How do I make a map on Arc for desktop with an excfile I've already created?

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08-25-2014 02:55 PM
KendallLeeper
New Contributor

I just downloaded a free trial of ArcGIS for desktop and can't figure out how to make a map with my already existing excel file.  Can anyone help?  Unfortunately, I'm under a deadline to get this done.  Thank you! K

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MelitaKennedy
Esri Notable Contributor

Your first stop should probably be this help topic. Things to watch out for--the coordinate system in this tool must match the coordinate values, not what you want the data or map to be in. For instance, if the values are latitude and longitude, you need to assign a geographic coordinate system like WGS 1984 or NAD 1983 (if in the US). Also, X = longitude and Y = latitude if that's what the coordinate are.

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KendallLeeper
New Contributor

Thank you.  I'm actually mapping zip codes.

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Jorge_LeandrosTovar
New Contributor

Hello Kendall,

My name is Jorge. I can help, I am familiar with putting Excel data in ArcMap to view in a map. What you are trying to do is a spatial join. You first have to find a similar field in your Excel data and your ZipCode data to preform the join - the records have to match. Then import your Excel file into ArcMap - if you're using ArcMap 10 you can just click the "add data" button, the file should just go right in. Then perform the spatial join - right click the ZipCodes layer and then click join.

Good luck.

Jorge Leandros Tovar
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