Create and Publish Custom Backdrops

If during your implementation meetings you decided to include custom backdrops, they need to be created in ArcMap or ArcGIS Pro and published as a tiled map service. While useful, custom backdrops are not required for a minimum implementation of Designer XI.

Before starting to create a custom backdrop, consider these requirements:

• It is strongly recommended that backdrops use the same projection as the electric or gas network.

• Ideally, the projection should match the native spatial reference of the data in the GIS. If not, the lengths reported by Designer XI can be significantly off.

• Raw latitude/longitude values as X and Y coordinates (sometimes referred to as the WGS84 projection or geodetic coordinates) are not supported. WGS84 can be used as a datum, just not as a coordinate system. The projected coordinate system must use either feet or meters as units.

• We strongly recommend using a projection that is optimized for accuracy of line lengths within your service area.

• You are allowed one projection for all backdrops. In other words, different backdrops cannot have different projections.

• You must use cached tile services and cannot draw dynamically from GIS data.

• By default, the maximum zoom scale provided by the tiling scheme is 1:1,128. Most likely, your users need to zoom in beyond that. The easiest way to provide lower levels is to import the tiling scheme from an ArcGIS Online layer and then append additional scales.

• If you want a feature to be visible at a certain scale, ensure it is actually turned on and visible at that scale in the published service. In other words, if you publish a service while buildings are turned off, they are not visible in the resulting service regardless of scale.

  IMPORTANT: For performance reasons, do not make all features visible at all scales. The actual tiles in the scheme become quite small and numerous at very close scales. If your intent is to allow users to zoom in very close on the map (for example, to read map annotations), consider having a custom backdrop for that exact purpose with only a few features turned on at that zoom level.

• If using ArcMap, only simple labels that point to a single field are supported. Expressions of any kind in ArcMap are not supported.

• If using ArcGIS Pro, label expressions written in Arcade script are supported.

I Have Published My Custom Backdrop, Now What?

After successfully publishing the backdrop, it is now time to inform Solution Center to use it as one of Designer XI’s backdrops. Read the Backdrops topic to learn more about their use and requirements.

1. Get your backdrop’s URL. The quickest way is to access ArcGIS Server Manager > Services. Click on a published backdrop, then select Capabilities to expose the URL.

2. Go to Solution Center > Designer > Mapping > Backdrops.

3. Click the Add button.

4. Type a user-friendly Display Name.

5. Paste the URL and click Save.