Layout editor

Functionality

In the Layout editor you can edit a layout. A layout is a virtual sheet of paper on which you can make a composition of one or more map views and annotation before printing.

The Layout editor has a menu bar, a Layout Management pane, a standard toolbar, a layout toolbar, a context-sensitive menu, and a status bar.

Tip: To be able to print maps and annotation, first save a map window containing one or more maps, and optionally Annotation Text, grid lines and/or graticules as a map view. Then, create a layout and add one or more map views to it.

In the layout editor, you can add to a layout:

one or more map views to be printed on a certain scale; each map view may include one raster map and/or one or more point maps, segment maps and/or polygon maps, annotation text layers, grid lines and/or graticules,
texts such a titles;
boxes;
bitmaps and/or pictures;
a page border.

For each map view in a layout, you can furthermore add:

a legend for a specific layer in the map view;
a map border, including coordinates and ticks for grid lines and/or a graticule;
a North arrow;
a scale bar and scale text.

You can also add or delete layers from a map view, or edit the grid lines or graticule(s) in a map view.

Finally, any picture or bitmap that was copied into the clipboard from another Windows application program can be pasted into a layout.

Tip: Multiple texts, e.g. names or values of points in a point map, names or values of segments in a segment map, or names of polygons in a polygon map, that are stored in an Annotation Text object can be edited in the Annotation Text editor.

To start the Layout editor:

The Layout editor is automatically started when you create a new layout. You can use for instance the Create Layout command on the File menu of the Main window, from the File menu in a map window, or by clicking an existing map view in a Catalog with the right mouse button and choosing the Create Layout command from the context-sensitive menu.

To open an existing layout, you can simply double-click it in a Catalog.

Choosing a paper size and a printer:

It is advised to first select a paper size and a printer when you start working on a layout.

Choose the Page Setup command from the File menu.
Select the desired paper size, and select the desired printer.
You can usually also specify the orientation of the paper and the margins you wish to use.

Note: The exact contents of the Page Setup dialog box depend on the printer(s) that have been installed on your computer.

When done, the layout editor (re)appears with a virtual sheet of paper with the dimensions and orientation as specified. As a reminder, the selected paper size is also shown in the status bar of the window.

Inserting one or more map views:

To insert a map view:

click the Insert Map View button in the layout toolbar of the Layout editor, or
from the Insert menu, choose the Insert Map View command.

For each map view you insert, an initial scale will be asked. By default, this is the scale on which you saved the map view. However, if this would not fit on the paper size you specified for the layout, the scale of the map view is adapted so that it will fit the paper size.

When a map view is inserted, you must decide on the scale of the map view; this is the scale on which the map view will be printed later on. It is advised to set the scale of a map view before adding annotation and before printing. For more information, see Keep Scale.

Tips:

You can use the Layout Management pane to size and position an inserted map view quite exact, by modifying the values for Left, Top, Width and Height in the Layout Management pane (values for Height and Width are approximations).
In the Layout Management pane, you can also specify the scale on which a map view should be displayed and printed later on.

Note:

Map views that use a coordinate system of type latlon, cannot be properly displayed nor printed in a layout. It is advised:

to drag a coordinate system of type projection to a map window before saving the map window as a map view, or
to transform the vector maps with a coordinate system of type latlon, to a coordinate system of type projection.

Inserting annotation:

To insert a text, a box or a bitmap or picture:

click the Insert Text , the Insert Box , or the Insert Bitmap/Picture button in the layout toolbar of the Layout editor, or
from the Insert menu, choose the Insert Text, the Insert Box, or the Insert Bitmap or Picture commands.

You can also use Copy in other programs and then Paste any texts, bitmaps or pictures in clipboard into a layout, see Layout editor : Copy and Layout editor : Paste.

To insert a legend, a map border (including ticks and or coordinates of grid lines or a graticule), a north arrow, a scale bar, or a scale text:

first, select the map view for which you wish to add the annotation in the layout editor, and
click the Insert Legend , the Insert Map Border , the Insert North Arrow , the Insert Scale Bar , or the Insert Scale Text button in the layout toolbar of the Layout editor (the status bar gives an explanation), or
from the Insert menu, choose the Insert Legend, the Insert Map Border, the Insert North Arrow, the Insert Scale Bar, or the Insert Scale Text commands.

For any type of newly inserted annotation listed above, an Edit dialog box, or a Display Options dialog box appears in which you can specify the display settings of the annotation 'object'.

To add a page border:

choose Page Border from the Edit menu.

The Page Border will simply follow the paper margins set during Page Setup and will be printed when the Page Border command on the Edit menu is preceded by a check mark.

