I’ve got this map, but it’s a PDF… How many times have you found a PDF containing data that you’re really interested in using in your latest project, but for which you cannot locate the source GIS or CAD datasets, even after spending hours trawling through your file system? Have you reluctantly decided to give…
Read detailsIt can be difficult, when you have a lot of data, to find exactly that you want. There may also be data hiding somewhere in your system that you never even knew existed. So how can you find this data easily? I still haven’t found what I’m looking for One answer is to use Voyager.…
Read detailsIn a previous blog, we showed how to plot dip and strike readings taken by a field geologist within ArcGIS desktop. This blog looks at acquiring and displaying geotagged photos within ArcGIS desktop, another useful tool in the field geologists’ arsenal. Now, where was that again? Geotagging allows you to automatically capture the location information…
Read detailsIn the first part of this post I explored some fundamental truths about GIS and why, inspired by the principles of Design Thinking, a good GIS strategy needs to focus on people not technology. In this second and final part I shall explore how to go about creating a successful GIS strategy, using a simple…
Read details“All great truths begin as blasphemies,” wrote the playwright George Bernard Shaw. So let’s get the ball rolling with some simple truths about GIS: A five-year old is better at GIS than most companies. Geographic information systems have been around for over 40 years. So it may be surprising that even today, many organisations still…
Read detailsI have experienced, and no doubt you have too, the tedium of saving out many layer files for the layers you have just created in your ArcMap map document. Having spent perhaps hours perfecting the symbology – getting that labelling to show just as you would like, tweaking the colours so they’re just right –…
Read detailsOne of the key features of a GIS is the ability to view spatial data at any scale. To do this you need to understand what information should be displayed at what scale. This understanding is useful both for working within the GIS and for creating usable output, such as hardcopy maps or PDF map…
Read detailsIt’s nearly time for the 2013 Esri Petroleum GIS Conference, or “the PUG”. This year the conference is being held May 7-9, and is back in the George R. Brown Convention Centre in Houston, Texas. Last year before the conference I posted a blog that looked at the PUG papers back to 2009 and classified them…
Read detailsTurn good maps into great maps by running some final checks before you print it out. In this blog I’ve put together a list of 10 things to check before printing from ArcGIS that ensure that my maps are as good as they can be. By way of an overview I’ve provided an annotated reference example map…
Read detailsFor anyone new to ArcGIS, using the editing tools can initially appear a little tricky, and while delivering our training courses I sometimes hear people say the editing process is not very intuitive. In an earlier Exprodat tip (Tip 20: ArcGIS Editing Sessions) I looked at selecting editable elements and organising templates. Here are a…
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