Create Map Tile Package (Data Management)

Summary

Generates tiles from a map or basemap and packages the tiles to create a single compressed .tpk file.

Usage

  • The input map must have a description and tags for the tool to execute. To add a description and tags, right-click the map name in the Contents pane, select Properties, and enter a description and tags on the Description tab.

  • By choosing PNG for the Tiling Format parameter, the tool will automatically select the correct format (PNG8, PNG24, or PNG32) based on the specified Level of Display.

  • This tool honors the Parallel Processing Factor environment. If the environment is not set (the default) or is set to 100, full parallel processing will be enabled and the tool will attempt to distribute the work to all the logical cores on the machine. Setting the environment to 0 will disable parallel processing. Specifying a factor between 1 and 99 will cause the tool to determine the percentage of logical cores to use by applying the following formula, rounded up to the nearest integer:

    Parallel Processing Factor / 100 * Logical Cores
    .

    If the result of this formula is 0 or 1, parallel processing will not be enabled.

Parameters

LabelExplanationData Type
Input Map

The map from which tiles will be generated and packaged.

Map
Package for ArcGIS Online | Bing Maps | Google Maps

Specifies whether the tiling scheme will be generated from an existing map service or whether map tiles will be generated for ArcGIS Online, Bing Maps, and Google Maps.

  • Checked—The ArcGIS Online/Bing Maps/Google Maps tiling scheme will be used. This is the default.

    The ArcGIS Online/Bing Maps/Google Maps tiling scheme allows you to overlay your cache tiles with tiles from these online mapping services. ArcGIS Desktop includes this tiling scheme as a built-in option when loading a tiling scheme. When you choose this tiling scheme, the source map must use the WGS 1984 Web Mercator (Auxiliary Sphere) projected coordinate system.

    The ArcGIS Online/Bing Maps/Google Maps tiling scheme is required if you'll be overlaying your package with ArcGIS Online, Bing Maps, or Google Maps. One advantage of the ArcGIS Online/Bing Maps/Google Maps tiling scheme is that it is widely known in the web mapping world, so your tiles will match those of other organizations that have used this tiling scheme. Even if you don't plan to overlay any of these well-known map services, you may choose the tiling scheme for its interoperability potential.

    The ArcGIS Online/Bing Maps/Google Maps tiling scheme may contain scales that would be zoomed in too far to be of use in your map. Packaging for large scales can take up much time and disk storage space. For example, the largest scale in the tiling scheme is about 1:1,000. Packaging the entire continental United States at this scale can take weeks and require hundreds of gigabytes of storage. If you aren't prepared to package at this scale level, remove this scale level when you create the tile package.

  • Unchecked—A tiling scheme from an existing map service will be used.

    Choose this option if your organization has created a tiling scheme for an existing service on your server and you want to match it. Matching tiling schemes ensures that your tiles will overlay correctly in your ArcGIS Runtime application.

    If you choose this option, use the same coordinate system for your source map as the map with the tiling scheme you're importing.

Boolean
Output File

The output map tile package.

File
Tiling Format

Specifies the format of the generated tiles.

