HOW TO

Locate polygon centroids and convert them to points in ArcView and ArcEditor

Last Published: April 25, 2020

Summary

Instructions provided describe how to find the centroid of polygons and convert them to points with an ArcEditor and ArcView license.

Procedure

Note:
The content in this article pertains to ArcGIS versions 9.x and 10 only. Later versions of ArcGIS may contain different functionality, as well as different names and locations for menus, commands and geoprocessing tools.
  1. Add two new double fields to the attribute table of the polygon feature class for x,y coordinate values.
  2. Right-click the X field > Calculate Geometry.
  3. Select X Coordinate of Centroid for the Property parameter.
  4. Select the Coordinate System of the Source for the Coordinate system parameter.
Note:
 The coordinate system of the data frame can also be used if it differs from that of the data source.
  1. Keep the default units.
  2. Click OK.
  3. Right-click the Y field > Calculate Geometry.
  4. Select Y Coordinate of Centroid for the Property parameter.
  5. Select the Coordinate System of the Source for the Coordinate system parameter.
    The coordinate system should be the same that was selected for the X coordinate.
Note:
 The coordinate system of the data frame can also be used if it differs from that of the data source.
  1. Keep the default units.
  2. Click OK.
  3. Click Options > Export and specify the output location of the new table.
  4. Click Yes to add the table to the map document.
  5. Click the Source tab on the Table of Contents to see the new table.
  6. Right-click the table and select Display XY Data.
  7. Select the X and Y fields from the table for the X and Y fields in the dialog box.
  8. Click Edit to specify the spatial reference for the resulting Event Layer, this should be the same coordinate system and the polygon feature class.
  9. Click OK.
  10. Right-click the new Event Layer in the Table of Contents > Data > Export Data.
  11. Specify a name and location for the new file.

Article ID:000009647

Software:
  • ArcMap 9 x

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