Tutorial 1:

Getting started – Opening a Project, Screen Layout, Adding Data, Saving your work
Tutorial content:

1.1. How do I start a new GIS project?

1.2. How do I open an existing project?
1.3. What is the basic layout of the ArcMap screen?
1.4. How do I add data to a project?
and what are the different types of data that can be included in a GIS and how are they different?
1.5. How do I save my work?

Opening ArcGIS on the Managed Desktop

Please note there are two different procedures for opening ArcGIS depending on whether the
program has been accessed before on the particular computer you are using. If ArcGIS has already
been used before on the computer you are using, the program will be accessible under ‘Programs’.

Click on the Start button in the bottom left hand corner of the screen.

Go to Programs, then ArcGIS, and then select ArcMap 10 (as shown in the figures below).

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*If there is no option for ArcGIS under ‘Programs’, you will need to install the software.

To do this, click on the Software Centre shortcut located in the Desktop

The following window will appear:

From the programs list, search and select ArcGIS, then click the INSTALL button

Please note that it might take some minutes to download the full program list and the installation
process.

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Once installed, you should be able to open ArcMap as explained above, by clicking Start, selecting
Programs, ArcGIS and then ArcMap 10.

Once ArcMap has been accessed, the following window will appear:

1.1. Starting a New Project

To create a new map document with an empty view frame (no data), select ‘Blank Map’ (the default
selection, accessible through New maps, My Templates).

Then select OK.

For this tutorial, create a new project.

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1.2. Opening an Existing Project

To open an existing project, you would select ‘Existing maps’.

You can also click on ‘Browse for Maps ...’ and navigate to the map folder using the ‘Look in’ drop-
down window. Double-click on the relevant .mxd file to open the project.

1.3. Basic Screen Layout

Once you have selected ‘Blank Map’, the basic ArcMap application window will open. The window
consists of a map display area, a table of contents (which will list the data layers shown in the display
area, once these have been added), and a number of toolbars for working on the display map and
undertaking analysis.

Title bar Menu bar

Table of Contents
Scale window ArcCatalogue
Tool bars Search
Map display

Menu bar: A series of drop-down menus can be accessed by clicking on each word.

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Table of Contents: The table of contents acts as a legend/key and enables you to control and make
changes to the layers or themes (data) in your map project.

Toolbars: To find out what an icon button does, hover over it with the mouse cursor and a label will
appear. There are more toolbars which can be accessed by right-clicking in the menu bar or toolbar
area and selecting from the drop-down menu which appears.

Map display area: The area of the screen where the map project is displayed.

ArcCatalogue: Allows you to access ArcCatalogue. ArcCataloge is a software complementary to

ArcMap and part of ArcGIS Desktop suit.

1.4. Adding Data and types of Data

*Note: Before you add any data it is necessary for you to access, download and save the tutorial data
to your U: drive account. In the ‘Layers of Landscape’ folder in MOLE2, click on “ArcGIS
Tutorials”, then “Tutorial data”, then “GIS Tutorial Data Folder 1”, download the tutorial data zip
folder, and save this folder directly onto your U drive, so that you can make changes to the data later
on. Before starting the tutorials please check that you had decompressed (unzippping) the folder in
your U drive, tutorial 14 shows an example on how to unzip.

After opening a .mxd project (new or existing), it is possible to add data (also known as layers, data or
themes). A Geographical Information System (GIS) can integrate and display data of many types and
formats, the most common being:

 Vector data – co-ordinate information that represents points, lines and areas (polygons)
 Raster/Bitmap data – Grid or image data which can include everything from street maps,
historic maps and plans, to aerial photographs and satellite images
 Attribute data – database and table information that is spatially related, either by a co-ordinate
or by being associated with a shape (such as a line or polygon)

To add data (layer), click the Add Data shortcut button.

Clicking the drop-down arrow gives you the option to add a basemap or add data from ArcGIS online.
For now just click the symbol to Add data.

