Use effects

To create a unique and eye-catching map in Map Viewer, you can apply effects to layers in the map. For example, you can apply a bloom effect to a layer showing volcanic eruptions, or make the labels on a map stand out by applying a drop shadow effect to the basemap reference layer. Experiment with the available effects to achieve the look and message you want. You can quickly apply one or more effects without changing the default settings, or you can customize the effects to suit your needs.

Tip:

You can use keyboard shortcuts to quickly complete common workflows in Map Viewer. To view the full list of keyboard shortcuts in Map Viewer, press Alt+? on Microsoft Windows or Option+? on Mac.

You can apply affects to the whole layer or to a subset of features in the layer. For example, on a layer with earthquake data, you can apply the Bloom + Transparency effect to emphasize earthquakes over a certain magnitude. Effects can be applied to points, lines, and areas, and can also be applied to raster and imagery layers.

When you apply an effect, there is no change to the data or to the original rendering of the layers. When you save the map, the effect is saved to the map.

Tip:

Try combining effects with blend modes and different styling options to fine-tune the appearance of the map. See an example of effects and blend modes in a map.

To learn more about using effects in Map Viewer, see the Get Started with Map Viewer Effects playlist.

Apply effects

Do the following to apply effects to a layer:

1. Confirm that you are signed in and, if you want to save your changes, that you have privileges to create, update, and delete content.

   Note:

   You can explore maps, add and configure layers, and more without signing in. To save your work, sign in before creating a map.

2. In Map Viewer, open the map to which you want to apply effects, or add layers to a new map.
3. On the Contents (dark) toolbar, click Layers if the Layers pane is not open.
4. In the Layers pane, click a layer to select it.
5. On the Settings (light) toolbar, click Effects .
6. Do the following to apply an effect to the whole layer:

   Note:

   You can apply multiple effects to the same layer. See the table below to learn more about each effect and its settings.

   1. At the top of the Effects pane, ensure that Whole layer is selected.
   2. Turn on the toggle button for the effect—for example, Bloom.
   3. Optionally, adjust the effect settings—for example, Strength.

      Tip:

      You can click Reset to default at any time to return to the default settings.

   4. Repeat these steps to apply additional effects to the layer.
7. Do the following to apply an effect to a subset of features in the layer:
   1. At the top of the Effects pane, ensure that Feature-specific is selected.
   2. Ensure that the Enabled toggle button is turned on.
   3. Click an effect to apply it to the features—for example, Bloom + Gray.

      See the table below to learn more about each effect.

      The map updates to show the effect with a default filter expression applied.

   4. In the effect window, optionally click Add expression and modify the filter expression. You can modify the expression by changing the conditional statement, using a different variable in the expression, or interacting with a histogram.

      Tip:

      You can also combine conditions to create complex expression sets. Learn more about creating filter expressions.

   5. To duplicate or delete an expression, click Options and select Duplicate or Delete expression.
   6. To delete the feature-specific effect from the layer, click Remove filter .
   7. Close the effect pane when you are finished.
8. Optionally, choose another layer from the layer selector and repeat the previous step to apply effects to other layers in the map.
9. Optionally, do any of the following to make changes to the applied whole layer effects:
   • Click the name of the effect to update its settings.
   • If multiple effects are applied to a layer, drag the effects in the list to change the order in which they are applied to the features. Effects that are higher in the list draw on top of effects that are lower in the list.
10. On the Contents toolbar, click Save and open and click Save to save your changes.

Effects

The following tables provide information about whole layer effects and feature-specific effects available in Map Viewer.

