Create Layouts

Layouts provide an interface for composition of print jobs. A layout shows a sheet of paper based on the default size and orientation of a paper sheet for the default printer. We add components such as maps, drawings and images to layouts by dragging and dropping them into the layout. An item added to a layout is called a frame. We can resize and restyle frames, moving them into position as desired.

In addition to frames that automatically take their content from some component, we can add specialized types of frames such as text frames for commentary and titles, and specialized types of frames designed to be parts of legends, which can entirely automate or greatly speed up the creation of legends. See the Legends topic for the use of legends in layouts.

Layouts have so many features they require multiple topics. Get more information from:

Layouts - an extended version of this topic, with tutorial examples and more information.

Layouts: Create Commands

Layouts: Text Frames

Layouts: Legends

Layouts: North Arrows

Layouts: Alignment Commands

Legends

Layouts are included in the free, read-only Manifold Viewer, even though Viewer does not print and does not include the File - Print and File - Print Preview menu commands. Layouts in Viewer can be used to compose displays for screen shots. Cool!

Also very useful when writing data for use by other applications is the Edit - Save as Image dialog. That allows us to create an image that captures a view in a map or other window. The captured image is fully georeferenced, so when we export it to a format like GeoTIFF it can be used in other GIS applications in the correct location, or simply used as a image in documents or websites.

Layouts

Layouts take virtually zero storage space. All the data for layouts stays stored in the various components that appear within the layout. We can create as many layouts as we want that include frames with components from the same maps, drawings and images in the project, arranged in different ways and using different views in the frames that show them, without making the .map project file any bigger.

Open a layout by double-clicking it in the Project pane.

Undock a layout window by shift-clicking the name tab of the window, or by right-clicking the name tab and choosing Undock.

Dock a layout window by shift-clicking the title bar, or by right-clicking the title bar and choosing Dock.

Close a layout window by clicking the X button when docked, or when undocked by right-clicking the title bar and choosing Close.

Frames

Layouts are made up of frames that are arranged on a virtual sheet of paper of the size specified in the page setup.

An item added to a layout is called a frame. When first added, a new frame fills the entire layout. The layout below shows three frames: a frame containing a satellite image from a web server as the largest frame, in the background, with a smaller frame above it showing a Bing Streets image server, and another frame that is a text frame with a title in yellow text.

We Alt-click within a frame to pick it for editing, which allows us to resize the frame and to move it about. When we are happy with the size and position of the frame we click outside of the frame to finish editing it. Other commands allow us to pan and zoom the contents of a frame, to alter the display characteristics of the frame such as the border or background color, and to automatically arrange multiple frames so they are aligned or stacked as we like. We can even transfer formatting from one frame to others.

Creating and Printing a Layout:

Right-click in the Project pane and choose Create - New Layout to create a layout.
Open the layout. The layout appears sized to the last used paper size, orientation and margins.
If desired, choose File - Page Setup to specify a different paper size, orientation and margins for the layout.
Drag and drop a component into the layout. It appears as a frame that fills the layout.
Alt-click on the frame to pick it as the active frame. Edit handles will appear.
Resize the frame and move it as desired. Click anywhere outside the frame when done.
Alt-clicking a frame also pops open the Info pane with Style and other options for the frame.
Double-click within a frame to enable that frame for panning and zooming within the frame. Adjust the viewport as desired and then Click outside the frame when done.
Choose a command from the Cursor / Command mode toolbar button to add text frames and other types of frames.
Keep the Layers pane open when working with multiple frames. The Layers pane makes it easy to select frames in a busy layout, to delete a frame, to reorder frames, to turn frames off and on and much more.
Choose File - Print to print the layout.

Tips for Working with Layouts

Arrange windows and panes for convenience - Layouts are created and edited in Layout windows, where we can see what the layout looks like and how it will be printed. Layouts utilize the Info pane to make style changes, like the colors of backgrounds or borders in frames, and the formatting of text, and the Layers pane plays a key role in picking and selecting layout frames, especially in layouts with many frames. Undock the Info pane and the Layers pane and position them on the Windows desktop where they are always conveniently in view. Many users will also undock and position in view a window showing the component for which a frame is being manipulated. For example, if a frame in a layout shows a map, the map can be opened in an undocked window that also is in view. That view can be panned and zoomed to get a broader context for making decisions about how to compose the view in the frame in the layout.