  • PNGUse PNG to automatically select the correct format (PNG 8, PNG 24, or PNG 32) based on the specified Level of Detail. This is the default.
  • PNG 8 bitUse PNG 8 for overlay services that need to have a transparent background, such as roads and boundaries. PNG 8 creates tiles of very small size on disk with no loss of information. Do not use PNG 8 if your map contains more than 256 colors. Imagery, hillshades, gradient fills, transparency, and antialiasing can easily push your map over 256 colors. Even symbols such as highway shields may have subtle antialiasing around the edges that unexpectedly adds colors to your map.
  • PNG 24 bitUse PNG 24 for overlay services, such as roads and boundaries, that have more than 256 colors (if fewer than 256 colors, use PNG 8).
  • PNG 32 bitUse PNG 32 for overlay services, such as roads and boundaries, that have more than 256 colors. PNG 32 is an especially good choice for overlay services that have antialiasing enabled on lines or text. PNG 32 creates larger tiles on disk than PNG 24.
  • JPEGUse this format for basemap services that have large color variation and do not need to have a transparent background. For example, raster imagery and very detailed vector basemaps tend to work well with JPEG. JPEG is a lossy image format. It attempts to selectively remove data without affecting the appearance of the image. This can cause very small tile sizes on disk, but if your map contains vector line work or labels, it may produce too much noise or blurry area around the lines. If this is the case, you can attempt to raise the compression value from the default of 75. A higher value, such as 90, may balance an acceptable quality of line work with the small tile size benefit of the JPEG.You decide what image quality you consider acceptable. If you are willing to accept a minor amount of noise in the images, you may save large amounts of disk space by choosing JPEG. The smaller tile size also means the application can download the tiles faster.
  • MixedA mixed package uses JPEG in the center of the package and PNG 32 on the edge of the package. Use the mixed mode when you want to cleanly overlay raster packages on other layers.When a mixed package is created, PNG 32 tiles are created anywhere that transparency is detected (in other words, anywhere that the map background is visible). The rest of the tiles are built using JPEG. This keeps the average file size down while providing a clean overlay on top of other packages. If you do not use the mixed mode package in this scenario, you will see a nontransparent collar around the periphery of your image where it overlaps the other package.
String
Maximum Level Of Detail

The maximum scale at which tiles will be generated for the package. The default is 1. Possible values are 1 through 24.

Larger values reflect larger scales that show more detail but take more storage space, while smaller values reflect smaller scales that show less detail and take less storage space.

This value must be greater than or equal to Minimum Level Of Detail.

Long
Service
(Optional)

The name of the map service or the XML files to use for the tiling scheme. This parameter is required only when the Package for ArcGIS Online | Bing Maps | Google Maps parameter is unchecked.

Map Server; File
Summary
(Optional)

Adds summary information to the properties of the package.

String
Tags
(Optional)

Adds tag information to the properties of the package. Multiple tags can be added, separated by a comma or semicolon.

String
Extent
(Optional)

Specifies the extent that will be used to select or clip features.

  • Default—The extent will be based on the maximum extent of all participating inputs. This is the default.
  • Union of Inputs—The extent will be based on the maximum extent of all inputs.
  • Intersection of Inputs—The extent will be based on the minimum area common to all inputs.
  • Current Display Extent—The extent is equal to the visible display. The option is not available when there is no active map.
  • As Specified Below—The extent will be based on the minimum and maximum extent values specified.
  • Browse—The extent will be based on an existing dataset.
Extent
Compression Quality
(Optional)

A value between 1 and 100 for the JPEG compression quality. The default value is 75 for JPEG tile format and zero for other formats.

Compression is supported only for JPEG and MIXED format. Choosing a higher value will result in a larger file size with a higher-quality image. Choosing a lower value will result in a smaller file size with a lower-quality image.

Long
Package type
(Optional)

Specifies the type of tile package that will be created.

  • tpkTiles are stored using Compact storage format. It is supported across the ArcGIS platform.
  • tpkxTiles are stored using CompactV2 storage format, which provides better performance on network shares and cloud store directories. This improved and simplified package structure type is supported by newer versions of ArcGIS products such as ArcGIS Online 7.1, ArcGIS Enterprise 10.7, and ArcGIS Runtime 100.5. This is the default.
String
Minimum Level Of Detail
(Optional)

The minimum scale at which tiles will be generated for the package. The default is 1. Possible values are 1 through 24.

Larger values reflect larger scales that show more detail but take more storage space, while smaller values reflect smaller scales that show less detail and take less storage space.

This value must be less than or equal to Maximum Level Of Detail.

