@mappingtoolsMapPoint is supplied with a range of demographic datasets which can be plotted on your map using the Data Mapping Wizard. Start the wizard by selecting Data Mapping Wizard… on the Data menu.
The first screen lets you choose the map type:
Selecting the Data Map Type in the Data Mapping Wizard
There are a number of different dataset types available. Here, we shall choose Shaded Area. This popular map type, shades each area with a color according to the data field that we plot. It is sometimes known as a choropleth map.
Press Next to see the next screen, which lets you choose the demographic dataset:
Selecting the demographic dataset to plot, in the Data Mapping Wizard
These datasets are arranged by geography. The North American edition ships with datasets for the United States, Canada, and the World. Select “United States” and press Next. Note that this screen lets you edit/modify existing dataset maps: e.g. update their legends and colors.
After selecting the demographic dataset, the next panel lets you choose the specific data field(s) to plot:
Selecting the demographic dataset field to plot, in the Data Mapping Wizard
Select Population (2007) to produce a shaded area map of populations. The shaded area map only uses one data field, so only one data field can be selected. Some map types (e.g. the pie charts) require multiple data fields. For these map types, the above panel will let you select multiple data fields.
The above panel also lets you choose the geographic level. The demographic data is limited to area plots only. The US options are listed in the above panel, but they will vary according to the administrative hierarchy used by the selected country.
The Geography for every zoom level selection will switch between geographic levels as you zoom in or out. For example, this will use US States when zoomed out, but zipcodes or census tracts when zoomed in. This can be a slow option when using national data and a slow hard disk and/or limited memory.
Select State to produce a map of US State data, and press Next to display the next panel:
Selecting the data range to plot, in the Data Mapping Wizard.
Use this panel to set the legend options. These determine the colors and ranges to be used. The Range Type specifies how the values will be divided for coloring. The linear options will give equal ranges for each color division. The logarithmic options will apply a logarithm – ideal for large variations in values (e.g. as with population data). Each division will then represent a multiplication factor, eg. 1-9.99, 10-99.9, etc. It is possible to divide the data by quantiles (fifth of the dataset population). This works best when you have large quantities of data, and sets each color division so that it contains the same number of data points. This helps to distinguish between values when a lot of data points have similar values. Finally, unique values can be used to identify each color shade. This works best for different text labels.
The Order (High-Low or Low-High) can also be set. Some range types also let you set the division values and/or the high and low value limits.
The Color option lets you choose from a number of predefined color palettes:
Selecting the data colors, in the Data Mapping Wizard
Here we choose a logarithmic scale using the default green color palette.
Press Finish to produce the map, which should look something like this:
The resulting Shaded Area Map in MapPoint
Hello,
I am trying to change the size and color of pie charts…and failing. Is it possible to do in MapPoint?
Thanks,
You should be able to change the color scheme – even in the trial version.
Could you please explain how to change the colors? I’ve plotted multiple pie charts and, unfortunately, the larger pieces of the pie are in light yellow and it’s incredibly hard on the eyes.
Thanks.
On the Legend dialog box in the Wizard, select the drop down (down arrow) by “Color”. For pie charts, you will probably want the color scheme in the lower right that uses different colors, rather than a blend of different shades.
I’m trying to generate a map of demographic areas by county. I use my own excel data, but when I copy map, I cannot find a way to exclude the counties in adjacent states. These counties don’t have data, but I’d just like the outline of one state on the map and not the adjacent areas in other states. Can I do this in mappoint?
The North American Mapping Template should be able to help. This consists of two templates (State or County) which consist of white shapes that cover the US. Use the County version. This has a shape over each and every county. Delete the shapes for the counties you want – these will give a “hole” in the shapes revealing the counties you want. The counties you don’t want will remain covered up and appear as white space in your map.
The templates are not perfect – for example they will partly obscure labels that cross a boundary; but this is the best you can do without manually editing the bitmap raster.