tut: ArcGIS to Illustrator 5 | College of the Environment

<previous> Adobe Illustrator Keyboard Shortcuts <next>

Park V: Editing Symbology and Text in Adobe Illustrator

Now, finally, we’re ready to start working on the map itself. We'll to do three things:

adjust the symbology as needed
work on the text (add some, tweak what you have, etc.)
choose a custom effect to enhance your map

These three tasks will probably be somewhat iterative – you’ll need to do the symbology and your chosen effect before you can finalize the text, but likewise the text itself may influence your symbology and the parameters of your effects… Go back and forth as needed to arrive at a final product to your liking.

Colors:

You will most likely want to tweak the colors that were imported from ArcMap. For one thing, you will note that the colors probably appear different in Adobe Illustrator from the colors you chose in ArcMap. This is due to the change from ArcMap (which uses the RGB color model by default) to the AI file (which we specified as CMYK). We could have minimized this difference by specifying all of our colors in ArcMap using the CMYK color model (instead of RGB or HSV), but even so some color differences would probably exist. Likewise, if we had not switched to CMYK but had stayed in RGB when we exported our .ai file the colors would be closer, but still not a perfect match. Ultimately, CMYK is better for printing (RGB is better for web or screen graphics). For this exercise we are most concerned with our final paper print so the choice of CMYK was the right one, we just need to get the colors to look the way we want. Note that you will probably find that the match between the colors of the AI file and the printed page to be closer than the match would have been if you had simply printed the original map from ArcMap. This is one of the reasons many cartographers prefer to do more of their work in Illustrator…

Start by printing a color draft copy of your map (see printing notes at the end of this document)
Compare the printed colors with the colors on the screen – for this lab the printed colors are more important, so you may need to adjust what you see on screen to get what you want on paper…
To adjust the colors of your map features you will need to first identify which layer contains the features you want to change (turn layers on/off to help figure this out as needed)
1. Remember that you can rename layers (or sub-layers) if you wish
Once you know which layer you want to edit, unlock that layer and lock the other layers (see Adobe Illustrator Keyboard Shortcuts )
Use the Selection Tool to select a feature you wish to alter (for example you could select a particular island)
1. The vertices of the selected feature will be highlighted
2. You can use the Shift button to select multiple features
3. To select all of the features in a particular layer you can check the Blue box beside the layer name in the Layers panel (checking the blue box in the main layer name will check all of the boxes of the individual paths at the same time).
With a feature selected, double-click on the Fill icon (in the Tools Panel) to open the Color Picker
Choose a different color as desired and click OK
You can change the polygon outlines by adjusting the Stroke
1. See notes on adjusting paths (lines) below for tips on how to customize the polygon outlines
Repeat for other features…
For the ocean, create a new layer (as we did for the Mask Layer)
1. Name this layer Ocean
2. Arrange it at the bottom of your Layer list
3. Set your Ocean layer as Editable (and lock the others)
4. Specify your Fill color of choice (probably choosing a blue color)
5. Draw a rectangular box that fills the map frame (creating an ocean background fill)
Optional: If you want, you can experiment with Gradient fills, etc. – refer to the Help files, or Google, for advice, tutorials and tips…

Line Features (“Paths”):

The colors of lines can be changed using the Stroke icon (from the Tools Panel). You can also change the style of the lines using the Stroke Panel. We’ll use these stroke options to create a dashed line for the Border (creating a dashed border with a gray casing is REQUIRED for the lab assignments in ENVS-321)…

From the Windows menu, choose Stroke to open the Stroke panel
1. Click the expand/contract icon to the left of the Stroke tab to see the full panel
Unlock your Borders layer (or whatever you have it called)
1. Optionally lock all of the other layers (you might turn the other layers off too)
Expand the sub-layers of your Borders layer
1. Note that the Borders layer should have multiple Path layers
Create a second copy of your Borders layer :
1. Select your Borders layer (it should be highlighted but no blue boxes)
2. From the drop down menu at the top of the Layers panel choose Duplicate Borders
3. Rename your Borders copy layer to be Borders Casing
4. Move your Borders Casing layer below your original Borders layer
Create a casing around your Borders line:
1. In the Layers Panel, check the blue box beside the Borders Casing layer (which will also select each of the Borders Casing path layers). Note: you could use the Selection Tool select individual paths, holding the shift button to select additional lines. For our purposes we simply want to select them all.
2. Double-click the Stroke icon (in the main Tools Panel) to select an appropriate color for the line (suggestion: medium gray)
3. In the Stroke Panel adjust the Weight (size) of the line as desired so that it is larger (wider) than the main Borders layer that should be visible above your Borders Casing layer, creating the effect of a single line with a gray casing around it.
In the Layers Panel, check the blue box beside the Borders layer (which will also select each of the Borders Path layers):
1. Double-click the Stroke icon (in the main Tools Panel) to select an appropriate color for the line
2. In the Stroke Panel adjust the Weight (size) of the line as desired
3. In the Stroke Panel click the Dashed Line check box
  1. Enter/change the values of the Dash and Gap and Dash and Gap boxes (as many as you like) to create a dashed line to your liking
  2. Repeat and adjust your dashes and gaps as needed…
View your resulting Borders and Borders Casing paths. Repeat this process as needed to get a dash pattern, casing and color(s) you are happy with. You might also try:
1. In the Stroke Panel click the Round Cap icon (to the right of Cap:)
2. In the Stroke Panel click the icon to the right of Dashed Lines to choose Align dashes to corners and path ends
Print a draft of your map to see how the dashed lines look on the printed page…
Adjust the colors, widths, etc. of your other lines as desired
SAVE your .ai file…

