Map Series - Setting a Minimum and Maximum Scale

[Todd_Stout]

A feature that I would really like to see implemented in ArcGIS Pro is the ability to set a minimum and a maximum scale for a Map Series.

A Map Series that I created uses an index feature class where the polygons vary in size considerably. Most of the maps that are generated are fine but there are several exceptions. Some end up with a map extent that is zoomed in so close that the labeling and symbology just do not look right.

I would mainly like to see the ability to set a minimum scale like say… don’t zoom in any closer than 1:2500 or 1:5000 or whatever the case might be but also being able to set a maximum scale might be of use as well. Perhaps this could be implemented similar to the Visibility Range dropdowns that we already have for Feature Layers and Labeling.

I would like to see it here:


Maybe it could look like this:

[MErikReedAugusta]

When creating a Map Series, you have three options:

1. Best Fit Extent (with margins & rounding)
   1. Proposal: Add a "Minimum Extent" option to this entry; use case(s) below
2. Center & Maintain Scale
3. Use Scale from Field

I've repeatedly found myself with a use case where Options 1 and 2 both have mutually exclusive problems, and where Option 3 is not available to me in the Feature driving the Series.

For example: I recently needed to generate a Series of various Detention & Retention Ponds throughout a county-wide area.  That database contains "Ponds" as small as 14 sq. ft, and as large as 400 acres (that's 17 million square feet, for the curious).

At first glance, you might think the best approach is Best Fit, but that 14 is so small, you end up losing the surroundings entirely.  And if you do Center & Maintain, then you lose everything outside the 400 acres.

Essentially, what I needed was a "minimum size" sub-option within the Best Fit.  Calculate the Best Fit (with margin); if it's smaller than the minimum, then just use the minimum.

For that specific project, I had to create a dummy field and pre-calculate something to handle that minimum, which (on top of just being messy and unideal) isn't always an option.  A current project I'm working on has a nearly identical issue with Parcels, but I don't have the permissions in my organization to be able to mess with the schema and add that dummy field.  So now I'm forced to choose between suboptimal results in the Series or with a dead-link local copy of the dataset that'll need to be regularly replaced & recalculated every time.

[AlfredBaldenweck]

Related Post : Minimum scale in Map Series - Esri Community

Related Idea: Map Series Minimum Extent - Esri Community

TLDR: Please add a minimum scale in to Spatial Map series. 

So I'm trying to make a map series and because of concerns about data sensitivity, must publish the maps at a minimum scale of 1:250,000, although their natural scale using a buffer of 10% and rounding to the nearest 10,000 ranges between 1:130,000 and 1:600,000.

Where I'm running into trouble is making sure it actually gives me both the minimum scale AND the 10% margin.

Using the method that @AubriOtis suggested in the first linked post (round to X), I'm having trouble with it rounding down to remove that margin.

For example, this page, using the default of 10% and rounding to the nearest 10,000, should be 1:270K.

However, rounding to the nearest 250K pops it down to 1:250,000 and overwrites the margin.

I know that in the 3.2 release, the behavior was changed to only round up (see first linked post above), but I don't think that actually solves the issue that I'm having here, which is: I really don't care what scale it is, so long as it's at least 1:250,000.

Is it 1:270,000? Great.

1:580,000? Amazing.

1: 240,000? No. Bad.

And that's really as far as I want to think about this. Like, let me set my margin and my rounding, and also set a minimum scale, and as long as it's bigger than that and rounds to the nearest 10K like I asked it to, we're golden.

[AlfredBaldenweck]

Good Idea. Very similar to this one here: https://community.esri.com/t5/arcgis-pro-ideas/spatial-map-series-set-minimum-scale/idi-p/1504904/ju...

@KoryKramer  Could they be merged? This one is more expansive than the original, so I think it'd make sense for this one to be the primary.

[KoryKramer]

Hi @AlfredBaldenweck Yes, I merged them. There weren't any kudos on yours - you should add kudos to this idea!

[TerriWaddell1]

I need this as well.  A use case example for the folks at ESRI:

I am generating tax sale maps for use at the county's tax sale.  Each map shows one tax sale parcel at a time, and it's displayed from a PDF to a projected screen.  We've been using a field in the parcel layer to calculate the scale based on acreage, but any long, thin parcels (like roads or trails), fail to appear properly.  If I try to account for those, then small normal parcels end up being zoomed in too close and you cannot see their road access and whatnot.  We need to be able to show legal access on the map so people kwow what they are getting themselves into if they bid.

If I could use best fit with a minimum extent, I could set the mimimum to say 1:1200 so that the small regular parcels display but small-acreage long parcels will automatically fit to the page.  Right now a staff member has to manually re-size and export any maps that don't work under our current setup, and this makes for a very long weekend for her.