Use the Layers pane - When working with layouts that have many frames, keep the Layers pane open and in sight, for example, undocked and available on the Windows desktop. The Layers pane makes it easy to select frames in a busy layout, to delete a frame, to reorder frames, to turn frames off and on and much more. Learn to use Layers pane moves for selecting items and folders. Use the Layers pane to turn frames off that get in the way of working on busier parts of the layout. A quick click turns frames off and on in the Layers pane.

Understand Folders - Learn how to use folders in the Layers pane. Folders are the key organizational technique for handling groups of many frames in layouts, as occur in many other compositional groupings of frames in layouts. Learn Layers pane commands to collapse, expand, move up/down, and select folders until those commands are totally automatic.

Master basic layout commands - Learn how to Alt-click to pick an active frame, and how to double-click to put a frame into pan and zoom mode. Learn mouse moves like Ctrl-click-drag to select with a box, and related mouse moves to deselect. Learn how to use the Layers pane to pick exactly the right frame out of many in a busy layout.

Master pick and selection workflow - Workflow in layouts often is based on picking a frame with an Alt-click to make it the active frame and arranging that frame as desired with padding, background color, border, and other formatting parameters. We then select other frames we want to have those same characteristics, and we apply the active frame's characteristics to all of the selected frames at once. When the active frame is also selected, moving that active frame also moves all other selected frames. That makes for very fast work flow, if we have mastered basic selection moves, and the idea of picking an active frame is automatic for us. If we fumble around like beginners because we don't know basic moves in the Layout window and Layers pane to pick, to select and to deselect, we will not enjoy the speed, efficiency, and ease of use that pick and select workflow make possible.

Turn frames off and on - When arranging layouts with many frames, for example, adding and deleting frames, or styling, sizing and aligning frames, turn off any frames not involved in the rearranging, so they do not get in the way and cannot be accidentally picked or selected. Once other frames in the layout are arranged as desired, turn on the other frames.

Updates - Frames within layouts that show maps will automatically update to show changes in layer arrangements within those maps in map windows outside of the layout. For example, if a layout frame shows a map, if we open that map in a window and then add or remove layers, reorder layers, turn layers off or on, or change the opacity of layers in the map, then any frames in the layout that show that map will automatically update on the fly. However, changes to the data in layers in a map, such as adding or deleting objects, will not automatically be updated in frames within an open layout window. To update a frame with any changes in the data, any move that causes a redraw of the layout will update all frames in the layout: pan or zoom the layout slightly, undock or dock the layout window, resize an undocked layout window, or turn the map frame off and on.

Printing

To print a layout, with the focus on the opened layout we choose File - Print in the main menu. The File - Print menu allows us to print either to hard copy printers or to create PDF files by using PDF printer drivers, such as Microsoft's built-in Print to PDF capabilities. See the discussion in the File - Print topic for information on printing to PDF.

Add a Frame to a Layout

To add a frame, drag and drop the component for the frame from the Project pane into the layout. Pick the new frame as the active frame by Alt-clicking it, or by right-clicking the new frame in the Layers pane and choosing Active. The frame can then be resized using edit handles and moved, and the style properties for the active frame will pop open in the Info pane.

Deleting a Frame

To delete a frame, select it with a Ctrl-click and then choose Edit - Delete or press the Delete key. We can also select frames using the Layers pane.

Basic Mouse Commands

Drag and Drop	Drag and drop a component from the Project pane into the layout to add it to the layout as a frame.
Alt-click	Put the Alt-clicked frame into edit mode where it can be resized and moved. Drag a border or edit handle to resize. Click within the frame and drag to move the frame to a different position.
Double-click	Put the double-clicked frame into exclusive pan/zoom mode. All panning and zooming commands will apply only within that frame. This allows us to pan and zoom the view provided by the frame into that frame's component. If a double-clicked frame is partly off-screen or if it is too small for reasonable panning/zooming, the frame will be autozoomed to be larger, filling the layout window.
Click	Click outside a frame to end edit mode established by an Alt-click or to end pan/zoom mode established by a double-click.
Esc	Press the Escape key to exit alt-clicked mode for editing a frame (if there are no uncommitted changes) or double-clicked mode for panning/zooming a frame.
Ctrl-click	Ctrl-click a frame to select it, and Shift-ctrl-click to deselect a frame. Standard Manifold selection commands in windows work to select or to deselect frames in layouts.
Shift-Esc	Switch back to Default navigation mode.
File - Page Setup	Set paper size, orientation of Portrait or Landscape, and margins. By default, margins are 25.4 mm (1 inch). Changing the paper size, orientation or margins with an existing layout that already has some frames will automatically adjust the placement and size of existing frames. Changes made in page setup will be saved into the layout. Changes made to page setup will be remembered as defaults in between Manifold sessions.
File - Print	Launch the usual Windows dialog to print the layout. Any changes made during use of the File - Print dialog and subsequent dialogs to paper size, orientation or other attributes will temporarily try to adjust the placement and size of existing frames for that immediate print job, but will not be saved into the layout. Use File - Page Setup to make persistent changes to the layout.

