Configuring Layer Export Options

The Layers panel in the GeoPDF Content group allows you to configure layer options for your exported GeoPDF file.

To access the layer configuration, click on the Layers icon .

Layer export options:

Layer options

Create a Layered GeoPDF File (checked by default)

When checked, the export process will automatically create layers in the exported GeoPDF file.

Layer Features and Labels Independently (checked by default)

When checked, the export process will place the features in your map document file and the labels that accompany those features in different layers.

Automatically choose layers

When checked, Publisher will automatically generate a layer scheme.

Configuring Advanced Layer Control

Configure advanced layer control by dragging items from the Document Items pane and dropping them in the GeoPDF Layers pane. See Custom Layer Design below for additional details.

Note: The order of the items in the Document Items pane is based on rendering order such as 'move to front,' rather than the order of items in the Display tab of ArcMap Pro's Contents pane.

Custom Layer Design

GeoPDF Publisher for ArcGIS Pro provides two options for layered content in the GeoPDF document set. To have Publisher automatically generate a layer scheme, check the Automatically Choose Layers box.

To create a custom layer scheme, drag items from the Document Items pane to the GeoPDF Layers pane.

The Custom option is initialized from the Automatic design, which may be modified, or cleared using the Clear Layers button. The Automatic design can be recovered at any time using the AutoPopulate button.

When you drop an item in the GeoPDF Layers pane, a new item is created in the tree based on the following criteria:

• Group Layer elements, Data Frame elements, and map items create a PDF menu.
• Map group layer items create a PDF group.
• All other item types create a PDF layer. The default name of a newly created layer is the name of the Document Items item from which it was created.

Layer tree structure

• When you drop items in an empty GeoPDF Layers pane, a new item is created in the tree.
• When you drop an item below a non-empty tree, a new root-level item is created at the end of the tree.
• When you drop an item on a PDF menu item, a new child item is created in the menu at the end of the menu's children.
• When you drop an item on a PDF group item, a new child item is created in the group at the end of the group's children.
• When you drop an element, map grid, map locator, map border, map background, map annotation group and map layer item on a PDF layer item, a new content item is created in the layer.
• You can drag and drop items within the GeoPDF Layers pane based on the following criteria:
  • You cannot drop an item on its immediate parent.
  • You cannot drop an item on any of its descendants.
  • When you drop a content item on a layer item, the item is moved from its original location to being a child of the layer.
• When you drop a content item on a menu or group item, a new layer item is created as the last child of the menu or group.
• When you drop a content item at the end of the tree, a new layer item is created at the end of the tree.
• When you drop a menu, group, or layer item on a menu item, the item is moved from its original location to being the last child item of the menu.
• When you drop a group or layer item on a group item, the item is moved from its original location to being the last child item of the group.
• When you drop a menu, group, or layer item that is not at the root level at the end of the tree, the item is moved from its original location to the end of the tree.

Note: When you drag a Data Frame or Group Layer element into the GeoPDF Layers pane, the element moves all of its children. If one or more of the Data Frame or Group Layer element's children already resides in the GeoPDF Layers pane, the element appears available (bold) to move but is not. The child of a Data Frame or Group Layer element cannot reside in the GeoPDF Layers pane more than one time.

Renaming items

To rename an item, click its name to enter edit mode. To save the name change, press Enter on your keyboard. Items must have names.

Show/hide items

To show or hide an item's children, click on a menu or group item icon to expand or collapse the item. You can also drag over a menu, group, or layer item to expand the item.

Removing items

To remove an item and all its descendants, select the item and then press Delete on your keyboard. You can also right-click the selected item and then from the shortcut menu, click Remove Group from Layers. Removing a content item from the tree updates the Document Items pane to show that the item is not in use.

Displaying the context menu

To display an item's context menu, right-click the item and choose the action you want to perform from the shortcut menu. Depending upon the selected item, you can convert items to other items, remove items from the tree, and more.

Identifying items

To identify an item in the Document Items pane, hover over the item to display a tooltip.

Adding new items

To add new items to the GeoPDF Layers pane, right-click the GeoPDF Layers pane and select:

• Insert New Menu to add a new menu item
• Insert New Group to add a new group item
• Insert New Layer to add a new layer item.

Clearing layers

To clear the GeoPDF Layers pane, click Clear Layers.

Automatically generating layers

The first time you open the GeoPDF Content group and view the Layers panel for a new map document file, the GeoPDF Layers pane is empty. You can check Automatically choose layers or click Auto Populate for Publisher to automatically generate a layer scheme.

To clear all the layers from the GeoPDF Layers pane, click Clear layers. To revert back to your previously saved layers scheme, click Cancel.

Multiple map scales

If you include more than one map scale in your map document file, you may want to specify the order in which each map scale layer appears in the exported GeoPDF file. For example, if you add a second map scale and you want it to appear/disappear when your Adobe Reader user clicks the second map scale layer in the layer tree, set the graphic order of elements in ArcMap Pro. Right-click the second map scale and then from the shortcut menu, click Order > Bring to Front. Test your exported GeoPDF file by turning on/off the map scale layers to ensure that the map scales appear/disappear as expected.

Empty layers

Custom layer designs can contain menus, groups, and layers that do not refer to any content that will be written into the GeoPDF. These are called “empty layers' and are displayed in yellow in the GeoPDF Layers tree. To write these empty layers to the GeoPDF layer tree, uncheck Remove Empty GeoPDF Layers.

Outdated layer items

Custom layer elements can sometimes refer to items that are no longer associated with the map. These items are shown in red in the GeoPDF layers tree and can safely be removed. These items are generally created by creating a custom layer scheme that refers to a layer or item that subsequently removed.

Saving your layers scheme

To save your layers scheme, click Save. The save state stores the date when the layer configuration was last saved and displays it in the bottom right corner of the Layers panel.

To revert back to the last save, click Cancel.