Automating chart finishing

With ArcGIS for Maritime: Charting, several paper chart finishing processes can be automated using the Product Library Chart Automation tool. The tool performs the following actions:

• Adds all layers to the table of contents in ArcMap
• Creates grids and graticules and updates the data frame’s projection, scale, and size accordingly
• Generates cartographic limits
• Generates light sectors
• Converts labels to annotation
• Generates a mask for annotation and sets the advanced drawing options for mask settings
• Masks coastline where features intersect bridges

Note:

This tool can be run immediately after the product has been created, checked out, and opened.

1. Start ArcMap.
2. Open the product map document.
3. In the Table of Contents, double-click the data frame of the process you want to run.
4. Click the General tab.
5. Click the drop-down arrow next to Label Engine and choose Maplex Label Engine.
6. Click OK.
7. Repeat steps 4 through 6 for each chart panel (data frame) of the process you want to run.
8. If necessary, open the Catalog window.
9. Click Toolboxes > Nautical Tools > Cartography and double-click Product Library Chart Automation.

   The Product Library Chart Automation dialog box appears.

10. Check the boxes for the processes that you want to run.

    Tip:

    It is strongly recommended that you run all processes except Mask Annotation, since you may want to manually position annotation before creating the masks. The Mask Annotation process should be run after editing chart annotation.

11. Check the boxes next to the chart panels (data frames) for which you want to run the processes.

    Tip:

    If you want to run the processes on all of them at once, click Select All.

12. Click OK.

The processes run and layers are added to the map document.

13. Click OK to close the dialog box when the process is complete.