Clipping the Data Frame

If you need the data inside a data frame to be a shape other than rectangular, you can clip your data frame's drawing to meet your map specifications using the Clip options on the Data Frame tab of the Data Frame Properties dialog box. Clipping does not alter the actual data inside the data frame, even though data view also shows you the clipped data. Labels honor the clip shape. They will redraw so you will not see any clipped labels.

Clip provides four options:

• No Clipping
• Clip to Shape
• Clip to extent of another data frame
• Clip to current data driven page extent

No clipping

This is the default setting. You can also use this if you want to remove any existing clipping setting for this data frame.

Clip to Shape

ArcMap will use the shape that you specify to clip the drawing of a data frame. For example, you can draw a graphic ellipse in a data frame and clip your data frame to it. Clipping results in drawing only the region of the data frame bounded by the circle, with nothing drawn in the space between the edges of the circle and the bounding box of the data frame.

In the example below, a graphic circle has been drawn around the Aegean Sea.

Using this graphic, you can clip the data frame to better highlight the area of interest—in this example, the Aegean Sea.

ArcMap can use the following as clipping shapes to clip the data in a data frame:

• Any graphic shape you draw with the Draw toolbar inside a data frame (in other words, in data view or in a focused data frame). The graphic or graphics you want to use to clip the data frame must be selected; otherwise, the Outline of Selected Graphic(s) button will be disabled.
• All the features in a specific layer, for instance, a state or country polygon boundary.
• All the features in a specific layer visible in the current map extent.
• Any selected feature in a specific layer.
• A rectangle defined by specific coordinates that you supply.

Caution:

It is important to note that Clip to Shape is not dynamic. Once you choose an option and press OK, the next time you open the Data Frame Clipping dialog box, the Custom Extent button will be automatically selected, even though the original clip shape was constructed using another option, and will show you the top, left, right, and bottom coordinates of the extent you originally specified. When you choose an option that is based on an extent that can change, such as a map extent, features in a layer, or the outline of selected graphics, the dialog box gets that current extent and stores its actual coordinates, so that if any changes are made to the map or to layers that would otherwise affect this extent, after the clip has been executed, they can be ignored. If you want to update the clip shape, you will need to select the clip options and settings again.

Clip to extent of another data frame

You can use the extent of another data frame to clip the current data frame. If the data frame used for clipping is itself clipped, for instance, this data frame is clipped by circle graphic, the current data frame will also be clipped. The example below shows a map layout with two data frames.

You can use the extent of one data frame to clip the other.

Clip to current Data Driven Page extent

Data frame clipping can be used with Data Driven Pages. When Data Driven Pages are enabled, you will see Clip to current data driven page extent as one of the clip options. Selecting this option clips the data frame with the shape of the index feature defining the extent of the current Data Driven Page.

For example, using the same data in the example above, Data Driven Pages have been created for each country. That is, a feature representing the boundaries for a specific country defines the map extent for the country's corresponding page. The actual shape of the country boundary feature defines how the data frame will be clipped. Unlike the Clip to Shape option, Clip to current data driven page extent is dynamic. As you iterate through the pages, the data frame will be clipped differently.

• What are Data Driven Pages?
• Creating Data Driven Pages

Excluding layers from clipping

In some cases, you may not want to clip all the layers in your map. For example, you may want to keep certain layers, such as boundaries or transportation networks, from being clipped to provide some geographic context to your map. In the example below, the data frame is being clipped by the boundaries of France. A number of layers, country background, country borders, and cities, have been excluded from clipping, and you can see this outside France. However, the imagery layer has not been excluded. Therefore, the imagery layer will only display within the clipped boundaries—in this example, within France.

Clipping grids and graticules

Clip provides an option to clip grids and graticules according to the clip shape. The upper image shows the results when the grids and graticules are not clipped. The lower image shows the result when this option is checked. If you are using features to clip the data frame, grids and graticules are clipped to that shape.

For example, here is a data frame clipped by a graphic circle to highlight the Aegean Sea. The map is displaying graticules that are not clipped.

