Working with surrounds

A surround is a collection of graphical elements that gives meaning or clarifies the meaning of geographical information displayed in a Map. It puts the data into context that can be analysed, organized, and communicated effectively.

Focus provides the following surround elements:

• Neatline: a visible or invisible line marking the boundary around the Area beyond which no data is displayed.
• Border: a decorative frame around the Area. It is drawn behind the Area and can be used as a background.
• Grid: a pattern of regularly-spaced lines, usually used to indicate coordinates or used as dividers.
• Legend: a table listing and describing the symbols and elements in the Area.
• Picture: a graphic such as an image or logo that you place on a Map.
• North Arrow: a graphic used to indicate the direction of True North, Magnetic North, or Grid North in relation to an Area.
• Scale bar: a graphical representation of the ratio between a distance in the Area and the actual distance on the ground.
• Title: a name or phrase given to identify the Area.
• Paragraph: a block of text, such as an explanatory paragraph, that is placed on the Map.

Surround elements are positioned relative to the neatline of the Area. If an Area does not contain a neatline, the positioning is based on the Area extents. Any surround element, except for the neatline, can appear more than once in an Area. For example, if you want to show two different scales in your map, such as one in kilometers and the other in miles, you can create two scale bars.

You can modify the look of the surround elements and save those settings as a Quick Style, which can be applied to the same type of surround element in the project. For more information, see Selecting an existing quick style.