Keyboard Selection Commands

The usual Selection keyboard commands work, as well as Edit - Select All, Edit - Select None, and Edit - Inverse, from the main menu. A selected frame will be overlaid with partially transparent red selection color.

Ctrl-A	Select all.
Shift-Ctrl-A	Select none.
Ctrl-I	Invert the selection.

Mouse Selection Commands

The same mouse selection commands work in layouts as they do in drawings. Adding the Ctrl key to a mouse click or click and drag makes selections. Adding the Shift key to those Ctrl mouse motions means to deselect.

Select
Ctrl-click	Select or de-select the frame. Ctrl-clicking a selected frame will de-select it.
Ctrl-click and drag	Draw a selection box to select all frames any part of which is within the box.
Ctrl-click-and-drag <release Ctrl> <finish dragging>	Draw a selection box to select all frames entirely within the box.

De-Select
Shift-Ctrl-click	De-select the frame. No effect if the frame is not selected.
Shift-Ctrl-click and drag	Draw a selection box to de-select all frames any part of which is within the box.
Shift-Ctrl-click <release Ctrl> <finish dragging>	Draw a selection box to de-select all frames entirely within the box.

See the main Selections topic as well as the Example: Mouse Selection in a Drawing Window topic for illustrations using objects in drawings. The same motions apply to frames in layouts.

Toolbar Commands

The main toolbar provides relevant command buttons when the focus is on a layout window. These allow us to show or hide frame margins, to choose the cursor / command mode, and to choose alignment commands:

	New - Close the current project and create a new, blank project. Manifold will prompt to save any unsaved projects and will provide an opportunity to cancel. See the Projects and .map Files topic.
	Open - Close the current project and open an existing .map project file. After browsing to and choosing the new .map file to be opened, Manifold will prompt to save any unsaved projects and will provide an opportunity to cancel.
	Close - Close the current project. Manifold will prompt to save any unsaved projects and will provide an opportunity to cancel. Closing the current project will leave the Manifold desktop with no project open.
	Save - Save the current project in a .map project file. If the project is a new project that has not yet been saved the usual Windows Save As dialog opens to allow specifying a name for the new, saved .map file. If the project has been opened from an existing .map file or if it has already been saved to a .map file the Save will be silent and will simply update the existing .map file.
	Back - Go back one view in the active window. Not enabled until we have panned or zoomed at least once.
	Forward - Go forward one view in the active window. Not enabled until we have used the Back button at least once.
	Zoom to Fit - Zoom so the contents of the active layer fill the window.
	Zoom In - Zoom in one step.
	Zoom Out - Zoom out one step.
	Margins - Show or hide fine lines that indicate the margins of each frame and the paper margins of the layout. Turning off frame margins provides a final look at the layout without virtual borders used in editing getting in the way.
	Cursor / command mode - The pull down menu shows options for the Cursor Mode Sample frames are specialized frames used to create legends. Default - Switch back to default cursor mode. Keyboard shortcut: Shift-Space Create Text - Add a text frame. Add a text frame. Click the Create Text command and then click into the layout. Keyboard shortcut: Shift-T Create Color Sample - Add a color sample frame. Keyboard shortcut: Shift-C Create Area Sample - Add an area objects sample frame. Keyboard shortcut: Shift-A Create Line Sample - Add a line objects sample frame. Keyboard shortcut: Shift-L Create Point Sample - Add a point objects sample frame. Keyboard shortcut: Shift-P Create Text Sample - Add a text sample frame. Keyboard shortcut: Shift-X Create Legend - Automatically create a legend for the active frame.
	Alignment commands - Align or adjust selected frames to the active frame. Align Left - Align all selected frames to the left edge of the active frame. Align Right - Align all selected frames to the right edge of the active frame. Align Top - Align all selected frames to the top edge of the active frame. Align Bottom - Align all selected frames to the bottom edge of the active frame. Stack Horizontal - Stack selected frames horizontally around the active frame, using the same stack order as the Z order shown in the Layers pane Stack Vertical - Stack selected frames vertically around the active frame, using the same stack order as the Z order shown in the Layers pane. Same Width - Resize all selected frames to the same width as the active frame. Same Height - Resize all selected frames to the same height as the active frame. Same Format - Applies the active frame's format to all selected layout frames, making it easy to format many frames in the same way. This is especially useful with legends. Resize to Selected - Resizes and moves the active layout frame to fit selected frames.
	Locations - Enabled when a frame containing a map, drawing, image, or labels layer has been enabled for panning and zooming with a Ctrl-click. Create a new Location or pan and zoom the window to an existing location. See the Locations topic for details on location commands in this button.

