Dividing a Map

[VictorVazquez]

I'm currently helping out my Dad create some maps for where he hunts. So far I've created a map including contour lines, rivers, NLCD, and roads. Since this map is of an entire county (1:275,237 scale) and the contour interval is only 2 meters I need some up close maps (1:10,000 scale). I was hoping to split the map into side by side squares which can be labeled with X and Y coordinates the way road maps are typically organized.

[JimW1]

I'm currently helping out my Dad create some maps for where he hunts. So far I've created a map including contour lines, rivers, NLCD, and roads. Since this map is of an entire county (1:275,237 scale) and the contour interval is only 2 meters I need some up close maps (1:10,000 scale). I was hoping to split the map into side by side squares which can be labeled with X and Y coordinates the way road maps are typically organized.

What version of ArcGIs are you using?

If it is 9.3.1 and below then download something called DS Mapbook.
If it is Arc10 you'll need to use the 'Data Drvien Pages' interface.

Either way just make a grid of polygons to make the map pages. There are a bunch of ways to do that easily - DS Mapbook will make it for you and in Arc10 there is a 'Grid Index' tool.

It's pretty easy once you get the hang of it. I'd say the DS Mapbook extension is the better of the two systems but for simple stuff Data Driven pages is fine - more complicated stuff requires python code knowledge.

Happy hunting... I've been asked more than a few times by friends to do this kind of thing for their hunting trips.

[VictorVazquez]

What version of ArcGIs are you using?

If it is 9.3.1 and below then download something called DS Mapbook.
If it is Arc10 you'll need to use the 'Data Drvien Pages' interface.

Either way just make a grid of polygons to make the map pages. There are a bunch of ways to do that easily - DS Mapbook will make it for you and in Arc10 there is a 'Grid Index' tool.

It's pretty easy once you get the hang of it. I'd say the DS Mapbook extension is the better of the two systems but for simple stuff Data Driven pages is fine - more complicated stuff requires python code knowledge.

Happy hunting... I've been asked more than a few times by friends to do this kind of thing for their hunting trips.

Thank you very much. I ended up using the "Grid Index (Cartography)" tool. I ended up making a grid of 792 squares. Now my only issue is that I want to save each individual square as a separate pdf map. I know I can do a screen capture but 792 is a lot of screen captures and a lot of time. So is there a way for it to automatically export each square into it's own PDF or JPEG?

[DavidWatkins]

Hi Victor,

If you enable Data Driven Pages and select your grid Index as your index layer, it will make a map book of your 792 squares. You can then go to the Export Map dialog and select PDF.  In the Pages tab you will have the option to export all the pages as either a Single PDF file or as Multiple PDF files. 

Here is the help topic on creating data driven pages: http://help.arcgis.com/en/arcgisdesktop/10.0/help/index.html#//00sr00000007000000