Modernizing Topographic Production with ArcGIS: Webinar Recording and Q&A
On November 18, 2025, Esri experts hosted a webinar: Modernizing Topographic Production with ArcGIS showcasing the latest advancements in topographic mapping with ArcGIS. Discover how new server-based workflows are transforming production systems delivering greater scalability, efficiency, and collaboration for national mapping and defense missions.
Watch the webinar recording now.
In addition, here are the answers to all the questions that were submitted during the webinar.
1. Does ArcGIS Topographic Mapping still have the same tools as cut features and geodatabase to shapefile in ArcGIS Pro?
ArcGIS Topographic Mapping has the same tools that ArcGIS Production Mapping and ArcGIS Defense Mapping had. No tools or processes were deprecated when the two extensions were consolidated into one extension.
Cut features tool – In the migration from ArcMap to ArcGIS Pro, the cut features tool was added to the ArcGIS Pro clip tool which can be accessed via the modify features pane.
ArcGIS Topographic Mapping Geodatabase to Shape geoprocessing tool has the same functionality. The tool can be found in the Topographic Production Toolbox.
2. If ArcGIS Workflow Manager is designed to automate workflows, when do you use ArcGIS Workflow Manager to automate instead of Automated Tasks in a template within ArcGIS Pro?
ArcGIS Workflow Manager is a comprehensive product to orchestrate repeatable end-to-end business processes across ArcGIS. It allows you to automate and simplify the performance and management of work across environments in an organization. Tasks in ArcGIS Pro are predefined steps that guide users through a workflow process inside of ArcGIS Pro. These are more like tutorial steps inside ArcGIS Pro. Tasks can be incorporated into your Workflow Manager templates to help guide the user for manipulating data in ArcGIS Pro.
3. How do you check if we have access to this Production Manager app? If I do not see it in the app list in ArcGIS Online, can I assume I do not have the license for it via my agency?
Production Manager is an application that comes with ArcGIS Topographic Mapping for ArcGIS Enterprise Extension. It is not available on ArcGIS Online.
4. Do map projections also come with the job?
When you set up your map templates or layouts, you can store the desired map projections within those templates. Then, when a job is created, the projections are pre-set, the editor or cartographer can open the job for edits.
5. Do the generalization tools support a customized data model, or do we need to convert the data to a standard data model like Topographic Data Store (TDS) to use the tools?
The generalization tools in ArcGIS Topographic Mapping can work on a custom data model. The tools themselves are generic in that they do not need any configuration. The configuration is in the generalization rule file which contains the specification information for your data model and the metrics for the generalization. This file is used by the generalization tools.
6. Is an ArcGIS Workflow Manager license necessary for the topographic workflows? And what version are the workflows available?
The workflows we showed in the webinar are predefined workflows delivered with ArcGIS Topographic Mapping product files. These predefined workflows need the ArcGIS Workflow Manager Advanced Server and ArcGIS Topographic Mapping Server extensions. These workflows are available with ArcGIS Topographic Mapping for ArcGIS Enterprise 12.0, released in November 2025.