Long

arcpy.management.CreateMapTilePackage(in_map, service_type, output_file, format_type, level_of_detail, {service_file}, {summary}, {tags}, {extent}, {compression_quality}, {package_type}, {min_level_of_detail})
NameExplanationData Type
in_map

The map from which tiles will be generated and packaged.

Map
service_type

Specifies whether the tiling scheme will be generated from an existing map service or whether map tiles will be generated for ArcGIS Online, Bing Maps, and Google Maps.

  • EXISTINGA tiling scheme from an existing map service will be used. You must specify a map service in the service_file parameter.Choose this option if your organization has created a tiling scheme for an existing service on your server and you want to match it. Matching tiling schemes ensures that your tiles will overlay correctly in your ArcGIS Runtime application.If you choose this option, use the same coordinate system for your source map as the map with the tiling scheme you're importing.
  • ONLINEThe ArcGIS Online/Bing Maps/Google Maps tiling scheme will be used. This is the default.The ArcGIS Online/Bing Maps/Google Maps tiling scheme allows you to overlay your cache tiles with tiles from these online mapping services. ArcGIS Desktop includes this tiling scheme as a built-in option when loading a tiling scheme. When you choose this tiling scheme, the source map must use the WGS 1984 Web Mercator (Auxiliary Sphere) projected coordinate system.The ArcGIS Online/Bing Maps/Google Maps tiling scheme is required if you'll be overlaying your package with ArcGIS Online, Bing Maps, or Google Maps. One advantage of the ArcGIS Online/Bing Maps/Google Maps tiling scheme is that it is widely known in the web mapping world, so your tiles will match those of other organizations that have used this tiling scheme. Even if you don't plan to overlay any of these well-known map services, you may choose the tiling scheme for its interoperability potential.The ArcGIS Online/Bing Maps/Google Maps tiling scheme may contain scales that would be zoomed in too far to be of use in your map. Packaging for large scales can take up much time and disk storage space. For example, the largest scale in the tiling scheme is about 1:1,000. Packaging the entire continental United States at this scale can take weeks and require hundreds of gigabytes of storage. If you aren't prepared to package at this scale level, remove this scale level when you create the tile package.
Boolean
output_file

The output map tile package.

File
format_type

Specifies the format of the generated tiles.

  • PNGUse PNG to automatically select the correct format (PNG 8, PNG 24, or PNG 32) based on the specified Level of Detail. This is the default.
  • PNG8Use PNG 8 for overlay services that need to have a transparent background, such as roads and boundaries. PNG 8 creates tiles of very small size on disk with no loss of information. Do not use PNG 8 if your map contains more than 256 colors. Imagery, hillshades, gradient fills, transparency, and antialiasing can easily push your map over 256 colors. Even symbols such as highway shields may have subtle antialiasing around the edges that unexpectedly adds colors to your map.
  • PNG24Use PNG 24 for overlay services, such as roads and boundaries, that have more than 256 colors (if fewer than 256 colors, use PNG 8).
  • PNG32Use PNG 32 for overlay services, such as roads and boundaries, that have more than 256 colors. PNG 32 is an especially good choice for overlay services that have antialiasing enabled on lines or text. PNG 32 creates larger tiles on disk than PNG 24.
  • JPEGUse this format for basemap services that have large color variation and do not need to have a transparent background. For example, raster imagery and very detailed vector basemaps tend to work well with JPEG. JPEG is a lossy image format. It attempts to selectively remove data without affecting the appearance of the image. This can cause very small tile sizes on disk, but if your map contains vector line work or labels, it may produce too much noise or blurry area around the lines. If this is the case, you can attempt to raise the compression value from the default of 75. A higher value, such as 90, may balance an acceptable quality of line work with the small tile size benefit of the JPEG.You decide what image quality you consider acceptable. If you are willing to accept a minor amount of noise in the images, you may save large amounts of disk space by choosing JPEG. The smaller tile size also means the application can download the tiles faster.
  • MIXEDA mixed package uses JPEG in the center of the package and PNG 32 on the edge of the package. Use the mixed mode when you want to cleanly overlay raster packages on other layers.When a mixed package is created, PNG 32 tiles are created anywhere that transparency is detected (in other words, anywhere that the map background is visible). The rest of the tiles are built using JPEG. This keeps the average file size down while providing a clean overlay on top of other packages. If you do not use the mixed mode package in this scenario, you will see a nontransparent collar around the periphery of your image where it overlaps the other package.
String
level_of_detail

The maximum scale at which tiles will be generated for the package. The default is 1. Possible values are 1 through 24.

