Create a project

Overview

ArcGIS Pro helps you organize and manage the resources related to your work. To do this, it uses a project file (.aprx) as its default file type. An ArcGIS Pro project can contain maps, scenes, layouts, data, tools, and other items. It may contain connections to folders, databases, and servers. Content can be added from portals such as your ArcGIS organization or ArcGIS Living Atlas of the World. Content you create in ArcGIS Pro can also be shared to your portal as web maps, web scenes, and web layers.

In this tutorial, you'll create an ArcGIS Pro project from the Map system template. You'll locate an area of interest and modify map properties. Then you'll add data to identify critical habitat areas for endangered species in California's San Gorgonio Wilderness. This part of the tutorial introduces you to operations, such as analysis and symbology, which are covered in greater depth in other quick-start tutorials.

• Estimated time: 30 minutes
• Software requirements: ArcGIS Pro
• ArcGIS Online or ArcGIS Enterprise portal connection

Note:

The tutorial steps in the online help reflect the look and capabilities of the current software release. If you have an earlier software version, use the offline help system to open the tutorial. To switch from the online to the offline help system, see Set the help source in the topic About ArcGIS Pro help. If you don't have ArcGIS Pro, you can sign up for an ArcGIS Pro free trial.

Create a new project

When you start ArcGIS Pro, the start page appears. The start page has options to open an existing project or create a project from a template. Templates provide different starting points for new projects. Additional maps and scenes can be added to a project at any time, regardless of which template you use.

1. Start ArcGIS Pro and sign in if necessary.
2. On the start page, under Blank Templates, click Map.

   

   The Map template creates a new project that contains a 2D map.

   Note:

   If you already have a project open, click the Project tab on the ribbon. In the list on the left, click New. In the list of project templates, click Map.

3. On the Create a New Project dialog box, in the Name box, replace the default project name with San Gorgonio.

   

   By default, projects are created in your <User Documents>\ArcGIS\Projects folder. To save a project to a different location, click the Browse button and browse to the folder you want.

   The Create a new folder for this project check box is checked by default. It is usually convenient to keep project files organized in a folder.

   To learn how to change these and other default project settings, see General options.

4. Click OK.

   The new project opens with a map view showing a topographic basemap centered on the United States.

   

   Note:

   Your map may be different. The default basemap and map extent depend on administrative settings in your ArcGIS organization. You'll change the basemap and area of interest later in this tutorial.

   The Contents and Catalog panes are open in most projects. Depending on your work in previous ArcGIS Pro sessions, other panes may be open as well. You'll set the pane state to the default for mapping.

5. On the ribbon, click the View tab. In the Windows group, click Reset Panes and click Reset Panes for Mapping (Default).

   The Contents and Catalog panes are now open if they were not open before. Any other open panes are closed.

Locate the study area

Your area of interest for this project is the San Gorgonio Wilderness in Southern California. You'll navigate to San Gorgonio Mountain inside the wilderness area.

There are several ways to navigate from the default map extent to your area of interest. For example, you can pan and zoom using the Explore tool . You can add data, which pans your map to the extent of the first layer you add. Here, you'll use the Locate pane to search for a natural landmark.

1. On the ribbon, click the Map tab. In the Inquiry group, click Locate .

   The Locate pane appears. At the top of the pane, the Locate tab is selected by default.

2. In the Locate pane, in the search box, type San Gorgonio Mountain and press Enter.

   

   At 11,503 feet (3,506 meters), San Gorgonio is the tallest mountain in Southern California.

   The map zooms in to the San Bernardino Mountains and a highlighted temporary marker is placed on the map. The location is found by the ArcGIS World Geocoding Service, one of the default locate providers (location-finding services) in ArcGIS Pro.

   You'll add a permanent graphic marker that will persist after you close the Locate pane.

3. On the Locate pane, under ArcGIS World Geocoding Service, right-click San Gorgonio Mountain: California and click Add Graphic .

   A square marker with selection handles appears at the temporary marker location. In the Contents pane, a layer named Locate Graphics Layer is added.

   

   Next, you'll change the graphic's shape and size.

