topic Re: Looking for a little more help... in ArcGIS Enterprise Portal Questions

Looking for a little more help...

JonathanLey — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 16:05:11 GMT

Hi there... I voluntarily maintain a set of printable annotated maps for a 2800mile hiking trail. I originally created these as layered Photoshop files 10 years ago... but that has a lot of limitations, obviously. I'm planning to "take this to the next level", and re-do the maps using ArcGIS.

A primary end result of this project will be a set of images that others can download & print for use "on the trail". By doing these in ArcGIS, I'll also be able to export GPS data, and have more flexibility to update the maps, etc.

I downloaded the 60-day trail, have gone through a bunch of tutorials, and learned enough to know that I have a lot to learn. Instead of muddling through this, I want to make sure I'm setting this up correctly, and am truly able to implement what I'm envisioning. I don't want to waste time, or learn later that I should have done things differently. I'm willing to invest in an actual license for this - it's an important project for me - but all the same, I am doing this voluntarily.

So, what I'm looking for is some old-fashioned help - i.e. physically sit down with an experienced user for a few hours, explain my vision for this, and get an information download so I can get this set up properly. I'm fairly technically competent, and a quick study... This isn't an exceedingly complex project to set up - most of the work will be the tedium after the setup.

If you're interested in a fun project, and live anywhere near the Portland, Oregon area... food & beer is on me. If this sounds interesting, please contact me off-forum:
jonathan (at) phlumf.com.

Aside from that, I'd be open to any general suggestions people have about where to look online.

Thanks for reading...

Re: Looking for a little more help...

JimW1 — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 17:42:11 GMT

You are going to need more than 60 days 🙂

Re: Looking for a little more help...

JonathanLey — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 18:42:16 GMT

You are going to need more than 60 days 🙂

Well, it'll likely take more time to finish the project. But it shouldn't take too long just to set it up & determine if I can really use ArcGIS to do what I want. If so, I do plan to buy a license, so the 60 day limit is not a problem.

I do have a close approximation of the route already as a .kml file, and was able to import that, and overlay it on a USGS 1:24,000 base layer. So, that's a start. It'll take some refining of the route to make it look nicer (the .kml is rough, and a few years old...)

My main challenge is in two things:

How best to add notes to the maps (should these be in the legends or as text on the maps, etc)

How to set this up so that it can be automatically exported to the format/size I need, with the right information on the borders.

The end result should be a series of about 300 bitmap files at approx 2250x3000 pixels each, covering approx 7x10 miles (for an ultimate scale of about 1in/mile printed on standard paper). If I make a tweak to one section of the map, I want to be able to re-export just that page...

If anyone is aware of a consultant who could give me a jump start on this, I might be willing to pay for that as well... though, as a volunteer, I need to be reasonable.

Here is an example

JonathanLey — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 18:55:04 GMT

If you want to see an example of an existing map (done via photoshop layers), see here:
http://www.phlumf.com/cdt/nm39d.gif

This is about a 4.8MB .gif file. It's a section of the route in southern New Mexico. you can see the kinds of notes I have there now. I'd like to replace the compass rose with a GPS border, but other than that, the end result should be similar. (note the mileage labels, number labels, notes, etc)

Re: Looking for a little more help...

Bo_King — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 18:12:15 GMT

You may want to contact the Adventure Cycling Association who are now building their cycling routes with Esri software.

Re: Looking for a little more help...

kellydoherty — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 14:30:22 GMT

I might be able to help you out, but know ahead that I am not the most experienced user by any means. I am down in Lebanon, so only about little more than an hour away. Will email you.

Re: Looking for a little more help...

kellydoherty — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 14:37:47 GMT

I might be able to help you out, but know ahead that I am not the most experienced user by any means. Check your email.