Resize to Selected is typically used to resize and move a base legend frame so it wraps around legend frames that have been altered and moved about. Note this command alters the active frame to fit selected frames, where the other alignment commands adjust selected frames as guided by the active frame.

See the Legends topic for information on the Create Legend command, and the Layouts: Create Commands topic for information on other Create... commands. See the Layouts: Alignment Commands topic for examples of alignment commands.

Style Tab for Layouts

Alt-clicking a frame in a layout opens the Info pane to the Style tab. All frames will show Background, Border and Padding controls. Text frames in addition will have additional controls to format text, and sample frames as used in legends will have additional controls to format the sample.

Controls

Background	The fill color to use as the background for the frame.
Border	The stroke color to use for the border, and the thickness of the border line.
Padding	The width of a transparent margin between the contents of the frame and the edge of the frame. Often used to provide room for a wider border that has no overlap with the contents of the frame.
Sample frame controls	When a sample frame has been picked, style controls for the sample will appear. Style controls are the same as style controls for drawings.
Sample width / position	The size of the sample glyph and the position (left or right) within the frame.
Sample shape	The shape of the glyph used for the sample
Total Style	A button showing the combined effect of the other properties to create the illustrated Style for the sample glyph.
Stroke Color	The primary color applied in borders for area glyphs, for line glyphs and outlines for point glyphs. Important: Setting Stroke color to transparent makes the glyph disappear completely. To render text symbology without using Stroke color, use the Symbol button to drill into the Symbol menu and set the Stroke width parameter to a very small width, such as 0.01.
Fill Color	The fill or secondary color. Applied to the interior of area glyphs. Also applied as the secondary color in point glyphs.
Size	The size of points, thickness of lines, and the spacing of hash patterns in areas.
Symbol	Choose symbology for the glyph.
Text frame controls	When a sample frame has been picked, style controls and a pane containing text will appear to enable formatting of the text part of the sample frame. Except for the text pane, controls are the same as style controls for labels.
Total Style	A button showing the combined effect of the other properties to create the illustrated Style for text.
Stroke Color	The primary color applied in fonts, as well as in label options and point styles that use a single color. Important: Setting Stroke color to transparent makes text disappear completely. To render text symbology without using Stroke color, use the Symbol button to drill into the Symbol menu and set the Stroke width parameter to a very small width, such as 0.01.
Fill Color	The fill or secondary color. Applied to the interior of text options. Also applied as the secondary color in point styles used in label symbology.
Size	The font size of text. May be fractions such as a size of 0.1 or 2.8. The drop down menu provides a range of default choices. Enter a specific value into the box to specify a Size other than one of the default choices.
Font	Choose the font. The initial list provides fonts immediately available and used as standard fonts in most Windows editions. Choose Custom to pick a font from any font installed in the system using the standard Windows dialog. The font size setting from the Windows dialog is ignored in favor of using the Style pane's Size property button.
Symbol	Choose symbology for text. The drop down menu provides a range of default symbols, with a toolbar that allows configuration of the drop down menu. Press the More... button at the bottom of the drop down menu for the full Symbol dialog that provides more options.
(text pane)	Enter text that will appear in the frame.
Update Frame	Apply to the frame any changes made in the Info pane. Enabled when changes have been made.

See the Layouts topic for examples.

Next: Add Legends