Add styles to a project

Styles are containers that store symbols, colors, color schemes, label placements, and layout items. They promote consistency and standardization across maps, scenes, and layouts. The symbol galleries and color pickers you work with when you author maps, scenes, and layouts are populated by items stored in styles.

Project styles

Styles are managed as items in a project. You can add as many styles as you want to a project.

Add styles to a project

There are different types of styles you can add, as outlined in the following table. See the Styles topic for details about each type.

Type of style	Description
System style	The styles that are authored by Esri and included in the ArcGIS AllSource installation. Some system styles are added to new projects by default, but you can add any of the other system styles to a project also.
Custom style	Any style that is not a system style is a custom style. You can add custom styles to a project or you can create styles.
Web style	Web styles are used in the Scene Viewer. They support fewer style item types and symbol properties than ArcGIS AllSource styles.
Mobile style	Mobile styles are used in mobile apps. They support fewer style item properties than ArcGIS AllSource styles.

To add a style to a project, follow these steps:

1. On the ribbon, click the Insert tab. In the Styles group, click Add .
   • To add a custom style (including a web style or a mobile style), click Add Style . In the Add a style file dialog box, browse to the location of the style, either locally or in a portal.
   • To add a system style, click Add System Style to open the System Styles dialog box. System styles are grouped by theme in the list on the left. Expand the groups and check one or more styles to add.
2. Click OK to add the style to the project.

Alternatively, you can add styles from the Catalog pane or a catalog view. Right-click the Styles item container , point to Add, and click Add Style or Add System Style .

To remove a style from a project, select it under the Styles item container in the Catalog pane or a catalog view. Right-click the selected style and click Remove .

Add styles from ArcGIS Online or ArcGIS Enterprise

You can browse to or search for styles or web styles in ArcGIS Online or ArcGIS Enterprise. These may be styles created by Esri for specific industries in specific languages or styles created by you, your organization, or someone else.

Tip:

The ArcGIS Pro Styles organization contains many styles authored by Esri that are available for download.

ArcGIS AllSource styles added to a project from ArcGIS Online or ArcGIS Enterprise become a project item in the current project. They are stored in your user profile at [drive]:\Users\[your_name]\Documents\ArcGIS\OnlineStyles. You can add them to other projects from that location without importing them again. When you add web styles to a project, a reference is maintained to their online location. They are not copied locally.

To add a style to a project from ArcGIS Online or ArcGIS Enterprise, follow these steps:

1. On the ribbon, click the Insert tab. In the Styles group, click Add and click Add Style .
2. On the Add a style file browse dialog box, under Portal , click a content collection, such as My Organization .

   Styles available in the content collection appear in the contents list on the right.

3. Click a style to select it and click OK.

   Tip:

   You can type a search term in the search box at the top of the dialog box to help you find items. This is necessary when the content collection is ArcGIS Online because no items appear until you search. Search for stylx to find all available style files.

Add a style to all new projects

If there is a style you use often, you can add it to all new projects. Complete the following steps to add a style to the project favorites collection and add it to all new projects.

1. Open a catalog view.
2. Browse to the folder that contains the style.
3. Click the item to select it.
4. On the ribbon, click the Catalog tab. In the Organize group, click Add To New Projects .

   The item is added to the project favorites collection. In the favorites collection, it is marked with a pin to indicate that it will be added to new projects.

   Note:

   To add a style to all new projects, you must browse to the style from a folder connection, not select it in the project's Styles container .

Create a style in the project

You can create empty styles in a project. Manage the style from a catalog view to copy style items from other project styles into it or create style items directly. When you create a style, you choose a file location to store it. You can then access the style from that location in other projects.

To create a style in a project, follow these steps:

1. On the ribbon, click the Insert tab. In the Styles group, click New and click New Style .

   Alternatively, click New Mobile Style to create a mobile style suited for use with maps that will be shared in mobile apps.

2. Browse to a folder to store the new style. Type a name for the new style and click Save.

Import a desktop style into the project

Desktop styles (those used in ArcMap, ArcGlobe, or ArcScene) cannot be used directly in ArcGIS AllSource because of differences in the underlying database structure. However, you can import a desktop style, which makes an ArcGIS AllSource version of it and adds it to your project.

Once imported, the ArcGIS AllSource version of the style is placed in the project home folder; for example, [install drive]:\\Users\MyUserName\Documents\ArcGIS\Projects\MyProjectName. You can reference it from this location (or copy it elsewhere) in other ArcGIS AllSource projects. There is no need to import a desktop style more than once.

Caution:

Ensure that any fonts associated with the style are installed in the Fonts directory on your computer before importing.

To import a desktop style, follow these steps:

1. On the ribbon, click the Insert tab. In the Styles group, click Import .
2. Browse to a desktop style file (*.style) and click OK to create a *.stylx file and add it to the project.

Upgrade a style

Styles created in older versions of ArcGIS AllSource may reference an older symbol model and may have limited compatibility with the current version of ArcGIS AllSource. When you add an out-of-date style, you are notified and given an option to upgrade the style. If you do not upgrade the style, it can still be used in a project, but it will be read-only. If you choose to upgrade it, a copy is made in the same location as the original style and the new editable version is added to the project.

To upgrade an out-of-date style in a project, right-click the style in the Catalog pane or a catalog view and click Upgrade .

Unsupported styles

If the status indicates that a style is not supported, it is because the style was created in or upgraded by a newer version of ArcGIS AllSource, or the style is corrupt. The error The version of the selected style is not supported, or the style is otherwise invalid may be returned. Check the path where the style is located; a copy of the style for the correct version may have been previously generated.