Larger values reflect larger scales that show more detail but take more storage space, while smaller values reflect smaller scales that show less detail and take less storage space.

This value must be greater than or equal to min_level_of_detail.

Long
service_file
(Optional)

The name of the map service or the XML files to use for the tiling scheme. This parameter is required only when the service_type parameter is EXISTING.

Map Server; File
summary
(Optional)

Adds summary information to the properties of the package.

String
tags
(Optional)

Adds tag information to the properties of the package. Multiple tags can be added, separated by a comma or semicolon.

String
extent
(Optional)

Specifies the extent that will be used to select or clip features.

  • MAXOF—The maximum extent of all inputs will be used.
  • MINOF—The minimum area common to all inputs will be used.
  • DISPLAY—The extent is equal to the visible display.
  • Layer name—The extent of the specified layer will be used.
  • Extent object—The extent of the specified object will be used.
  • Space delimited string of coordinates—The extent of the specified string will be used. Coordinates are expressed in the order of x-min, y-min, x-max, y-max.
Extent
compression_quality
(Optional)

A value between 1 and 100 for the JPEG compression quality. The default value is 75 for JPEG tile format and zero for other formats.

Compression is supported only for JPEG and MIXED format. Choosing a higher value will result in a larger file size with a higher-quality image. Choosing a lower value will result in a smaller file size with a lower-quality image.

Long
package_type
(Optional)

Specifies the type of tile package that will be created.

  • tpkTiles are stored using Compact storage format. It is supported across the ArcGIS platform.
  • tpkxTiles are stored using CompactV2 storage format, which provides better performance on network shares and cloud store directories. This improved and simplified package structure type is supported by newer versions of ArcGIS products such as ArcGIS Online 7.1, ArcGIS Enterprise 10.7, and ArcGIS Runtime 100.5. This is the default.
String
min_level_of_detail
(Optional)

The minimum scale at which tiles will be generated for the package. The default is 1. Possible values are 1 through 24.

Larger values reflect larger scales that show more detail but take more storage space, while smaller values reflect smaller scales that show less detail and take less storage space.

This value must be less than or equal to level_of_detail.

Long

Code sample

CreateMapTilePackage example 1 (Python window)

The following Python script demonstrates how to use the CreateMapTilePackage tool from the Python window.

import arcpy
arcpy.env.workspace = "C:/TilePackageExample" 
arcpy.CreateMapTilePackage_management("World Soils", "ONLINE", "Example.tpk", "PNG8", "10")
CreateMapTilePackage example 2 (stand-alone script)

Find and create map tile packages for all maps in a project.

# Name: CreateMapTilePackage.py
# Description: Find all the maps in the project and
#   create a map tile package for each map

# import system modules
import os
import arcpy

# Set environment settings
arcpy.env.overwriteOutput = True
arcpy.env.workspace = "C:/Tilepackages" 

# Loop through the project, find all the maps, and
#   create a map tile package for each map,
#   using the same name as the map
p = arcpy.mp.ArcGISProject("c:\\temp\\myproject.aprx")
for m in p.listMaps():
    print("Packaging " + m.name)
    arcpy.CreateMapTilePackage_management(m, "ONLINE", "{}.tpk".format(m.name), 
                                          "PNG8", "10")

Licensing information

  • Basic: Yes
  • Standard: Yes
  • Advanced: Yes

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