Create polygon features

Polygon feature construction tools create enclosed planar features. You can create irregular polygons, regular polygons comprising equal sides, or freehand polygons. These tools are available in the Create Features pane with feature templates for polygon feature layers.

When you use a polygon construction tool, consider the following:

• Vertices for 3D z-aware features are assigned z-values based on the current elevation settings.
• To resume editing an existing feature, or to add a part to a multipart feature, use the Continue Feature tool .

Create a polygon feature

The Polygon tool allows you to create irregular polygons comprising unequal sides and angles. The line tool is active by default. To create arc segments or trace existing features, click the corresponding tool on the construction toolbar.

To create a polygon feature, complete the following steps:

1. Add the data and configure settings for editing.

   Confirm that the feature layer you are editing is editable, the coordinate system assigned to the active map is suitable for the type of edits you're performing, and snapping is configured to help you work efficiently and accurately.

2. On the ribbon, click the Edit tab, and in the Features group, click Create .

   The Create Features pane appears.

3. Click a polygon feature template in the Create Features pane.

   To find a feature template containing a specific word or phrase, click the Search box and enter your search criteria. Search words are not case sensitive.

4. Click the Polygon tool .
5. To override attribute values or change tool settings, click the Active Template button and click the corresponding tab described in the following table:

   Tab	Description
   Attributes	Attribute values assigned to the features.
   Polygon	Optional tool settings. To automatically clip existing polygon features on the same layer and create coincident boundaries, check the Modify existing polygons to prevent overlapping check box.

6. Click the map to create the first vertex.

   Alternatively, right-click the map, click Absolute X,Y,Z , and type a coordinate location.

7. Choose a segment construction tool on the construction toolbar.

   The line tool is active by default.

   

   Tip:

   To modify unfinished geometry as you draw a feature, click the Vertex Editing button on the construction toolbar to enable vertex editing.

8. Move the pointer and click the map to create a segment.

   To type a value for direction, distance, or elevation, or to apply a geometric constraint, right-click the map and click the corresponding command.

   Tip:

   To snap the pointer to a computed intersection, use the intersection tools on the construction toolbar.

   

9. Continue to create segments until the shape is fully constructed.

   If the fully constructed shape is a part of a multipart feature, right-click, click Finish Part , and draw the next feature.

   Note:

   A multipart polygon feature contains two or more individual part features that reference the same attributes, for example, a polygon feature representing an archipelago.

10. Click Finish or press F2 to create the feature.

Create a regular polygon feature

The Regular Polygon tool creates regular polygons with a specified number of equal sides using a center point and a radial distance.

To create a regular polygon, complete the following steps:

1. Add the data and configure settings for editing.

   Confirm that the feature layer you are editing is editable, the coordinate system assigned to the active map is suitable for the type of edits you're performing, and snapping is configured to help you work efficiently and accurately.

2. On the ribbon, click the Edit tab, and in the Features group, click Create .

   The Create Features pane appears.

3. Click a polygon feature template in the Create Features pane.

   To find a feature template containing a specific word or phrase, click the Search box and enter your search criteria. Search words are not case sensitive.

4. Click the Regular Polygon tool .
5. To override attribute values or change tool settings, click the Active Template button and click the corresponding tab described in the following table:

   Tab	Description
   Attributes	Attribute values assigned to the features.
   Regular Polygon	Optional tool settings. To specify the number of sides, click the Sides text box and type the number. To automatically clip existing polygon features on the same layer and create coincident boundaries, check the Modify existing polygons to prevent overlapping check box.

6. Click the map to create the center point.

   Alternatively, right-click the map, click Absolute X,Y,Z , and type a coordinate location.

7. Move the pointer to specify a distance and a direction, and click the map.

   Alternatively, to type a distance and a direction, right-click, and click the Distance and Direction commands, respectively.

   When distance and direction measurements are fully defined, the feature is automatically finished.

8. Press Esc to exit the tool.

Create a freehand polygon feature

The Freehand tool creates free-form polygon features following the movement of the pointer.

When you use this tool, consider the following:

• Snapping is automatically turned off until you finish the feature. Press the Spacebar to temporarily turn on snapping.
• The construction toolbar is not available with this tool.

To create a freehand polygon, complete the following steps:

1. Add the data and configure settings for editing.

   Confirm that the feature layer you are editing is editable, and the coordinate system assigned to the active map is suitable for the type of edits you're performing.

2. On the ribbon, click the Edit tab, and in the Features group, click Create .

   The Create Features pane appears.

3. Click a polygon feature template in the Create Features pane.

   To find a feature template containing a specific word or phrase, click the Search box and enter your search criteria. Search words are not case sensitive.

4. Click the Freehand tool .
5. To override attribute values or change tool settings, click the Active Template button and click the corresponding tab described in the following table:

   Tab	Description
   Attributes	Attribute values assigned to the features.
   Freehand	Optional tool settings. To automatically clip existing polygon features on the same layer and create coincident boundaries, check the Modify existing polygons to prevent overlapping check box.

6. Click the map to create the first vertex.

   Alternatively, right-click the map, click Absolute X,Y,Z , and type a coordinate location.

7. Move the pointer across the map to create a freehand feature following the movement of the pointer.
8. Click the map to finish the feature.

   The segments are automatically converted to Bézier curves.