Graphic Shapes (vertices):

Though you probably don't need to (and won’t care to), you can also edit the shapes of the graphics themselves...

Lock/unlock layers as needed
Zoom in as needed (see shortcuts below)
Use the Selection Tool to select a feature (the vertices will be highlighted)
Use the Direct Selection Tool (the white arrow next to the Selection Tool) to select an individual vertex (the chosen vertex will be blue, the other vertices will be white)
Adjust the selected vertex as desired by dragging it to alter the shape of the feature
Save your .ai file…

Text:

The labels that were imported may not be the final text that you will want to keep. Illustrator provides much greater control over your text than ArcGIS, but it can be a little overwhelming. However, before you can start working with the text you will need to first Delete the Clipping Path (as we did above) and Ungroup the layer (if you haven’t already done so). You will also note that the text from ArcGIS comes in as size 1 (see the Size drop down box in the Character panel at the top of the screen – if you don’t see the Character panel check to see that all of your text layers are ungrouped and the clipping paths have been deleted). Obviously the text is not actually 1 pt - it is whatever size you specified in ArcGIS. To get things back right again:

Select one of your text layers (the entire layer) - you can do this by checking the blue box to the right of the layer name (i.e., cities_Baltics Anno or something like that)
1. Once the entire layer is selected, press the up arrow button on the key board
2. Note that the Size of font (as shown on the Character panel) changes to a meaningful value
3. If anything goes wrong, remember that you can use Ctrl-Z to undo a step or series of step.

Before you spend much time tweaking your existing text you will also need to create some new text for some of the Ocean features, etc. This is a good way to familiarize yourself with the basic text tools in Adobe Illustrator. Later you can come back and edit the text from ArcGIS as well. We’ll start by labeling the major Straits and Bays.

Using the Create New Layer icon on the Layers Panel, create a new Layer titled Map Text
1. Relocate your Map Text layer in the Layer list as needed
2. Make sure the Map Text layer is editable and the other layers are locked
Select the Type Tool from the Tools Panel (the letter T icon - See screen shot below)
1. Note that when you select the Type Tool the Control Panel at the top of the screen changes
2. Click the Character option from the Control Panel (or from the Window menu you can choose Type / Character) to open the Character Panel

Using the Type Tool and the Character panel options you can specify the font, style, size, character spacing, height, rotation, etc…
You can choose a color for your text using the Fill tool or the color selector at the left side of the Control menu (Note: you can also change the color of text by selecting the text using the Selection tool and then choosing a color from the Fill tool)
Click on the map where you wish to add some text and type away…
1. When done typing, press the Esc. key to stop typing (or choose the Selection Tool)
As with graphic objects, you can use the Selection Tool to select, move, delete or alter text
Double-click a text string using the Selection Tool or the Type Tool to edit the text
You can also edit the existing text that came from ArcMap
Identify and make editable the appropriate layer(s)
Select text and modify as needed
You can rotate text as desired, either by specifying a rotation angle in the Character panel or by using the Selection Tool (select the text then click just off of one of the corners)
To add splined text you will need to create a Path and then then add text to it:
Choose the Pen Tool or the Pencil Tool from the Tools panel and draw a line where desired
- The Pencil Tool allows you to draw a line freehand
- The Pen Tool allows you to create curves from anchor points and modifying the direction / magnitude lines (refer to online or Adobe help files for tutorials about the Pen Tool if you are unfamiliar with this type of curve tool)

With the line still selected (from drawing it) choose the Text Tool
Click on the line you just drew and begin typing (the text should follow the line)
- Note that the line itself is no longer shown once you have associated text to it

To add a Text Halo see the Effects sections...