Introduction to exporting a map or layout

After you've created a map or layout, you can export it as a file to share with others. To export, make sure a map or layout view is active. On the Share tab, click Export Map or Export Layout , depending on the active view, to open the export preset gallery. Choose a preset to open the Export pane. Set a name and location for the file, adjust any other properties if needed, and click Export. Once the Export pane is open, you can switch between map and layout views to export them without having to reset properties.

For commonly used export settings, you can create an export preset for faster exports.

Export file types

There are 12 export file types available, including both vector and raster formats. The vector formats are AIX, EMF, EPS, PDF, SVG, and SVGZ, which support a mixture of vector and raster data. The raster formats are BMP, JPEG, PNG, TIFF, TGA, and GIF. They are solely raster export formats and automatically rasterize any vector data in your map or layout.

Each format has different properties that can be set before exporting. For example, PDF provides enhanced security options, and all the vector formats support rasterizing all the data using the Output as image option. The following table outlines each format, and each format name is linked to the page explaining the properties available for that format:

File format	Description
AIX (Adobe Illustrator Exchange)	AIX format files are used with the ArcGIS Maps for Adobe Creative Cloud extension. With the extension, vector and raster map content is converted into editable, layered artwork for an improved editing experience in Adobe Illustrator. Once opened in Illustrator, the file can be used for high-end graphic design or map finishing workflows and migrated across the other Adobe Creative Cloud applications. Learn more about the best practices for creating maps and layouts as .aix files. Caution: Layers using some blend modes will be rasterized when exported to AIX format. See Apply visual effects for more information.
BMP (Microsoft Windowsbitmap)	BMP format files are native Windows raster images. .bmp files can store pixel data at several bit depths and can be compressed using the lossless RLE method. BMP images are typically much larger than formats such as JPEG or PNG.
EMF (Windows Enhanced Metafile)	EMF format files are useful for embedding in Windows documents because the vector portions of the .emf file can be resized without loss of quality. However, since EMF format does not support font embedding and is exclusively a Windows format, it is not commonly used as an interchange format between users.
EPS (Encapsulated PostScript)	EPS format files use the PostScript page description language to describe vector and raster objects. PostScript is the publishing industry standard for high-end graphics files, cartography, and printing. .eps files can be edited in many drawing applications or placed as a graphic in most page layout applications. EPS format supports font embedding and can define colors in CMYK or RGB values.
GIF (Graphic Interchange Format)	GIFs are a legacy raster format for use on the web. GIFs cannot contain more than 256 colors (8 bits per pixel), which, along with optional lossless RLE or LZW compression, makes them smaller than other file formats. GIFs can also define a transparent color. GIFs can be generated with an accompanying world file for use as georeferenced raster data.
JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group)	JPEGs are compressed image files. They support 24-bit color and have been a popular choice for use on the web because .jpeg file size is often substantially smaller than many other image formats. However, the JPEG compression algorithm is lossy and is not recommended for many map images, as line drawings and text or iconic graphics become blurred by compression artifacts. Thus, PNG is usually a superior format for map images. JPEGs can be generated with an accompanying world file for use as georeferenced raster data.
PDF (Portable Document Format)	PDFs are designed to be consistently viewable and printable across different platforms. They are commonly used for distributing documents on the web, and the format is now an official ISO standard for document interchange. PDFs are editable in many graphics applications. They can retain map georeference information, annotation, labeling, and feature attribute data in the file. Additionally, the entire document or individual layers can be rasterized to simplify the document and decrease file size. Caution: Layers using some blend modes will be rasterized when exported to PDF format. See Apply visual effects for more information.
PNG (Portable Network Graphics)	PNG is a versatile raster format that can be displayed in web browsers and inserted into other documents. It supports high-bit-depth color and uses a lossless compression. For maps, PNG is often the best raster format, since the lossless compression keeps text and line work legible by preventing the compression artifacts that can occur in JPEG format. .png files can also define a transparent color; part of the image can be displayed as transparent in a web browser, allowing backgrounds, images, or colors to show through. .png files can be generated with an accompanying world file for use as georeferenced raster data.
SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics)	SVG is an XML-based file format that has been specifically designed for viewing on the web. .svg files can contain both vector and raster information. Some web browsers may require a plug-in to view .svg files; older browsers may not be able to view .svg files at all. SVG format supports font embedding. You can also choose to produce compressed SVG format files. The file extension changes to *.svgz when this option is enabled.
TGA (Truevision Graphics Adapter)	TGA format files have historically been used for content that is meant to be used in other applications (for example, image sprites for animated games) and is read and written by many popular graphic arts applications. It supports multiple bit depths including 32 bit with alpha (transparency) support.
TIFF (Tagged Image File Format)	TIFF format files are the best choice for importing into image editing applications and are also a common GIS raster data format. However, they cannot be natively viewed by a web browser. TIFF format also supports georeferencing information in GeoTIFF tags or in a separate world file for use as raster data.

Note:

BMP, PNG, and JPEG formats don't support the CMYK color model. If your layout or map is in this color model, the RGB color model is used in the export.

