Understanding Scale bars in ArcGIS Pro Layouts and VertiGIS Studio Printing

Introduction

When creating layouts in ArcGIS Pro and printing them through VertiGIS Studio Printing Engine, scale bars can behave slightly differently depending on which type you use and how they are configured. VertiGIS Studio Desktop for ArcGIS Pro provides its own set of scale bars in addition to the standard Esri scale bars, and both follow different rules during layout design and printing. Understanding how these scale bars are styled, how their values are calculated, and how their length is determined helps ensure that scale bars look and behave as expected. 

The following sections explain how VertiGIS Studio Printing handles scale bars behind the scenes and what users should keep in mind when preparing layouts for printing.

Scale Bar Options in VertiGIS Studio Desktop

Studio Printing in VertiGIS Studio Desktop provides three scale bar types specifically designed for the VertiGIS Studio Printing Engine and these appear under the Scale Bar menu in ArcGIS Pro when the VertiGIS Studio Printing add‑in is installed (Number 1 in the screenshot below):

• Custom - Configured to be used for a specific scale

• Horizontal - Configured to be used for an arbitrary scale

• Vertical - Configured to be used for an arbitrary scale

ArcGIS Pro also offers a wide set of standard Esri scale bars, which follow Esri’s native behavior and layout logic (Number 2 in the screenshot below).

How VertiGIS Studio Printing Processes Scale Bars

When a Horizontal or Vertical scale bar from Studio Printing is added, ArcGIS Pro automatically applies the visual design of the last standard Esri scale bar that was selected. The VertiGIS scale bar therefore inherits Esri’s styling. Generally, the VertiGIS scale bars use all the defined settings in ArcGIS Pro (Number of Divisions and Subdivisions, coloring etc.). This behavior can be seen in the GIF below:

However, when the "Adjust division value" fitting strategy is configured on a horizontal or vertical VertiGIS scale bar, the VertiGIS Studio Printing Engine automatically switches the map units according to the print scale. This means that for larger print scales, it uses metres or feet, and for smaller print scales, it uses kilometres or miles.

The length of the scale bar comes directly from how it is placed in the ArcGIS Pro layout. If a map is assigned to the WEBMAP_MAP_FRAME, it becomes possible for the scale bar length to be changed. However, small variations in the printout may still occur depending on the map scale and the selected fitting strategy, but these are expected and normal. This behavior can be seen in the GIF below:

Please be aware that you need to remove the map reference again in order to publish the ArcGIS Pro layout to AGOL/Portal. After changing the map back to '<None>', the scale bar reverts to its default length, but the change is preserved in the layout.

If you use standard Esri scale bars in your layout, all settings and behavior come directly from Esri. The VertiGIS Studio Printing Engine does not change or influence these scale bars during printing.