Methods for creating internal buffers for cartographic effect
January 13 2010 |
2 comments
Categories:
Cartographic Design,
Cartographic Effects,
Cartographic Representations
In the past I have created internal buffers, or buffers inside of polygons, to mimic a cartographic effect I've seen often in published maps. The purpose is to help delineate boundaries more prominently between states, neighborhoods, etc. by making the internal buffer a slightly darker shade than the polygon it resides in. I've attached an example.
I'm interested in other methods to achieve this effect. Can this be done using cartographic representations?
Mapping Center Answer:
We typically refer to the buffer effect inside or outside of a polygon as a tint band. A small piece of cartographic trivia: National Geographic who is well known for using this effect calls them "buffalo tints".
We have written a few blog posts on how to achieve a similar effect in ArcMap:
A quick clean method for insetting polygon outlines
How to produce tint bands for boundaries
The second link above outlines a method using cartographic representations. This uses the Donut geometric effect. What this effect does is it "cuts a hole" in the polygon (hence the name donut). If you also want a fill color with this method, similar to the graphic you attached, you will need to add a new fill layer, apply a color to it and then move it under the donut fill layer in the representations symbology dialog. Then, you can apply transperancy to the entire feature class (Properties > Display).
To read more about the Donut geometric effect as well as other effects available in cartographic representations read this list of geometric effects.
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