this a try. This is really frustrating

Re: Blurry basemap in Pro layout view

arcwills — Mon, 12 Jun 2023 20:35:00 GMT

I know this is an old post but i've just exported a PDF and unchecked the box "Output as Image" and now my lines are not blurry. Not sure if this is the fix you are looking for but it worked for me.

Re: Blurry basemap in Pro layout view

JeanetteHarlow1 — Fri, 23 Jun 2023 15:15:50 GMT

Boo! This is disappointing!

Re: Blurry basemap in Pro layout view

ErikJohnson8 — Tue, 11 Jul 2023 17:10:41 GMT

The only thing that's worked for me is using a custom page size for the layout and doubling or tripling the height and width. Now I have to adjust the size of all the map icons, which is very frustrating.