Here is the result when choosing to clip grids and graticules.

By default, this option is not checked. For more information, see What are Grids and Graticules?

Clipping examples

How to clip data frames to a custom shape

These instructions tell you how to clip data to a circle graphic. You can use other graphic shapes or a different clip to shape option, depending on your needs.

1. Use the New Circle tool on the Draw toolbar in data view to create a circle that contains the extent of the data you want to display in that data frame.
2. Click the Select Elements tool on the Tools toolbar and select the circle graphic.
3. Right-click the data frame for which you want to clip in the table of contents and click Properties.
4. Click the Data Frame tab on the Data Frame Properties dialog box.
5. Click the Clip Options drop-down menu and select Clip to shape.
6. Click the Specify Shape button.
7. Click Outline of Selected Graphic(s).
8. Click OK.

   Optionally, change the border option for the outline of the clip shape.

9. Click OK.

Note:

If the button for Outline of Selected Graphic(s) is not enabled, then either there are no graphics in the data frame or there are no selected graphics. To use a graphic to clip a data frame, it must be selected.

If you already have a suitable element for a clipping shape in your page layout, you can cut or copy it, then either switch to data view or give your data frame focus and paste the shape into the data frame. Click Edit > Paste while in data view.

The background and border frame properties set on the Frame tab of the Data Frame Properties dialog box will use the rectangular bounding box of the entire data frame. To set the border for the clipped region only, use the Border properties available from the Clip options portion of the dialog box.

You can drag the Clip Data Frame button onto any ArcMap toolbar and click it as a shortcut for opening the Data Frame Clipping dialog box. You can add the Clip Data Frame button by opening the Customize > Customize Mode dialog box, clicking the Commands tab, then searching for clip in the Show commands containing box. The Clip Data Frame button is in the Data Frames category.

Choosing an entire layer of polygon features to use as a clipping shape can cause ArcMap to perform slowly. You should geoprocess the features to become one shape that represents the outline you want for your data frame or find another dataset that contains that combined feature. You can combine features in several ways, including by converting features to graphics or by using the geoprocessing tools.

If you find that your labels moved or disappeared when you inserted a graphic into the map, enable data frame clipping, then delete the graphic. This makes the labels draw again, and the data frame is still clipped. To make the labels draw properly without deleting the graphic, add the Labeling toolbar, click the Label Weight Ranking button, then change the feature weight of the <Default> layer (or the annotation group containing the graphic) to None.

How to clip data frames for Data Driven Pages

1. Right-click the data frame for which you want clip in the table of contents and click Properties.
2. Click the Data Frame tab on the Data Frame Properties dialog box.
3. Click the Clip Options drop-down menu and select Clip to current data driven page extent.
4. Click OK.

   Optionally, change the border option for the outline of the clip shape.

5. Click OK.

Note:

If you do not see this option in the drop-down menu and want to use it, you will first need to enable Data Driven Pages.

If you are clipping the data frame with the Clip to current data driven page extent option and Data Driven Pages are disabled, data frame clipping reverts to no clipping. If you enable Data Driven Pages, you will need to reset the clipping option if you want to clip the data frame.

When working with Data Driven Pages you have the option to use Page Definition Queries to achieve an effect similar to clipping. The main difference is that clipping allows a feature that overlaps different pages to draw in all the pages it falls in, while Page Definition Queries are designed to limit feature drawing to a single page.

How to exclude layers from being clipped

1. Right-click the data frame for which you want to clip in the table of contents and click Properties.
2. Click the Data Frame tab on the Data Frame Properties dialog box.
3. Click the Clip Options drop-down menu and select the option you want to use.
4. Click Exclude Layers.
5. Choose the layers you want to exclude. You are only able to select top level layers for exclusion. Individual sub-layers inside a group layer or basemap layer cannot be excluded from clipping.
6. Click Close.
7. Click OK.

   Optionally, specify the clip shape if necessary.

8. Click OK.