Design Style

The Design Style determines the look and feel of the components on the map, including the symbols, colors, and labels. Design Styles determine the symbology for both existing components and new components you add in the design. If you have ever used an application in the ArcFM Desktop Suite, Design Styles are the same concept as Stored Displays.

You control the Design Style you would like to use in the Maps Pane, and you can further configure the look and feel of the map in the Designs subtab (every company’s Design Styles are different, and the image is just an example). If you make changes to the Design Style’s options, they are saved with the current design.

Reference Layers and Backdrop

A Design Style comes with a default set of Reference layers turned on and a default Backdrop. However, you can change the Reference layers and Backdrop. A Design Style can be combined with any available Reference layers and Backdrop.

Click either the Reference or Backdrop subtabs to change the selections. Notice, the Design Style drop-down is available while on any subtab (every company’s Reference layers are different, and the image is just an example):

Design Style Options

There are several ways to change the look and feel of the Design Style. These changes are saved with the design. In other words, if you manipulate the Design Style and save, your changes persist the next time you open the design. You are not changing the Design Style for all users at your company, just for that one design you are working on.

The following list of options is organized as they appear top to bottom in the Maps Pane > Design subtab:

• Reset

  • Click Reset to return the Design Style back to its default settings.

• Basemap Opacity

  • This slide bar controls the visibility of the Backdrop map. An opacity of 0 means the map is essentially invisble and similar to being turned off. An opacity of 1.00 means the map is fully visible with full color intensity.

  • This slide bar does not change the visibility of Reference layers.

• Reference Scale

  • The Reference Scale allows map elements to shrink and grow as you zoom in and out. It is intuitive for symbols to get larger as you zoom in, and smaller as you zoom out. With no Reference Scale, symbols would remain the same size regardless of your map extent/zoom.

  • For design purposes, the two questions to ask are, “What is the most common map extent/zoom that I use while designing?” and, “What size should the symbols be at that map extent/zoom?” To try it in the application:

    1. Use the mouse wheel to zoom the map to a desired map extent/scale. Always zoom the map first before moving on to the Reference Scale.

    2. Change the Reference Scale ratio until the symbols appear at an appropriate size.

  • Your preferences vary, but here is a sample at 1:300.

    

  • And, here is a sample at 1:600.

    

  TIP: If you find you have to change the Reference Scale for all designs, the best thing to do is reach out to your administrator to change the default Reference Scale for that Design Style. That way, the Design Style opens with the appropriate scale.

• Map Rotation

  • Type in a numeric value to rotate the entire map, then press Enter. The map rotates in a counter-clockwise direction using a scale of 0 to 360 degrees. The north arrow in the bottom, right-hand corner of the map automatically rotates to match the map rotation.

    

  • To reset the map where north points straight up, type 0 in the map Rotation, then press Enter.

• Visibility Toggles

  • Click the visibility toggles to turn labels or components on or off. The Design Style could also be configured to turn components on or off by an attribute, such as Work Function.