This topic discusses the use of grids
within frames in Layouts.
For info on adding a Grid virtual layer to a map, see the Grids topic.
Grids in layouts are like grids that appear in components like maps. Any frame created from a component, like frames that show maps, drawings, or images, can have a grid in it.
This topic discusses the use of grids
within frames in Layouts.
For info on adding a Grid virtual layer to a map, see the Grids topic.
The Grid dialog used to configuring grids in component frames for layouts works exactly the same way as the Grid dialog used to configure grids in component windows. See the Grids topic.
Suppose we have a layout that includes a world map as one of the frames:
The map frame was added to the layout by dragging and dropping a map component from the Project pane. The frame was then panned and zoom to create the display seen above.
The original map component had the grid layer turned on:
The map shows countries in the world using Mollweide projection.
However, when we drag and drop the map into the layout to create a new frame in the layout that shows the map, the grid will not appear. Grids in component frames in layouts are entirely separate from grids that are configured using the Grid virtual layer in the component. That allows us to set different grid settings for use in the layout, where different grid settings are often desired for hard copy or PDF printouts as compared to what makes sense viewing components interactively in component windows on screen.
In the layout, to turn on a grid in the component frame that shows the map, we Alt-click that frame. That turns on edit handles for the frame, and it also launches that frame as the subject of the Info pane.
The Info pane launches with a light blue background by default in the preview pane for the grid. The default light blue background makes it easy to see grid lines that use white or other light colors. We can change the background color as desired by clicking the square color well box in the upper right corner of the preview pane.
We check the Grid box and then we press the browse button, to launch the Grid dialog.
Configure the Grid dialog as seen above and press OK. For information on settings in the Grid dialog, see the Grids topic.
Back in the Info pane, press Update Frame.
A grid using the settings specified appears in the map component frame in the layout. In the illustration above, we have Alt-clicked outside of the frame to un-pick the frame, so the edit handles do not appear.
Note that the grid lines are spaced farther apart than ten degrees because we checked the Increase step on zoom out box. If we wanted to force the grid lines to use a step of ten degrees, we can uncheck that box:
Note that the grid lines are also fainter, using thinner dashes, than the grid lines seen in the World Map window, even though in both cases the grid is set to 0.75 stroke size. That is because grids shown in component windows on a computer monitor uses exactly the point size specified for the thickness of lines, in this case 0.75 points, while the grid lines seen in the layout window are a view of an A4 (approximately Letter sized) sheet of paper where the grid lines will be printed at 0.75 thickness on the real sheet of paper.
If we zoom into the layout window the contents of the layout frames will be rendered just as if we moved the A4 sheet of paper closer to our eyes, making what is drawn on that paper appear larger. For example, if we zoom into the layout window we can see how the latitude and longitude lines in the ocean to the East of Oman use dashes that are drawn thicker, appearing larger than the 0.75 points they would be printed on the sheet of paper, because we are zooming in as if looking at the paper through a magnifying glass.
Grids are in the Info Pane - In Layouts, grids are turned on and off in the Info pane for a frame that has been Alt-clicked. They do not appear in the Layers pane as a frame, because the Layers pane with a layout window shows the possibly many frames in the layout, many of which could be component frames that have or do not have grids. That is a slight stylistic difference from how grids work in maps or other component windows.