Scan a hard-copy map to use in ArcGIS Desktop

Note:
Esri has announced that ArcGIS Desktop (ArcMap and its associated suite of tools, including ArcGlobe, etc.) will no longer be available through the Education Site License beginning July 1, 2024. This means that all current ArcGIS Desktop (ArcMap) users will need to transition to ArcGIS Pro or ArcGIS Online by June 30, 2024. For further details, see ArcMap Retirement in Education Programs.

Several Student Technology Centers (STCs) at Indiana University have color scanners. For locations, see Multimedia devices at IU Bloomington and IUPUI or Scan a document at IUB or IUPUI.

When scanning a hard-copy map to use in ArcGIS, scan at high resolution (300dpi minimum) and save the image in the .tif format.

You can then add the TIF image as a data layer in ArcMap and rectify it to another layer with a specified spatial reference system that will serve as a base map product. The base map can be any map product in a specified spatial reference system (coordinate system, map projection, datum) that contains features observable on the image to be registered/rectified (for example, road intersections).

For more, see Fundamentals of georeferencing a raster dataset from ArcGIS Help.

This is document andi in the Knowledge Base.
Last modified on 2023-06-30 15:49:37.