De-selection before exporting your layout

[IlkaIllers1]

Very often, I accidentally export a map where a feature is still selected. On the flipside, I have never wanted to export a map where a certain feature should be selected! So I would love for an automatic de-selection of everything before exporting a map. 

This could be another tick-box in the export settings, where the default is that everything will be de-selected, but just in case someone actually wants to export a map with a selection, you can un-tick the box to keep it. It would save so many hours in re-exporting just because you forgot to clear the selection. 

[MichelleWilliamsERM]

Great idea, thank you!

[DuncanHornby]

I like the idea but in my mind and probably in keeping with many other tools you would tick the checkbox to include the selection. So I would expect to see a tick box that by default is unticked which would mean export everything, tick the box to export only the selection. That would seem more logical to me, which is opposite to what you were suggesting!  🙂

[RhettZufelt]

If you are adding the clear selection to the bottom of the map page in 3.1 as suggested here, why not add it to the bottom of the layout page when you click on the Map Frame as well (or will this happen anyway once added to the map ?):

R_

[wayfaringrob]

@RhettZufeltthat alone would be a FANTASTIC change. Every time I'm on layout and realize I have something selected, even though I have the clear button in my QAT, it's grayed out. I have to go to the map or activate, clear it, and then go back to the layout. 3+ clicks that could be 1.

[LarsArneson]

I think this is a great idea! I run into this often. Even in cases where I see that something is selected/highlighted having to activate or back out to the map window to clear is rather cumbersome.

[wayfaringrob]

I did create a post for what I described earlier. But I would still love if exports did not show selections by default. Agree that that should be opt-in.

Deselect feature from layout view without activati... - Esri Community

[wayfaringrob]

Now that I am grading student work: I am seeing lots and lots of this. It's not intuitive at all to have a selection show in your export. Word, for example, doesn't show what text you had selected when you save as a PDF or print... the best I can explain to them is that Esri likes to make things difficult and unintuitive sometimes.

[AlfredBaldenweck]

I got burned by this pretty hard a few years back and had to re-export several maps.

I think if I wanted to showcase a particular feature, I would just color it differently manually. It isn't hard; you can just create layer from selection and then recolor as you see fit.

Exporting the layout with the selection showing is just odd.

[wayfaringrob]

@AlfredBaldenweck  agree 100%. Very strange and useless behavior to make the default, I almost feel it's a bug.