Saving features as shapefiles

[SimonSeamount]

If I create a layer of features in ArcGIS Explorer Online, say I draw the outlines of a bunch of buildings, or I digitize roads or rivers, how can I save the work to a shapefile that I could use elsewhere on a computer where I have an ArcView license?

[AlexeyTereshenkov]

Hey,

If you want to use a good basemap for digitizing some data, you don't have to use ArcGIS Explorer Desktop. You can access various Esri basemaps in your ArcMap 10 map document with ArcView licenses. Click the Add Data button > Add Basemap in ArcMap.

You can also access the ArcGIS Desktop basemaps from the ArcGIS.com web site: http://www.arcgis.com/home/group.html?owner=esri&title=ArcMap%20Basemaps&content=all

[ShellyGill2]

Hi - There's no way to do this from Explorer Online; however a colleague has just sent me some very useful info that will hopefully help - you should be able to achieve what you want in the upcoming versions of ArcGIS Explorer Desktop, and ArcGIS (10.1) for Desktop.

In the next ArcGIS Explorer Desktop release you'll be able to make a layer package from your notes, which could then be loaded into ArcMap (from where it could be saved out as a shapefile). In the current ArcGIS Desktop, feature collections are ignored if you open a web map, but in the upcoming ArcGIS 10.1 for Desktop release, when you open a web map the feature collection layers will be automatically converted to feature class layers, which can then be exported as shapefiles. Hopefully one of these solutions will help.

[michaelcollins1]

Create your polylines or polygons, then create a layer package from them by right-clicking in the table of contents. Unpack and use in Arc 10.

[michaelcollins1]

Layer packages are available on the current version of ArcGIS Explorer. I just tried it, no problems.

[BruceCuthbert1]

I have outlined a series of neighbourhoods in our community and saved them as a feature set in Arcgis Explorer Online. I then tried to send them to a friend that uses ARCGIS. He got back to me and said that he could not get at the info.  We are trying to get it to a shapefile.   So now I have just downloaded a trial version of ArcGIS desktop.  I put in the same basemap that I used online.  I am trying to pull in the features from the Online Arcgis explorer file.  So how do I get at the feature collection???   Thanks..  I can't seem to see any integration from the online to the desktop.

Hi - There's no way to do this from Explorer Online; however a colleague has just sent me some very useful info that will hopefully help - you should be able to achieve what you want in the upcoming versions of ArcGIS Explorer Desktop, and ArcGIS (10.1) for Desktop.

In the next ArcGIS Explorer Desktop release you'll be able to make a layer package from your notes, which could then be loaded into ArcMap (from where it could be saved out as a shapefile). In the current ArcGIS Desktop, feature collections are ignored if you open a web map, but in the upcoming ArcGIS 10.1 for Desktop release, when you open a web map the feature collection layers will be automatically converted to feature class layers, which can then be exported as shapefiles. Hopefully one of these solutions will help.