Once you've found a place and added points (optional), use the Choose Layers tab to select base and thematic map layers, any My Points layers you want, and choose a color palette.
Map layers come from different data sources. To see what data is contained in each map, click METADATA for that map.
This page contains the following sections:
BASE MAP LAYERS
THEMATIC LAYERS
MY LAYERS
U.S. CENSUS MAPS
U.S. DEMOGRAPHICS MAPS
URBAN SATELLITE IMAGERY MAPS
COLOR PALETTE
The list of available base layers is dynamic—changing as you change the map's location and scale. For example, you might see cities, streets, and railroads on a map of Europe but not on a map of Saharan Africa. Likewise, a map of the United States will have fewer layers than a map of San Francisco's downtown.
Click the Choose Layers tab.
Click the BASE MAP LAYERS dropdown arrow and click a map name.
Check the box or boxes next to the layer or layers you want displayed on your map.
Uncheck the box or boxes next to the layer or layers you want removed from the map.
Click UPDATE MAP to update the map with the new base map layers.
Click METADATA to see information about base map layers.
Thematic data layers appear on your map as lines, points, or polygons. The layers that you see are dependent on the scale and location of your map. You can add as many line and point layers as are available. Polygon layers, which are shapes filled with color, cover the entire map. For this reason, you can only choose one polygon layer for your map.
Click the Choose Layers tab.
Click the THEMATIC LAYERS dropdown arrow and click a thematic layer or click Show All Layers.
Check the box or boxes next to the layers you want displayed in your map.
Check the box or boxes to the right of the layer or layers to display a label for the layer.
Uncheck the box or boxes next to the layer or layers you want removed from the map.
Uncheck the box or boxes next to the layer label or labels you want removed from the map.
Choose one thematic layer to cover the entire map.
Click UPDATE MAP to update the map with the new thematic layers.
Click METADATA to see information about thematic layers.
Note: Thematic layers which contain rastered (pixeled) data, such as Shaded Relief Imagery and Premium Imagery Service, are exported to your map file as separate high resolution .tif or .png files.
MY LAYERS contains existing layers of points that you or somebody in your organization has added to MapStudio. See Setting up MY MAPSTUDIO for more information about adding points.
Click the Choose Layers tab.
Check the box or boxes next to the points layers you want displayed in your map.
Uncheck the box or boxes next to the layer or layers you want removed from the map.
Click UPDATE MAP to update the map with your points layers.
MapStudio provides access to the Census 2000 data to download in graphic format (e.g., EPS and GIF) or data format (e.g., SHP or TXT). You can download prepackaged census map data in compressed shapefile (SHP) format at the census tract level for the released states.
Note: CENSUS LAYERS and REFERENCE LAYERS replace BASE MAP LAYERS and THEMATIC LAYERS when you select U.S. Census Maps.
Click the Choose Layers tab.
Click the BASE MAP LAYERS dropdown arrow and click U.S. Census Maps.
Click the Census Layer Categories dropdown arrow and click a Census category to change the Census category.
Click the Census Map Layers dropdown arrow and click a Census layer to change the Census layer.
Click the Level of Geography dropdown arrow and click the level of geography for which you want to see census data.
Note: The options for Level of Geography change with the scale of your map.
Click UPDATE MAP to update the map with your census changes.
Type a word in the Census Keyword Search box.
Click SEARCH to open a window with your search results.
Click the census layer you want displayed in your map. The map view updates with the new census layers.
Click MAP DATA to access a link for downloading census data.
Click METADATA to see information about census layers.
The map view updates with the new demographic data.
Note: DEMOGRAPHICS LAYERS and REFERENCE LAYERS replace BASE MAP LAYERS and THEMATIC LAYERS when you select U.S.Demographic Maps.
Click the Choose Layers tab.
Click the BASE MAP LAYERS dropdown arrow and click U.S. Demographic Maps.
Click the Demographic Layer Categories dropdown arrow and click to change the demographic category.
Click the Demographic Map Layers dropdown arrow and click to change the demographic layer.
Click the Level of Geography dropdown arrow and click the level of geography for which you want to see demographic data.
Note: The options for level of geography change with the scale of your map.
Click UPDATE MAP to update the map with your demographic data changes.
Type a word in the Demographics Keyword Search box.
Click SEARCH to open a window with your search results.
Click the demographic layer you want displayed in your map.
The map view updates with the new demographic data.
Urban Satellite Imagery Maps are available to Media users only.
To see an approximate U.S. address on an Urban Satellite Imagery Map, use the FIND A U.S. ADDRESS section in the Find Place tab, then switch to the Urban Satellite Imagery Maps. Your address marker appears on the satellite imagery.
Note: Once you've zoomed in to the imagery layer and the hashed lines and yellow areas disappear, LEGEND no longer appears as a Map Tool.
Click the Choose Layers tab.
Click the BASE MAP LAYERS dropdown arrow and click Urban Satellite Imagery Maps.
Click a city name in the IMAGE LAYERS section.
Click UPDATE MAP.
Zoom to an area within the hashed box to see imagery.
Check the reference layers you want displayed in your map.
Click UPDATE MAP.
CMYK represents cyan, magenta, yellow, and black and is used for print format. RGB represents red, green, and blue and is used for screen format.
Click the Choose Layers tab.
Click RGB or CMYK for the color range of the map.
Click UPDATE MAP to update the map with the new color palette.