saving details of a grid to apply to other files

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08-31-2017 11:13 AM
HelgaGomes
New Contributor II

My apologies if this is a super easy question or has been asked before but I cant seem to find it because my ArcMap expertise is severely limited.When we produce maps as figures for publication we set a grid using View->Data Frame Properties->New Grid and chose out of the 3 options - usually "Graticule divides map by Meridians and Parallels as it suits our oceanographic setup. Then we go through all the details like font, line style etc all of which can get tedious if you have many figures and have to repeat this again and again. How can we save a template like file of our setup and apply it to all our other figures in the future? That would save us a ton of time! Thanks a lot!

Helga

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JayantaPoddar
MVP Esteemed Contributor

It would have been more helpful if you could have attached screenshots of your MXDs/ Table of Content.

Every MXD will have at-least 1 Data Frame. By default, the name of the Data Frame is "Layers". I had just renamed my Data Frame to "Template Data Frame".

Using data frames—Help | ArcGIS for Desktop 



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JayantaPoddar
MVP Esteemed Contributor

Hi Helga,

After you make the necessary changes to create a custom Map Document, save the map in 

C:\Users\<UserName>\AppData\Roaming\ESRI\Desktop10.x\ArcMap\Templates

This template will show up every time you open a new document in ArcMap, alongside the Blank Map.

Also keep a backup of this map document, as the template could get deleted if the C: Drive is formatted or if the ArcGIS Profile is reset.



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HelgaGomes
New Contributor II

Thanks a lot Jayanta. before anything else I tried to locate this Templates folder in my ArcMap but i couldnt find it.

Can i/Should I make one?

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HelgaGomes
New Contributor II

Sorry Jayanta I did find the folder.

So now do I just do File-> Save as->MyTemplate

and then when I want to use it for another file how do I get MyTemplate back?

Thanks a lot.

Helga

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JayantaPoddar
MVP Esteemed Contributor

When you use the template for another file and click SAVE button, it will prompt you to save the file as a different name (SAVE AS option). So the template file which you have just created cannot be overwritten.

Save the other finished MXDs to your project folder.



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JayantaPoddar
MVP Esteemed Contributor

Navigate to C:\Users\<CurrentUserName>\AppData\Roaming.

If the AppData Folder is hidden, check Show Hidden Files and Folders 

The complete path is C:\Users\<UserName>\AppData\Roaming\ESRI\Desktop10.x\ArcMap\Templates



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HelgaGomes
New Contributor II

To clarify I already have made my maps for a dataset X and now I would like to reproduce the exact grid with all the details that my colleague produced from her files to mine so we have the same identical grids as the region is the same.

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HelgaGomes
New Contributor II

Hi Jayanta,

Thanks a million. Yes after using the "Show Hidden Files" i was able to navigate to C:\Users\helga\AppData\Roaming\ESRI\Desktop10.4\ArcMap

1)Then I took my colleague's file which has the correct grid and Save as into the above location and named it XXYY

2) Now i am still confused as to how to apply this XXYY template to my own files.Sorry!

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JayantaPoddar
MVP Esteemed Contributor

There is nothing to be sorry about. 

Do you have any MXD which has the desired template? If yes, then open the MXD file > Remove all the layers from the Table of Contents. You should still see the Grids and Graticules in it since it is a property of the Data Frame. Save this MXD to the C:\Users\<UserName>\AppData\Roaming\ESRI\Desktop10.x\ArcMap\Templates.

Optional

If you also want to preserve the symbology of the layers, then you need to save the layers in Table of Contents as Layer Files (.lyr). Then you can import the symbology of the saved layer files to your layers.

I feel that I didn't understand your requirement properly.

Could you explain your requirement further with appropriate screenshots?



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HelgaGomes
New Contributor II

Hi Jayant,

Thanks ever so much. I think i understood it partially. 1) So in order to make my Template I take the MXD file that has all the settings that I want, then I remove all the layers 2) I Save As -> MyTemplate in C:\Users\helga\AppData\Roaming\ESRI\Desktop10.4\ArcMap\Templates 3) I then use this MyTemplate file to "Add" my project data and make a new MXD file. This will now have the grid from my template.

BUT NOW MY QUESTION IS:

What if I already have a MXD file which has no grid but I want to import the grid from MyTemplate into it. Can this not be done?

Do I have to start with MYTemplate and then add layers to it?

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