4. On the ribbon, under Map, click the contextual Graphics tab. In the Symbol group, expand the symbol gallery.

   

5. In the symbol gallery, scroll down if necessary and click Triangle 3.

   

6. In the Size box, type 16 pt and press Enter.
7. In the Edit group, click Clear Selection .
8. Close the Locate pane.

   The temporary marker is removed from the map, but the graphic remains.

   

9. In the Contents pane, right-click Locate Graphics Layer and click Properties .

   The Layer Properties dialog box appears. Here you can view and modify layer settings. The only setting you need to change for this layer is its name.

10. On the Layer Properties dialog box, the General tab is selected by default. In the Name box, delete the name Locate Graphics Layer. Type San Gorgonio Mountain.

    

11. Click OK.

    The layer name is updated in the Contents pane. Now you'll bookmark the area so you can return to it easily.

12. On the ribbon, click the Map tab. (Click the gray Map tab next to the Project tab, not the highlighted tab.)

    Note:

    Some ribbon tabs are core tabs. Core tabs are present whenever a certain type of view is active. For example, there is always a Map tab on the ribbon when a map is active. Other tabs are contextual: they appear under certain circumstances. For example, a Graphics tab appears on the ribbon when you add a graphic to a map. Contextual tabs appear under tab sets, which are highlighted and may include one or more contextual tabs. In the current view, the contextual Graphics tab belongs to the Map tab set. The contextual Appearance tab belongs to the Graphics Layer tab set.

13. In the Navigate group, click Bookmarks and click New Bookmark .
14. On the Create Bookmark dialog box, in the Name box, type San Gorgonio Mountain. Click OK.

    Next, you'll give your map a more descriptive name.

15. In the Contents pane, under Drawing Order, right-click Map (the default map name) and click Properties .

    The Map Properties dialog box appears.

16. On the Map Properties dialog box, the General tab is selected by default. In the Name box, replace the name Map with San Gorgonio. Click OK.

    The map name is updated in the Contents pane and on the tab at the top of the map view.

Add wilderness data to the map

Living Atlas is a collection of authoritative geographic data that can inform a variety of analyses. It includes maps, apps, and data layers to support your work. You'll switch to a basemap that displays realistic terrain and then add a layer of wilderness data from Living Atlas to the map.

To add data from Living Atlas to ArcGIS Pro, you must be signed in to your organization.

1. On the ribbon, click the Map tab if necessary. In the Layer group, click Basemap and click Imagery.

   The default basemap is replaced by an imagery basemap.

2. In the Layer group, click Add Data .
3. On the browse dialog box, under Portal , click Living Atlas . In the search box, type wilderness and press Enter.

   Several potentially useful results are returned.

   Tip:

   You can click the Show/Hide Details Panel button to see thumbnail images and metadata for your search results. This information can help you decide whether an item meets your needs before you add it to a map.

4. In the list of search results, click the USA Wilderness feature layer to select it. (Don't click the USA Wilderness imagery layer .)

   

   Note:

   Your search results will be different depending on whether your active portal is ArcGIS Online or ArcGIS Enterprise, but the USA Wilderness feature layer should be available in either case. Changes to Living Atlas content may also affect your search results.

5. Scroll across the list of results, if necessary, to confirm that the layer owner is esri_landscape2. Click OK.

   The USA_Wilderness layer is added to the map. The green feature that covers the mountain is the San Gorgonio Wilderness. You'll confirm its identity.

6. On the map, click the wilderness feature.

   The feature flashes in the view. The Pop-up pane appears and identifies the feature as San Gorgonio Wilderness.

7. Optionally, identify some other nearby wilderness areas, such as San Jacinto and Joshua Tree. Close the Pop-up pane.

   In this project, you are only interested in the San Gorgonio Wilderness. You'll select this feature and make a new layer from it. That way, you can work with a layer that contains a single feature instead of a layer that contains several hundred.

8. On the ribbon, on the Map tab, in the Selection group, click Select . Click the San Gorgonio Wilderness feature to select it.

   

   The feature is highlighted on the map.

9. In the Contents pane, if necessary, click the USA_Wilderness layer to select it.

   On the ribbon, the Feature Layer tab set appears with three contextual tabs under it.

