Importing new symbols in ArcGIS 10
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I know this is an old thread, but I thought I'd add my two cents. I used a free vector graphics program called Inkscape (which can also read AI files) to create my own svg symbol font and then used a free online font converter to convert it to TTF. It worked pretty well!
Here is a tutorial on making fonts in Inkscape:
Make a dingbat font with Inkscape | Clever Someday
I found that the symbol editor in ArcMap didn't quite get me the look I wanted for any symbols with layers. There were often alignment problems. My next step was to convert the symbols into a cartographic representation. Cartographic representations are much easier to refine. They looked great.
I'm finding now that I want to add more symbols to my Representations and would like to directly import vector graphics from Inkscape. Anyone know if there is a way to do that?
Hi Caroline,
Cartographic representations are stored in the gdb, so there shouldn't be an issue as far as viewing. I think you may also be able to export as a layer.
I basically created a font that I would have to layer once I got into ArcMap. In my example above the circle, arrows and text are all different characters in the font. I created them using a multi-layer symbol and then converted them to cartographic representations, where I further refined them.
I would suggest that you create the multi layer symbol in Symbol Property Editor and then convert it to a representation.
In this example, I used two simple symbols to create the circles and then my custom font to create the character marker symbol in the center. From there, I would convert the symbols to a representation (right click on the layer in ArcMap).
Representation Editor Screen:
Notice how the symbols are a bit off-centre and mis-aligned.
Here is the finished symbol in the Representation Editor:
