As a recent hire to SSP Innovations, I have very fresh memories of what it was like to be new to ArcGIS. When I first opened ArcMap, I felt overwhelmed with all the things going on. I saw a forest of buttons, but I had no idea which one would even open a map and take me where I wanted to go.

After a couple of months using and developing for ArcGIS, these are five tips my co-workers and I would have appreciated when we were ArcGIS greenhorns.

Understand the Intended Workflow

When I first began using ArcMap, I had no idea how it was intended to be used.  I saw a lot of buttons, but the first step to opening a map and editing it was not immediately clear to me.

As I talked with my more experienced colleagues and played around with it more, I got the hang of ArcMap and how our clients used it to keep track of their assets in the field and became comfortable with their workflows.  Every other aspect of ArcMap made a lot more sense to me once I fully understood the way our clients used ArcGIS, and I was better able to configure my ArcGIS workspace to support this workflow.

ArcGIS is a complex and versatile program, so getting to know the particular workflow for your organization is key to using it well.

Toolbars

A large part of my initial confusion with ArcMap came from being overwhelmed by the vast number of buttons and tools staring back at me.  Many of the tools looked very different from any other program I had ever worked with before, and I had no clue where to start.

I have found that focusing on toolbars rather than the individual tools has made me so much more comfortable with using ArcMap.  What I would recommend for any new user is to get familiar with the toolbars and the uses associated around them before focusing on the specific tools they contain.

I also recommend that you set your toolbars up in a way that logically supports your workflow, especially the toolbars that you see yourself using the most.  You can add toolbars to your workspace by selecting Toolbars in the Customize menu and then selecting a toolbar from the list of available toolbars.  By scrolling to the bottom of the list of toolbars, there is also an option to create a custom toolbar, if that is of any appeal to you.

Workspace

Many applications have a workspace where much of the work is accomplished, and ArcMap is no exception.  When first using ArcMap, you quickly get the feel for both the toolbars area and the “mapping” area.  How are these areas affected, though, when you want to view tables or use tools that have their own graphical layout within ArcMap?

For me, it was kind of a “put this over here and that over there” type of occurrence until I eventually found myself asking, “Why can’t I see my mapping area anymore?”  What had happened in my case is that I got caught up in what I was trying to do and did not stop to organize my workspace to logically support my workflow.

Once I sat down and took the time to arrange my workspace, my work became much easier and I was able to do it much more efficiently.

To help organize your workspace, ArcMap allows snapping different components to areas within the application as well as “pinning” components to the workspace.  I have also found snapping to be very useful when working with tables; I generally want to keep them in one predictable place.  To snap a component that that has the ability to be snapped in ArcMap, you simply drag the component, which in return shows some pop-up triangles. These triangles help you to snap the component into the highlighted area.

Pinning components has been one of the greatest ways for me to keep my workspace organized, and I definitely recommend that anyone using a component that is “pinnable” takes advantage of pinning it.  It took me much longer to figure out how to pin components to the workspace than how to snap them.

To pin a component you simply look for the little tack-looking symbol that lies right by the “x” on the component and click it.  Once a component is pinned, you can take advantage of auto-hiding that component and look forward to more freedom within your workspace.

Versioning

Versioning is a very important and powerful concept of ArcGIS.  It essentially allows users to make edits in the same geodatabase at the same time via ArcMap, and then the enterprise database keeps track of the separate sessions of edits as versions.

This way, the database can keep track of the changes made by different users and post those changes to the master copy of the geo-spatial data (normally SDE.DEFAULT). Skye wrote a great series on Versioning for Dummies, and I would highly recommend reading it to get a more in-depth understanding on how versioning in ArcGIS works.

Changing the Zoom of the Mouse Wheel

There are also other useful tricks to using ArcGIS. One is changing the scroll wheel modification so that the wheel zoom centers on the mouse cursor rather than on the center of the display, just like it does on Google Maps.  To accomplish this, go to “Customize”, click “ArcMap Options”, and then click “General Tab.”  Near the bottom of the dialog, there is an option to “Roll Forward/ Drag Up to Zoom” in or out of the map. For the “Wheel Zoom Centers On:” menu, select “Cursor.”  Other tips and tricks like this one can be found in our ebook ArcGIS/ArcFM™ Shortcuts & Hints.

Though this is not an exhaustive list, these tips will definitely get you on the right path to ArcGIS mastery.  Getting familiar with ArcGIS can seem like a daunting task, but time, practice. and help from experienced colleauges will ultimiately get you where you need to be.

Did these tips help you like they helped us?  Let us know in the comments below.  If you have a tip of your own, please feel free to share