10. Under Feature Layer, click the Data tab. In the Selection group, click Layer From Selection .

    A new layer named USA_Wilderness selection is added to the map and to the Contents pane. You no longer need the original USA_Wilderness layer.

11. In the Contents pane, click the USA_Wilderness layer to select it. Right-click the selected layer and click Remove .
12. Right-click the USA_Wilderness selection layer and click Properties .
13. On the Layer Properties dialog box, on the General tab, rename the layer San Gorgonio Wilderness and click OK.

    The graphic representing the mountain peak is partially obscured by the semitransparent wilderness feature.

14. In the Contents pane, click San Gorgonio Mountain to select the graphics layer. Drag it above the San Gorgonio Wilderness layer.

    The layers are reordered, and the triangle symbol draws on top of the wilderness area.

15. On the Quick Access Toolbar at the top of the ArcGIS Pro window, click the Save button to save the project.

Add critical habitat data to the map

Living Atlas maps and layers are curated by Esri and based on authoritative data. More content is available from ArcGIS organizations that share their web maps and layers publicly. This content may or may not be authoritative. Before you use any data—whether web based or file based—you should review its metadata. Be cautious about using datasets with no metadata or incomplete metadata.

You'll add a layer of critical habitat shared publicly by an Esri-based ArcGIS organization.

Note:

If ArcGIS Enterprise is your active portal, you will not have access to this dataset. Instead, search for the USA Critical Habitat feature layer in the Living Atlas portal collection and add it to the map. The geoprocessing operation in the next section will take longer, but the results will be the same.

1. On the ribbon, click the Map tab. In the Layer group, click Add Data .
2. On the browse dialog box, under Portal , click ArcGIS Online . In the search box, type "southern california critical habitat" (include the quotation marks) and press Enter.

   In the search results, the Southern California Critical Habitat feature layer is selected.

   

   Tip:

   Use quotation marks if you know the exact name of the item you are searching for. If you search for southern california critical habitat without quotation marks, many search results are returned and the layer you want may be hard to see. You can use the Sort button and the Filter button to order and narrow long lists of search results.

3. Scroll across the list of results, if necessary, to confirm that the layer owner is ArcGISProTutorials. Click OK.

   

   The SoCalCriticalHabitat layer is added to the map.

4. On the ribbon, click the Map tab if necessary. In the Navigate group, click the Explore tool to select it.
5. On the map, click any orange critical habitat feature.

   The Pop-up pane appears and identifies the feature you clicked. (There may be more than one.) The pop-up includes a link to the species profile on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) website.

6. Optionally, identify a few more features, and close the Pop-up pane.

   The layer includes threatened and endangered species of amphibians, birds, fish, flowering plants, insects, and mammals.

7. In the Contents pane, right-click the SoCalCriticalHabitat layer and click View Metadata .

   The catalog view appears. The catalog view is used to manage data and other project items. It is also used to view and edit item metadata. Metadata for the SoCalCriticalHabitat layer is displayed in the details panel of the catalog view.

   Note:

   When the catalog view is active, the Contents pane shows the contents of the catalog, not the contents of the map.

8. Scroll through the metadata.

   Under Description, you can see that the layer was clipped from an authoritative data source. It is suitable for use in this tutorial.

9. Close the catalog view.
10. In the Contents pane, right-click the SoCalCriticalHabitat layer and click Properties .
11. On the Layer Properties dialog box, on the General tab, rename the layer Southern California Critical Habitat. Click OK.

    The layer name is updated in the Contents pane.

12. On the Quick Access Toolbar, click the Save button .

    Learn more about adding data in the Add data to a project tutorial.

Clip the critical habitat layer

The critical habitat layer covers Southern California. In this project, you are specifically interested in the features in the San Gorgonio Wilderness. You'll use a geoprocessing tool to clip the critical habitat features to the wilderness boundary. This will create a new layer in your map and a corresponding feature class in your project geodatabase. When you clip the layer, features that lie outside the wilderness will not be included. Features that cross the wilderness boundary will be split, and only the portion inside the boundary will be preserved.

1. On the ribbon, click the Analysis tab.

   In the Tools group, several common geoprocessing tools, including Clip, appear in the Analysis gallery.

