Creating a plan book

With Esri Redistricting, you can create plan books. Plan books allow you to generate a PDF map of each district in your redistricting plan. The first page in the plan book displays the full extent of the redistricting plan. Each subsequent page in the plan book is dedicated to an individual district in your plan.

You can use the annotation and map element tools to customize each page in the plan book.

  1. On the FileAnalysis ribbon, click Plan Book.

    The Plan Book Layout dialog box appears. A plan book preview is displayed on the right side of the screen.

    Note:

    At any time, you can click Cancel to exit the Plan Book Layout dialog box and return to the Esri Redistricting application.

  2. Choose the paper size from the drop-down menu.
  3. Choose the paper orientation.

    By default, the paper orientation is set to Portrait. Check the Landscape option to print as landscape.

  4. Check or uncheck the border option to include a border on the plan book.
  5. Check or uncheck options to include map elements on the current map page:

    Page properties must be set for each page in the plan book. Setting the properties on one page does not include the properties on subsequent pages. Each district in your redistricting plan has a page in the plan book.

    Tip:

    Use the Previous Page and Next Page buttons to navigate between pages in the plan book.

    North Arrow

    The north arrow shows the direction of north on the map, thereby showing how the map is oriented.

    If you opt to include the north arrow, you will also need to decide the placement of the north arrow on the map.

    Legend

    The legend contains a description of the types of features included in the map, often using graphics of symbols or features from the map.

    Scale Bar

    The scale bar graphically represents the scale of the map, typically marked like a ruler in units proportional to the map's scale.

    If you opt to include the scale bar, you will also need to decide the placement of the scale bar on the map.

    Annotation

    The annotation allows you to add free text to your map pages. Free text can include titles and notes that can be added to each page in the map book.

    Ignore Unassigned District

    You can choose to include or exclude the Unassigned district from the plan book.

  6. Click a map element on the preview field to enable the map element properties.

    The map element is highlighted in red on the preview field. The selected map element's properties are displayed below the Plan Layout section.

  7. Update the map element properties as needed.

    Below is a list of district map element properties you can modify:

    District map element properties

    OptionDescription

    Border

    The Border option allows you to put a border around the map element.

    Line width

    The line width defines the border thickness.

    Padding

    The Padding option allows you to determine the space between the border and the map element.

    Locked

    The Locked option allows you to lock the map element to the current map position.

    Display Labels

    The Display Labels option allows you to include the district labels on the printed map. This helps identify each district. Based on the zoom level of the map. When zoomed out from the map, not all labels will be visible on the map.

    Fill Districts

    The Fill districts option allows you to determine the appearance of districts on the printed map. Check the option to fill districts. Uncheck the option to display districts with an outline.

    Show Totals

    You can opt to show the district totals on the printed map.

    Display Basemap

    You can create a printed map that includes the basemap layer. Check the option to include the basemap.

    Shorten Name

    You can opt to shorten the district names on the printed map.

    Show Themes

    This option only appears if you have a thematic map applied. Opt to include the thematic map on the printed map.

    Note:

    The thematic map will not display on the print preview.

    Scale

    The Scale option allows you to determine the miles per inch. As you adjust the scale drop-down menu, the map size and the scale bar update dynamically.

    Show Roads

    The Show Roads option allows you to view roads on the printed map and on the print preview.

    Note:

    The Show Roads option is only available on 2010 data. Be patient, it may take a few minutes to retrieve road information from the server.

    Email the plan

    Allows you to send the plan as a PDF to specific recipients. Choose Email Settings to define the recipient(s) email address, email subject, and email message.

    The table above describes map element properties that you might find in the district map, north arrow, legend, or scale bar.

  8. Click Print.

    A File Created dialog box appears, letting you know the PDF file is created.

  9. Click OK to save the file.
    Note:

    You can click Cancel to open and view the PDF file without saving the file locally.

    Check View PDF to open the PDF report after you save the report to your local directory.

  10. Browse to the location on your local machine where you want to save the PDF file.
  11. Click Save.
  12. Open the PDF file.
  13. Click Print Print button in PDF.