Creating/Printing Maps - Layout View

Switching views
There are two ways to switch views.  On the 'View' menu you can choose the view you want to see, and also the buttons next to the scrollbar can be used.

Data View
The 'Data View' is used when you are doing some type of analysis, or processing/editing GIS data, labels, etc.  The 'Data View' displays the contents of a data frame and is based on the units in your GIS data (typically meters).  The scale of the 'Data View' is based on your computer screen, not a printed map.  If you print out the data view, you will only get what's shown in the view.


Layout View
The 'Layout View' is used to actually compose a printed map.  It displays an actual printed page, and whatever map elements are on that page.  The units of the 'Layout View' are based on the page (typically inches).  The scale of the 'Layout View' is based on the scale of the active data frame in the page itself.  Here is an example - note the obvious outline of the page edge and map elements such as the north arrow and legend.  If you print out the layout view, you will get the complete map.

Any element in the layout view can be moved or resized by clicking on it with your mouse and dragging one of the 'buttons' that will then show up.  Here is an example resizing a north arrow (but it could be anything on the layout view):


Layout toolbar
The layout view includes a layout toolbar to help you compose your layout.  It should automatically appear when you switch to layout view, if not you will have to turn it on.  It looks like this:


These tools and buttons allow you to change the amount of the layout (or page) you see on your screen in the layout view.  None of these buttons will actually change your map - only the portion of the page that you are seeing at any given time.

Zoom in to a portion of the page to see it more clearly
   Pan to a portion of the page to see it more clearly
   Zoom to see the entire page in the layout view
   Zoom to 100% - elements on the screen are the same size as they will appear on the page
  'Previous' and 'Next' for any of the above buttons/tools