4 replies to this topic

[Nyami]

Hi Everybody,
I am in the process of making a Dot Density Map in ArcGIS 10.1. I would like to create a "visual anchor" (boxes in the legend that include 2 or 3 examples of dot densities followed by text describing the density such as 'low, medium, high') as part of the legend so that map readers can reference different dot densities represented on different parts of the map. Everything that I have read says this is an important feature to include on a Dot Density map but so far I haven't seen anything about how to create the visual anchor. Can anyone offer any advice on how to proceed?

Thanks,
Nyami

[razornole]

I've never tried to quantify the density of the dots with an ordinal scale. A well executed dot density should speak for itself, the data are dense where the dots are dense and they are sparse where there is a paucity of dots.

kru

[DaveB]

One way to make a dot denisty legend with different patches representing different densities would be to make it as a data frame, with mock data. Create however many rectangles you want (or whatever shape you want the legend patches to be), give each shape an appropriate value, symbolize with the same dot density settings as used in your actual map, and label/annotate as you like (you could probably set up fields in the data and use labeling properties to do the labeling, or just use static text).

[Nyami]

One way to make a dot denisty legend with different patches representing different densities would be to make it as a data frame, with mock data. Create however many rectangles you want (or whatever shape you want the legend patches to be), give each shape an appropriate value, symbolize with the same dot density settings as used in your actual map, and label/annotate as you like (you could probably set up fields in the data and use labeling properties to do the labeling, or just use static text).

Very clever! That works.

Thank you,
Nyami

[Gretchen Peterson]

I would select three parts of the map that represent the three categories (low, med, high). Use something like MWSnap 3 (freeware) to select a pre-sized square or rectangular part of the map, then include these three selections as images in the legend. To get a higher resolution for print mapping, size the map quite large--a large screen is helpful--then take the snapshots and size them down.