Export a map

Maps can be exported from an open map view only. The map view determines the extent and scale of the exported map, but you can set the export size in pixels. To export a map on the Share tab, click Export Map to open the Export pane.

In the Export pane, set the Width and Height properties. To preserve the aspect ratio when changing the width or height, click the Preserve Aspect Ratio button to lock the aspect ratio. When the aspect ratio is locked, changing the width automatically changes the height, and vice versa, to preserve the ratio.

Since the aspect ratio of the screen may not match the aspect ratio of the export, the map may be cropped. For example, if the map view is 1920x1080 pixels and the export is set to 200x200 pixels, content to the left and right is cropped in the export. You can preview the adjusted extent by checking Show preview in the Export pane. The preview is a white overlay on the map view showing the export extent. You can zoom or pan to ensure that the export contains the extent you need. Once the Export pane is closed, the preview disappears.

Note:

Maps can be exported to sizes larger than your screen size. The zoom level and extent remain as shown in the preview, but the features are larger in the export.

Exporting a map allows you to generate a world file for certain raster file types. The world file is a separate file created in the same location as the export that contains georeference information. This allows the exported image to be used as raster data in ArcGIS Pro or other GIS applications. This option is not available in 3D views. To create a world file upon export, check the Write world file option.

Export a layout

A layout can be exported at the page size or clipped to the extent of the elements on the page. On the Share tab, click Export Layout to open the Export pane. Check Clip to graphics extent to include the areas of the page that have map or layout element content only, rather than exporting the entire page.

Export warnings

After exporting a map or layout, you may receive an Export Completed With Warnings notification. This notification indicates that the exported file was successfully generated but one or more issues prevented the output from drawing correctly. These issues may appear as drawing alerts in your map or layout before export or they could be problems that occurred only during export.

If this warning appears, select View Warnings to open a text file detailing the issues found during export. You can then make adjustments to correct the errors and export again.

The cause of the export warnings vary, due to the complexity of drawing data in different formats from different sources and the limitations of different file types.

Common export warnings and solutions

Issue	Solution
A server error occurred while drawing the map.	Review the message details, and consult your server's documentation for further information.
An expected Field was not found or could not be retrieved properly.	Review and ensure the specified field is still present in the dataset.
Capability not supported in export format, some content is being rasterized.	This alert occurs when certain symbology in the map or layout is not supported in the selected output format. Some examples include exporting transparent items to the EPS format, or cases in which a specific blend mode is not natively supported in the PDF specification. Remove the unsupported formatting to resolve the alert.
Database error during feature draw.	Do one of the following: Reconnect or refresh the connection to the database. Review the specified fields. If they are still present in the database, ensure the name of the field is correct in the expression.
Edits are in progress or completed for a large number of features in a scene layer. This may result in reduced drawing performance for the scene layer. Consider rebuilding your scene layer cache before continuing to edit.	Rebuild the web scene layer cache. For more information, see Edit a scene layer with associated feature layer.
Excessive draw requests.	For more information, see Excessive draw requests.
Failed to evaluate label expression.	Review the WHERE clause's syntax. If an error occurred while parsing the clause, review the details and the specified fields. If the fields are still present in the database, ensure the name of the field is correct in the expression, does not match any other fields, and is a supported field type in Arcade.
Feature limit exceeded. Not all features are displayed. Zoom in to see more features.	If you are using a web feature layer, zoom in to a smaller area so that fewer features are displayed.
Font licensing of the font '%s' restricts embedding, this font will not be embedded.	Do one of the following: Use a different font. Install a version of the font without embedding license restrictions.
GPU resources exceeded.	Close some map views or modify layer settings to reduce the amount of used resources. See Graphics adapter resources for more information.
Graphics hardware change.	See Graphics hardware change for more information.
Invalid spatial reference.	Detect and repair any feature classes with invalid spatial references.
Max selection count exceeded for Service.	For map image sublayers, the maximum selection count is 2,000 features. If more than 2,000 features are selected, not all feature selections will draw. An administrator can increase the maxSelectionCount value for the impacted service.
Service does not support the map's coordinate system.	Choose a coordinate system for the map that is supported by the server or service. Review your server's documentation for more information.
Some font tables of font '%s' are missing for embedding, the font will be embedded as Type 1 outlines.	Do one of the following: Use a different font. Request and install an updated or repaired version of the font from the original vendor.
Spatial clauses are not supported	The layer in your map contains a definition query with a spatial clause. For layers that use database-driven feature binning, spatial filtering may cause drawing issues. Turn off the active query, remove the spatial clause from the query, or switch to application-driven feature binning.
This dataset's surface constraint(s) could not be opened.	Ensure the surface constraints used in your LAS dataset use the specified name, are in the expected locations, and are accessible.
Text using complex symbology will be rasterized in output.	Use a less complex symbology for the text element, in other words, remove fills or patterns.
Unsupported coordinate system.	This alert is most commonly raised when symbolizing your layer with heat map symbology or feature aggregation. These types of visualizations do not support all coordinate systems. To resolve the alert, set the map's coordinate system to one that supports your chosen symbolization method.