SmartDraw

SmartDraw Preferences

Use the SmartDraw Preferences tab to manage the settings for the SmartDraw feature. SmartDraw gives you control over the display of map layers and associated labels allowing you to set zoom levels at which these items turn on and off. For some map layers that are comprised of several levels of information such as U.S. HD City Points and U.S. Roads, you have the ability to set the zoom distance at which each level of information is displayed. These settings are stored and used for each individual document. A sample of the SmartDraw tab appears below:

Preferences - General

Map Layer Select the map layer for editing SmartDraw Cutoffs.
Use SmartDraw for this layer Activates SmartDraw for the selected map layer.
Layer Draw Cutoffs The zoom distance (in miles or kilometers) at which the selected layer or label will display. In some map layers such as U.S. HD Cities and U.S. Roads you will have the ability to set SmartDraw cutoffs for several levels of information.
Label Draw Cutoffs The zoom distance (in miles or kilometers) at which the selected layer or label will display. In some map layers such as U.S. HD Cities and U.S. Roads you will have the ability to set SmartDraw cutoffs for several levels of information.
Reset Defaults Resets default SmartDraw settings for all map layers.

A common use of SmartDraw is to change the settings so that you do not see all the 5-Digit ZIP Code boundaries draw when you are zoomed out to a large geographic area. SmartDraw will automate the map layer checking and un-checking that you can do manually in the Layers tab and will automatically turn the display of ZIP Codes on or off using your settings. In this case you have decided to only display ZIP Codes boundaries when zoomed into an area of 500 miles or less.

To change the default SmartDraw settings for ZIP Codes

Open the Preferences dialog by selecting Edit/Preferences from the menu bar.
Click on the SmartDraw tab. The SmartDraw preferences display.
Select U.S. 5-Digit ZIP Codes (date) from the Map Layer drop down box.
Check the option Use SmartDraw for this layer.
In the Layer Draw Cutoffs section change the setting to 500.
In the Label Draw Cutoffs section change the setting to 500.
Click OK. When your map redraws it will only display the ZIP Code boundaries when you are zoomed into an area of under 500 miles (both x and y). If you have turned on labels, these will also only display when zoomed in to 500 miles or less.

Notes:

When determining whether to draw layers or labels, SmartDraw requires both horizontal and vertical dimensions (x and y) of your map view (as displayed in the status bar) to fall within the specified setting.

By default, SmartDraw is not enabled for any map layers with the exception of map layers that have built-in tiers including Detailed Roads, Detailed Cities and HD Cities.