Add Data can also be found in the File menu.

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The ‘Add Data’ window will appear:

To navigate to the drive where your data is saved (in this case your U: drive), click on the
Connect to Folder button in the ‘Add Data’ window.

The ‘Connect to Folder’ window will appear.

Navigate to and select to your data folder ‘GIS
Tutorial Data folder 1’ on your U: Drive and then
click OK.

After navigating to your data folder GIS Tutorial Data Folder 1 (on your U: drive), you need to select
the data files you wish to add. Select the files by clicking on them, then click Add.

To select multiple files from the same folder hold down the shift or Ctrl keys, whilst clicking on the
relevant files.

The added layers will appear in the table of contents.

Use this method to Select and add the following files from you ‘GIS Tutorial Data Folder 1’:

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Vector Data
 All files in folder GIS OS files in folder Edina OS data download
 Dtmloxley in folder Edina Digital Terrain. Please note: a warning window might appear on
screen stating ‘Unknown Spatial Reference’. This warning appears to be a software
problem in ArcMap with some data layers. Press OK, in this case the spatial reference will be
recognised and the data will display correctly. Tutorial 5 will explain how to import a spatial
reference, and then you will be able to reference this shapefile.

OS map data © Crown Copyright/database right 2009. An Ordnance Survey/EDINA supplied service.

Vector layers use co-ordinate information to represent points, lines and polygons (areas). We are now
going to add some raster data to our map project. Raster data is grid or image data and can include
everything from street maps, historic maps and plans, to aerial photographs and satellite images.

Unlike vector layers (points, lines, polygons) raster layers are solid, meaning you cannot see through
them.

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Raster Data
Add:
 Raster-50k-sk28.tif from folder Edina Raster map. This is an Edina 1:50,000 scale OS plan.

OS map data © Crown Copyright/database right 2009. An Ordnance Survey/EDINA supplied service.

Now add these other raster files:

 40sk28ne.tif and 40sk38nw from folder HistoricMap1893-1894 in folder Edina Historic
maps
 000.tif in folder Aerial 56 in folder Cities Revealed 2002 Aerial Photos.
When adding raster files, a window may appear asking ‘Would you like
to create pyramids? Click on Yes. Building the pyramids enables the
aerial photograph to regenerate more quickly when zooming in and out
and moving around the map display.

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Please note there are other aerial photographs in folders Aerial 57, Aerial 66, Aerial 67, which can also be added
and more historic maps from different periods in the folder Edina Historic maps.

OS map data © Crown Copyright/database right 2009. An Ordnance Survey/EDINA supplied service.

Saving your Work

To save the project, click on File in the top menu bar, then
select Save.

Navigate to the drive and folder you want to save the project in.
You might want to create a new folder. In this case a new folder
‘Projects’ has been created using the ‘Create New Folder’ icon.

Name the map project in the text box ‘File name:’ and click
Save. ArcMap will save the map document as an .mxd file. In
this case the project has been named ‘Tutorial.mxd’

Once you have named and saved your map project, the file name
should be shown in the top left corner of the ArcMap window.

You can now close the project. Click File in the top menu bar, and
then select Exit.

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*Important: Saving work in GIS

Please note the map document (.mxd file) does not store the actual map data-layers in it. The .mxd
file only saves information about where the individual map data is stored (which drive and folder on
the computer) and how that information should be displayed.

To open the map project and for all the data to be displayed it is necessary that all the data files are
retained in their original directories. If the route to a data file is changed (for example if the file is
moved to a different drive on the computer or even a different folder within the same drive) it will not
be found by the .mxd file and will not be able to be displayed in the project window.

In order to understand this point, it might help to look at the ‘List by Source’ tab at
the top of the table of contents. Click on List by Source.

It is now possible to see where the individual data

layers are saved on the computer and location
from which ArcMap is reading those files.

You might need to make the table of contents

wider to see the full pathname. To do this, click on
the edge of the table of contents and drag to the
right.

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