Excessive re-drawing in ArcMap

[KeithD1]

Is it just me, or does ArcMap 10.1 have a habit of unnecessarily redrawing the display? With complex maps, this really slows down a workflow!

A few examples:

1. Changes are made outside of the data frame, such as a page title (layout view)
2. A legend is slightly repositioned
3. A map element within the data frame is slightly reposition without changing how it overlaps with features.
4. Zooming in/out
5. Turning on or off the only label layer
6. Minor symbology changes to a layer towards the top of the 'stack'

Sure, I understand the necessity of re-rendering before the final production output...but sometimes it's just overkill!!!

[DanPatterson_Retired]

I haven't looked in eons, but is there anything in the Advanced settings ? Advanced ArcMap Settings utility—Help | ArcGIS for Desktop

or maybe check the settings on the Hardware acceleration page Working with basemap layers—Help | ArcGIS for Desktop

[MarcoBoeringa]

Reading your post, you are working in "Layout View" in ArcMap. In Layout View, you can make objects "active" or "inactive" by setting the Draft mode. Select e.g. the data frame, and right-click it. Then choose Properties / Frame TAB. Now unselect the Draft mode checkbox in the dialog and click OK. The data frame will become entirely blue and no longer show the true contents. This allows you to work quickly without the burden of intermittent re-draws of the data frame. Note that you can also set other objects, e.g. the legend, to "draft mode".