   

   Tip:

   If the Analysis gallery isn't wide enough to display the Clip tool, expand the gallery. The Clip tool is located in the first row of Default tools (and also in the row of Overlay Features tools).

2. In the Analysis gallery, click the Clip tool.

   The tool opens in the Geoprocessing pane.

3. On the tool, hover over the help icon .

   A window appears with a visual example of how the tool works.

4. On the tool, click the Input Features drop-down arrow and click Southern California Critical Habitat.

   Note:

   If you added the USA Critical Habitat layer from Living Atlas in the previous section, set the input features to Southern California Critical Habitat\Polygons (or USA Critical Habitat\Polygons if you did not rename the layer).

5. Click the Clip Features drop-down arrow and click San Gorgonio Wilderness.
6. For Output Feature Class, highlight and delete the default file name. Replace it with CriticalHabitat (no spaces).

   

   Tip:

   You can replace the entire output feature class path and replace it with a feature class name. The path to the default geodatabase is restored automatically.

7. At the bottom of the pane, click Run .

   When the process is complete, a message appears at the bottom of the Geoprocessing pane and a new layer is added to the map. You no longer need the Southern California Critical Habitat layer.

8. In the Contents pane, click the Southern California Critical Habitat layer to select it. Right-click the selected layer and click Remove .
9. Right-click the CriticalHabitat layer and click Zoom To Layer .

   

   The map zooms in. The amount of critical habitat in the San Gorgonio Wilderness is small and mostly near the edges. You'll open the layer attribute table to see which species are included.

10. In the Contents pane, right-click the CriticalHabitat layer and click Attribute Table .

    

    The attribute table for the layer contains four rows. Each row corresponds to a feature. Each column, or field, is a feature attribute, such as common name or species type.

    Tip:

    To widen a field, hover over the edge of the column heading and drag.

11. Close the attribute table.
12. Click Save to save the project.

    Learn more about geoprocessing in the Use geoprocessing tools tutorial.

Symbolize the layer

On the map, all the critical habitat features are symbolized with a dark orange fill color. You'll assign a unique symbol to each feature according to its common name.

1. In the Contents pane, right-click the CriticalHabitat layer and click Symbology .

   The Symbology pane appears.

2. In the Symbology pane, under Primary Symbology, click the drop-down arrow and click Unique Values . Confirm that Field 1 is set to Common Name.
3. In the lower half of the pane, on the Classes tab, click the Add all values button .

   There are four unique common names. Each is assigned a different symbol.

4. In the Symbology pane, click the Color scheme drop-down arrow. At the bottom of the drop-down list, click the Show names check box.
5. Scroll to the bottom of the list of color schemes and click Pastel 1 (4 classes) to select it. Alternatively, click another color scheme you like.
6. In the lower half of the pane, on the Classes tab, click the More button and uncheck Show all other values.

   In a layer with many unique values, you may want to assign distinct symbols to a few important features and a generic symbol (such as a gray fill) to the rest. That is the purpose of the Show all other values symbol. However, with just a few unique values, you don't need it.

7. Close the Symbology pane.
8. Click the critical habitat features to see their pop-ups.

   Features can be spatially discontinuous. In this layer, the California taraxacum and the Mountain yellow-legged frog are single features made up of two polygons. (They are single features because they are represented by one row in the layer attribute table.)

   Note:

   The habitat of the Southwestern willow flycatcher is hard to see. It consists of a very thin strip along the wilderness boundary. To locate it, open the CriticalHabitat attribute table. Click the gray box at the left edge of the row to select the Southwestern willow flycatcher record. In the row of tools at the top of the table, click Zoom To . Click Clear to clear the selection.

9. In the Catalog pane (not the Contents pane), expand Databases and expand San Gorgonio.gdb.

   

   When you create output data, as you did with the Clip tool, the new data is stored by default in your project geodatabase.

10. Click Save to save the project.

    Learn more about symbolizing data in the Symbolize map layers tutorial.

In this tutorial, you created a project and followed several typical workflows: you added data to a map, ran a geoprocessing tool, and symbolized a map layer. For a more advanced example that incorporates similar workflows, try the Author a map tutorial.