Pixelated Lines

[ChristopherCowley]

Hi,

I am a new Arc user and completely self-taught. I wondered if any of you could help with my problem. I have an Arc database I have been given and have added to it; some of the lines I have drawn using the Editor appear quite rough and pixelated - I need them to be smoother. Is this a case in increasing the resolution of the grid (is this possible?), or is this something I am going to have to live with?

I have attached an image showing my problem. The lines in question are the thick dark grey lines.

I am using 10.0 (and my IT deptartment tells me this is all I am allowed for now).

If you could help me out with this, or point me in the direction of a website that can, I'd really appreciate it.

[AlexeyTereshenkov]

Hi Christopher,

When you say "Arc database", do you mean ArcGIS geodatabase where you store your lines as feature classes? Or ArcINFO coverage?

If this is vector data, it cannot be "pixelated", because a line is essentially a connection between several points each of which has XY coordinates. The vector line can be digitized poorly though so it doesn't model the real-world object well (say a stream or a river). In order to make a line smoother (it will not become more accurate though!), you can use tools available in the Editing toolbar in ArcMap: http://help.arcgis.com/en/arcgisdesktop/10.0/help/index.html#/Editing_vertices_and_segments/001t0000... or tools available in the Advanced Editing toolbar in ArcMap: http://help.arcgis.com/en/arcgisdesktop/10.0/help/index.html#/About_simplifying_and_smoothing_a_feat....

If this is raster data, this means that the dark grey lines represent pixels each of which has, again, a certain location and different techniques should be used. For rasters, you might look into Spatial Analyst toolbox inside your ArcToolbox window. Take a look at Resample tool: http://help.arcgis.com/en/arcgisdesktop/10.0/help/index.html#//00170000009t000000. However, there is a bigger risk the resultant raster will be less accurate and caution shall be shown when applying raster processing techniques.

Do not forget to do backups whenever processing the data!