Rotating graphics with ArcView

One of the most labor-intensive activities performed by GIS users is labeling maps. Quantitative Decisions offers the Rotate Graphics ArcView utility to enhance ArcView's built-in capabilities by providing easy interactive rotation of graphics appearing in a View or Layout document.

Quick Start

Load the Rotate Graphics extension from the Project|File|Extensions or View|File|Extensions menu items. Activate the view or layout containing the graphics. Press the new rotate button . The cursor will change to indicate the rotate tool is selected .

If you have selected one or more graphics, left-click once to start the rotation. Move the mouse around (you do not have to keep the mouse button depressed). When you have re-oriented the graphics to your liking, hold the mouse steady (or let it go) and press the shift key on the keyboard to stop the rotation. The computer will beep to confirm rotation has finished.

If no graphics are selected, then move the cursor over the graphic to rotate and left-click once to start its rotation. (If the computer beeps, then it did not find a rotatable graphic beneath the cursor.) Proceed as above.

You can type in the rotation amount. Simply press the ctrl key at any time during rotation. Fill in the textbox with the rotation amount in degrees counterclockwise. The graphic(s) will be rotated by that amount relative to the orientation they had before you clicked the rotate tool. The amount you typed in will become the default the next time, making it easy to rotate a series of graphics by exactly the same amount.

Detailed Information

Outline mode

Some graphics are complex, large, or cumbersome to rotate. You are better off rotating in "outline mode," which replaces the graphics by a simple rectangle outlining their position.

Switch between outline mode and normal mode by holding the shift key while activating the rotate tool. A message box will confirm your selection.

Undo

In most situations one level of undo is available. Select Edit|Undo Feature Edit or press the Ctrl-Z shortcut to restore the graphics.

Rotating theme features

You can rotate features in a theme. Begin by making the theme editable (select Theme|Start editing) and then proceed normally. Because it is almost always cumbersome to rotate theme features, outline mode will automatically be used when rotating themes.

Normally you will rotate every feature in a theme together. To do this, first select all the theme features. Then activate the rotation tool. Click it in the view to start interactive rotation or hold down the control key and click to type in the rotation angle.

How to rotate frames in layouts

Objects in frames--views, scale bars, tables, and legends--do not rotate. ArcView simply cannot do it. However, you can "simplify" a frame into its components (choose Graphics|Simplify) and then rotate them together or individually. Simplification breaks any live link to the underlying data, and it tends to create large constellations of complex graphics, so this is at best a work-around.

Miscellaneous details

	When ArcView detects five seconds of no mouse motion, it will automatically stop the rotation tool. You will hear a beep confirming this.
	Hold the mouse cursor over the rotate tool to determine whether it is in outline mode or not.
	The ArcView status bar monitors the amount of rotation in degrees. Zero degrees corresponds to the initial orientation of the graphic.

Limitations in this version of the software

	It is not possible to rotate splined text. This is an internal ArcView limitation.
	It is not possible to rotate bitmapped graphics such as images and grids. (To do this would require the Spatial Analyst extension, which is limited to rotating grids.)

Limitations in the free version of the software

The free version is available at our Free Software pages. It is an earlier version of the Rotate Graphics extension. Tthere is no intentional crippling or limitation of its capabilities. However,

	The free version does not rotate graphics in layouts.
	It does not allow type-in specification of rotation angles.
	It does not rotate theme features.
	It uses a more cumbersome interface: you have to switch back and forth between feature selection and feature rotation, because the rotate tool cannot select a new feature.
	It works only in ArcView versions 3.2 or later.

Order the Rotate Graphics extension now

ColorRamp, Memorized Calculations, Rotate, Sample, and Tissot are trademarks of Quantitative Decisions. All other products mentioned are registered trademarks or trademarks of their respective companies.