Whole layer

Effect	Description	Settings
Bloom	The Bloom effect adds a colored neon-like glow. It produces fringes of light extending from the borders of bright areas in a layer. This effect is useful for mapping fires, volcanic eruptions, and so on. See an example of Bloom. Tip: For recommendations on applying the bloom effect to high-density datasets, see Best practices for visualizing high-density data.	Bloom has the following settings: Strength—Determines the intensity of the effect. The higher the value, the brighter the glow. Radius—Determines the radius of the blur. The features inside the radius remain untouched. Threshold—Determines how bright a color must be before it blooms or glows. Colors that are brighter than the specified threshold value glow, while those below the threshold do not. Automatically adjust based on scale—Turn off this option to keep the effect the same regardless of map scale.
Drop shadow	The Drop shadow effect makes objects look like they are floating. It applies a drop shadow that follows the outline of the feature. This effect is useful when you want some features to stand out from the rest of the features on a busy map. For example, you can apply this effect to elevate proportional symbols above the basemap and make them more legible. See an example of Drop shadow.	Drop shadow has the following settings: Color—Determines the color of the drop shadow. Choose a color or specify a custom color using RGB, HSV, or hexadecimal values. Width—Determines the width of the drop shadow. The larger the value, the larger and more blurred the shadow is. Offset—Determines the distance between the drop shadow and its associated feature. Drag the offset control to a location in one of the four quadrants to determine the position of the drop shadows in relation to the features, or type values in the X-offset and Y-offset text boxes. Negative x-values place the shadow to the left of the features, and negative y-values place the shadow above the features. Opacity—Determines the opacity or transparency of the effect. Automatically adjust based on scale—Turn off this option to keep the effect the same regardless of map scale.
Blur	The Blur effect defocuses or softens the edges of the features. It makes the layer look out of focus or blurry, as though it's being viewed through a translucent screen. This effect can be used to soften the edges of a polygon if the precise boundary is unknown or shifting, such as a map of species ranges. See an example of Blur.	Blur has the following setting: Strength—Determines the intensity of the effect. The higher the value, the stronger the blur.
Brightness & Contrast	The Brightness & Contrast effect adjusts the lightness and darkness of features. This effect can make a map layer brighter or darker, or increase or decrease the contrast of the colors in the layer. Increasing contrast, for example, can accentuate subtle differences in washed-out map layers. See an example of Brightness & Contrast.	Brightness & Contrast has the following settings: Brightness—Makes features in the layer appear brighter or darker. Contrast—Determines the contrast between the objects in the layer.
Grayscale	The Grayscale effect decreases or removes color. This effect is useful for muting or decreasing the visual strength of a map layer—for example, to make a colorful basemap or road network look less prominent so that it doesn't compete with the other layers in the map. See an example of Grayscale.	Grayscale has the following setting: Strength—Determines the intensity of the effect. The higher the value, the more the features appear gray.
Hue rotate	The Hue rotate effect uses a color wheel to transform colors relative to one another. The colors in the layer are shifted to the colors at the specified angle. You can use this effect to quickly retint a map to suit your needs without having to reauthor it. See an example of Hue rotate.	Hue rotate has the following setting: Degrees—Defines the number of degrees around the color wheel.
Saturate	The Saturate effect increases or decreases the intensity of the colors. For example, you can use this effect to make the green shades in forested areas stronger and more obvious. See an example of Saturate.	Saturate has the following setting: Strength—Determines the intensity of the effect. The higher the value, the more intense the color.
Invert	The Invert effect transforms all colors to their opposite, similar to a film negative. This result of applying this effect is like flipping the color ramp when styling a layer. For example, this effect can be useful when you want to replace a light basemap with a dark one but don't want to restyle the other map layers. It allows you to invert the layers so they remain visible with the new basemap. See an example of Invert.	Invert has the following setting: Strength—Determines the proportion of the inversion. The higher the value, the more the color is inverted.
Sepia	The Sepia effect converts colors to shades of brown to mimic old photographs. This effect gives the layer a warmer, more yellow and brown appearance. This effect can be used to add warmth to any of the Esri monochromatic basemaps, such as Light Gray Canvas or Human Geography. It is also useful for muting basemaps that have vibrant colors. See an example of Sepia.	Sepia has the following setting: Strength—Determines the degree of sepia applied. The higher the value, the more yellow and brown the layer appears.

Feature-specific

Note:

Feature-specific effects are listed in the Effects pane according to whether they are recommended for dark or light backgrounds.

Effect	Description
Drop Shadow + Gray	The Drop Shadow + Gray effect is recommended for light basemaps. It applies a drop shadow to emphasize some features and grayscale to de-emphasize others. The drop shadow effect makes the emphasized features look like they are floating. See an example of Drop Shadow + Gray.
Strong Drop Shadow	The Strong Drop Shadow effect is recommended for light basemaps. It applies a heavy drop shadow to emphasize some features, making them look like they are floating. See an example of Strong Drop Shadow.
Drop Shadow + Transparency	The Drop Shadow + Transparency effect is recommended for light basemaps. It applies a drop shadow to emphasize some features and semitransparency to de-emphasize others. The drop shadow effect makes the emphasized features look like they are floating. See an example of Drop Shadow + Transparency.
Drop Shadow + Blur	The Drop Shadow + Blur effect is recommended for light basemaps. It applies a drop shadow to emphasize some features and blurs other features to de-emphasize them. The drop shadow effect makes the emphasized features look like they are floating. The blur effect defocuses or softens the edges of the de-emphasized features, making them look out of focus or blurry. See an example of Drop Shadow + Blur.
Muted Blur	The Muted Blur effect is recommended for light or dark basemaps. It applies a blur effect to de-emphasize some features. The blur effect defocuses or softens the edges of the de-emphasized features, making them look out of focus or blurry. See an example of Muted Blur with a light basemap and with a dark basemap.
Muted Grayscale	The Muted Grayscale effect is recommended for light or dark basemaps. It applies a grayscale effect to de-emphasize some features. The grayscale effect decreases or removes color. See an example of Muted Grayscale with a light basemap and with a dark basemap.
Bloom + Gray	The Bloom + Gray effect is recommended for dark basemaps. It applies a bloom effect to emphasize some features and grayscale to de-emphasize others. The bloom effect adds a colored neon-like glow and produces fringes of light extending from the borders of bright features. The grayscale effect decreases or removes color. See an example of Bloom + Gray.
Bloom + Blur	The Bloom + Blur effect is recommended for dark basemaps. It applies a bloom effect to emphasize some features and a blur effect to de-emphasize others. The bloom effect adds a colored neon-like glow and produces fringes of light extending from the borders of bright features. The blur effect defocuses or softens the edges of the features, making the features look out of focus or blurry. See an example of Bloom + Blur.
Bloom + Transparency	The Bloom + Transparency effect is recommended for dark basemaps. It applies a bloom effect to emphasize some features and semitransparency to de-emphasize others. The bloom effect adds a colored neon-like glow and produces fringes of light extending from the borders of bright features. See an example of Bloom + Transparency.