Drawing tools
The drawing tools allow you to annotate your map with text and shapes. All drawings are saved to Places, where they can be edited for position, size, colour, and labelling.
Through the introduction of the sketch widget to support 3D drawn places, the behaviour between 2D and 3D places differs. For more information please refer to 3D places.
2D places can be edited and when viewed in 3D or 360 mode will drape over the terrain. Places drawn in 3D or 360 mode have an elevation applied.
The placement of the 3D place can be adjusted whilst drawing but can't be edited after it has been accepted.
The examples within this section refer to 2D objects.
Drawing tools and editing places
Select the Spanner tool (top right) to pop out the toolbar to use a drawing tool.
To edit an existing Place, navigate to the Places menu tab on the left, then click Edit places.
While editing, you can remove a Place individually or by groups at a time and modify the size and position of selected Places.
Draw and edit a point
To begin drawing, select Draw Places from the Toolbar menu.
Select Draw point from the list of options.
Choose the type of point you would like.
Before you click to place a point, you can change options for the fill and outline colour, stroke colour and stroke width.
Once you are happy with your selection, click on the map where the point should be placed, it will be drawn on the map will also be added to Places.
Navigating to Places and selecting Edit places allows you to edit the location of your point after you select it.
Any changes to the Point can be found under its Attributes.
Draw and edit a rectangle
Select Draw rectangle from the list of options.
Before you click to draw, you can change options for the fill colour and opacity, stroke colour and width.
Click and drag to draw your rectangle on the map, certain measurements will be shown above the latitude and longitude (bottom left), and the rectangle will be added to Places.
Navigating to Places and selecting Edit places allows you to edit your drawn rectangle after you select it.
Clicking on any of the corner vertices will allow you to change the size, or the centre square to rotate the rectangle.
Any changes to the rectangle can be found under its attributes.
Draw and edit a line
Select draw line from the list of options.
Before you click to draw, you can change options for the line colour and stroke width.
Click a start point for the line to begin, click again to create a line segment, click, and drag to draw freehand, double click to stop drawing, and the line will be added to Places. Certain measurements will be shown above the latitude and longitude (bottom left).
Navigating to Places and selecting Edit places allows you to edit your drawn line after you select it.
Clicking and dragging on any of the vertices along the line will allow you to change the line direction or distance and clicking directly on the line will create a new vertex at the specified point.
Any changes to the line properties can be found under its Attributes
Draw and edit a polygon
Select draw Polygon from the list of options. Before you click to draw, you can change options for the fill colour and opacity, as well as the stroke colour and width.
Click a start point for the polygon to begin, click again to create a vertex, click, and drag to draw freehand, double click to stop drawing, and the polygon will be added to Places. Navigating to Places and selecting Edit places allows you to edit your drawn polygon after you select it.
Clicking and dragging on any of the vertices along the polygon will allow you to change the line direction or distance and clicking directly on the polygon segment will create a new vertex at the specified point.
Any changes to the polygon properties can be found under its Attributes.
Draw and edit a circle or ellipse
Select Draw circle from the list of options. Before you click to draw, you can change options for the fill colour and opacity, stroke colour and width. If you wish to draw an ellipse instead, turn off the checkbox labelled "Draw Circle".
Click and drag to draw your circle on the map, certain measurements will be shown above the latitude and longitude (bottom left), and the circle will be added to Places.
Navigating to Places and selecting Edit places allows you to edit your drawn circle after you select it.
Clicking on the vertex will allow you to change the size of the circle and clicking inside the shape allows you to move it to a new location. Any changes to the circle properties can be found under its Attributes.
Draw and edit text
To begin drawing, select Draw text from the list of options. Before you click to draw, you can change options for the text colour, font, text weight, size and edit the text content.
Click a point on the map, the text will be placed at that point, and the text will also be added to Places.
Navigating to Places and selecting Edit places allows you to edit the text after you select it.
Clicking on the square on the outside of the text will allow you rotate it to face a desired direction (2D Feature only).
Note: editing the colour, font, weight, and name of text is undertaken separate to the Edit places tool. Attributes can also be seen under Places and give basic information about its location.
Label places and imported data
Adding label to a place
Expand the place that you want to label.
Select the Add label to map checkbox to include a label for that place.
Adding label to user added data layers
Expand the user-added data layer
Specify the Display field label you want to use.
Then select Show display field label.
These labels can be saved and shared in a map or included in a print. Please note that these labels are not available for offline maps or able to be carried across to ArcGIS Online.