Positioning and sizing annotation:

You can position annotation in the layout editor window by using drag and drop:

click an annotation 'object' with the left mouse button, hold the left mouse button down, and
move the mouse pointer to another location in the layout,
then release the left mouse button.

To size annotation:

select an annotation 'object' by clicking it: the borders of the annotation become visible,
position the mouse pointer on one of the 4 or 8 size handles (little black blocks appearing at the annotation borders),
drag the size handle to a new position.

Dragging one of the corner handles maintains the original ratio of height-width ratio.

Dragging one of the middle handles resizes the annotation horizontally or vertically; the height-width ratio may change.

Tip: You can use the Layout Management pane to size and position inserted annotation quite exact, by modifying the values for Left, Top, Width and Height in the Layout Management pane.

Zooming in and out, pan:

By using the Zoom In and Zoom Out buttons, or the Zoom In and Zoom Out commands from the View menu, or from the context-sensitive menu, you can zoom in and zoom out on any part of your layout.

By using the Pan button, or the Pan command from the View menu, you can roam through your layout when you zoomed in on a part of the layout.

To size map views, see Keep Scale. To show only part of a map in a map view, you can select the map view in the layout editor, and choose Pan from the context-sensitive menu. When you reduced the size of a map view, you can also choose Pan from the context-sensitive menu to display a specific area of your map view.

Editing annotation:

To edit annotation:

in the Layout editor or in the Layout Management pane,
double-click the annotation 'object' that you wish to edit.

An Edit dialog box, or a Display Options dialog box appears in which you can re-specify the display settings of the selected 'object'.

You can also:

select an annotation 'object' in the layout editor, and choose Edit Item from the Edit menu, or
in the Layout editor or in the Layout Management pane, click a selected annotation 'object' with the right mouse button and select Edit Item from the context-sensitive menu, or
select an annotation 'object' in the layout editor, and press the Enter key on the keyboard.

To clear annotation:

You can clear or delete annotation as follows:

in the Layout editor or in Layout Management pane, select the annotation 'object' you wish to delete,

then:

choose Clear from the Edit menu, or
click the Clear button in the standard toolbar, or
click the selection with the right mouse button and choose Clear from the context-sensitive menu, or
press the Del key on the keyboard.

Mind: When you select a map view and choose Clear, then the map view and all annotation related to the map view will be cleared.

To edit a map view in a layout:

To add extra layers to a map view in a layout:

select the map view in the layout editor, and
use the Add Layer , the Add Grid Lines and/or the Add Graticule buttons in the layout toolbar.

To remove layers or to change display options of layers:

double-click a map view in the layout editor,
a Layer Management pane will appear as in a map window.

You can for instance:

double-click a map layer, an annotation text layer, a grid layer or a graticule layer in the Layer Management pane to edit the display options of the layer,
select a layer in the Layer Management pane and use the Remove Layer button to remove the layer,
you can also use the Add Layer, Add Grid Lines and/or the Add Graticule buttons as described above.

After editing a map view, you need to use Redraw to apply any changes.

To save a changed map view in a layout:

To save a map view to which you added (or from which you removed) extra layers, grid lines or a graticule, or when you changed display options of a layer in the map view:

select the map view you wish to save in the layout,
click the Save button in the standard toolbar, or
click the selected map view with the right mouse button, and choose Save View or Save View As from the context-sensitive menu.

To replace a map view in a layout:

To produce multiple layouts which are more or less similar, but which use for instance different map views, you can replace one or more map views in the layout, save the layout with a different name and optionally edit some annotation.

To replace a map view in the current layout with another map view:

select the map view you wish to replace,
click the selected map view with the right mouse button, and
choose Replace Map View from the context-sensitive menu.

To save a layout with a different name, use the Save As command on the File menu (see below).

To save a layout:

When finished inserting and editing map views and annotation, first save any changed map views (see above). To save the layout with the map views and the annotation that it contains:

click somewhere in the white space of the layout, and
click the Save button in the standard toolbar, or
choose Save or Save As from the File menu of the layout editor.

Printing:

To print a layout with all map views on the scale you specified and all annotation as appearing in the layout:

choose Print from the File menu, or
click the Print button in the standard toolbar of the layout editor.

Other functionality:

Exporting a complete layout as a bitmap: choose Export to Bitmap from the File menu.
Copying and Pasting text, bitmaps or pictures: choose Copy or Paste from the Edit menu.
To fit the entire layout in the layout editor window: choose Entire Page from the View menu.
To (re)fit an entire map view in the area specified for a map view: choose Entire Map from the Edit menu.

To exit the layout editor:

choose from the File menu, choose Exit Editor, or
click the Close button at the right top of the layout editor window, or double-click the Control-menu box.