North Arrow Properties Dialog

Using theManageribbon, selectNorth Arrowfrom thePlot Itemdrop-down list
Using the Sheets control bar, right click a projection-level item or Grid item in a plot sheet and choose Insert....

North arrows are smart plot items which automatically adjust to changes in the view direction. To insert, move or re-size a north arrow you must be in Page Layout mode which can be selected using theManageribbon andLayout Mode

You can add arrows to your plot items in one of two ways:

You can add a North Arrow to a particular projection. This arrow will automatically face north, according to the world coordinates associated with a particular projection.
You can add a Grid Arrow, that is, an arrow plot item that will align with 'grid north'. This direction is based on the local coordinate system of the grid in question (which, in turn, supports a custom alignment with the world coordinate system), you could potentially use this option to add a non-north arrow to your plot (e.g. you could show magnetic north vs. grid north, for example, as shown in the image below).

Note that, once an arrow is added to a plot, its dimensions and formatting are controlled independently of the underlying projection or grid. If a projection is scaled, but the overall view direction is maintained, there will be no change in appearance for the associated arrow plot item. All Arrow view formatting options are found in the North Arrow Properties dialog.

When a new arrow is added, the North Arrow Properties dialog is displayed. This dialog is used to configure the appearance of the arrow to be added, or to edit an existing arrow item.

As with any scalable plot item, you can edit dimensions by entering Page Layout Mode and dragging the resize boxes on screen. When resizing a plot item:

By default, objects will 'snap' to neighbouring items to allow you to align things more easily. You can override this behaviour by holding down the <CTRL> key during resizing.
You can maintain the aspect ratio of a plot item by holding down the <SHIFT> key during resizing using one of the corner sizer bars (using one of the central bars will automatically alter the aspect ratio regardless).

Rotating Plot Items

All plot items can be rotated, either during or after insertion, when in Page Layout Mode. Only plot items with a green rotation symbol can be rotated. This is done by using a click-and-rotate action on the rotation symbol when the rotation cursor (curved two headed arrow) is displayed. This symbol is shown below associated with a Scale Bar:

Releasing the left mouse button will set the plot item with the new orientation.

Field Details

Arrow: the upper section of the dialog contains controls for editing the format of the actual arrow to be displayed, and includes the following options:

3D: arrows can either be rendered so that they are always showed 'face-on' to the screen, or they can be aligned with the section plane. If a 3D arrow item is displayed, it will be aligned along the XY axis of the world, or the XY axis of a grid if the grid plot item is in context (all plots have a default grid item, which can be formatted at any time to show an overlaid grid in relation to an object or sheet - for more information about 3D grids, click here).

The image below shows two representations of the same arrow symbol. The left image shows a 'flat' symbol and the right displays a 3D version of it.

You can add both flat and 3D arrows to the same projection.

If a 3D arrow is added, and the view direction is set so that the symbol would be viewed edge-on, i.e. making it invisible to the viewer, the symbol will automatically snap back to flat arrow behaviour, so that it can be seen.

If the view of North Arrows in your preview and plots look 'grainy', try setting your screen font setting so that the edges are blurred (XP only):

Right-click your desktop and select Properties.
Select the Appearance tab in the Display Properties dialog.
Click Advanced.
Select the Use the following method to smooth edges of screen fonts check box and select a smoothing method from the drop-down list.
Click OK.
In the Display Properties dialog, click OK.

For more information on the Display Properties dialog, consult your operating system's online help.

Bold: select this check box to embolden your arrow symbol. The default setting is normal format, i.e. not bold.
Color: select a color for the filled areas and lines of your plot item.
Aspect: set the exaggeration of the symbol. An increased aspect will exaggerate the width of the selected symbol.

Label: the label section of this dialog lets you determine how a directional label is added to your plot. By default, 'N' is used to indicate the northerly direction but you could easily edit this, for example, when applying an arrow to a grid - in theory, you could use an 'S' label, and ensure that the grid is oriented at 180 degrees to the default world alignment. Similarly, you could use a 'Magnetic North' description for a grid arrow where the grid was misaligned from the true north direction by 4 degrees.

The following options are available in this area:

3D: as with the arrow formatting, you can elect for the label to be shown orthogonally to the view, or for it to be aligned with the XY axis of the world or underlying grid object.
Upright: by default, text is shown 'upright'. For example, the image below shows a North Arrow that is to be added to a 3D projection. The left image shows the arrow as it would be rendered with the Upright setting disabled. With the option selected, the right image would be shown:
Font: select this button to open the standard Windows font dialog. Note that although options are available to resize the font in this dialog, these will not have an effect on the TrueType fonts being used to label the arrow plot item. You should use this dialog to set the font face only.
Caption: enter the text to be shown in this field.
Size: use the slider bar to increase or decrease the size of the text dynamically.
Color: set the color of the text here.
Offset: this represents the distance between the 'origin' of the arrow and the text to be displayed. Note that the origin of an arrow symbol is determined when that particular TrueType font was created.

	Related Topics
	3D Grids Dialog Plot Item Library Dialog