HOW TO

Fill the legend's background in an ArcGIS Pro layout

Last Published: September 13, 2023

Summary

In ArcGIS Pro, once a legend is added to a layout, the appearance of the layout can be modified. However, changing the color of the legend's background does not automatically fill the entire background.

The color selected for the legend background is white. However, the white color does not fill the entire legend background. Only the section containing the legend list is filled with the color.

This article provides two workarounds to change the color of the entire background.

Procedure

Use one of the workflows below to modify the legend's background.

Fill the background by adjusting the X and Y gap values

  1. In ArcGIS Pro, on the Layout tab, right-click the legend, and select Properties.
  2. In the Element pane, click the Placement The symbol symbolizing the Placement tab in the Format Legend pane. The symbol is the forth symbol in the pane. tab.
  3. Navigate to Position and select the box in the center of the grid, as shown in the image below.
The Element pane with the Placement tab.png
  1. Click the Display The paintbrush symbol symbolizing the Display tab in the Format Legend pane. The symbol is the third symbol in the pane. tab.
  2. On the Display tab, navigate to Background.
  3. For Symbol, click the down arrow to open the color palette. Choose a color to change the legend's background.
Changing background color from the color palette.png
  1. To fill the background, adjust the X gap and Y gap values to the desired extent. In this example, the X gap value is '0.6 in' and the Y gap value is '0.1 in'. The legend's background is filled, as shown in the image below.
Under the Background section, modify the X gap and Y gap values to fill in the legend background to the desired extent.

Use a graphic element as the legend's background

  1. Draw a rectangle element on the layout.
    1. On the Insert tab, in the Graphics and Text group, select Rectangle.
Insert a rectangle graphic element to the layout by navigating to the Insert tab on the ArcGIS Pro ribbon, and select Rectangle in the Graphics and Text group on the tab.
  1. On the Layout tab, draw a rectangle over the legend.
  2. In the Element pane, click the Symbol tab.
  3. Under Appearance, for Color, click the down arrow to open the color palette. Choose a color to change the color of the rectangle element.
  4. Click Apply.
Configuration of the rectangle element.png
  1. In the Contents pane, click to select and move the legend layer to position it above the rectangle element layer. The legend is now visible over the rectangle element.
The rectangle element is placed behind the legend and works as a background.
  1. Adjust the alignment of the rectangle element and the legend.
    1. Press and hold the Shift key on the keyboard, and click to select the legend layer and rectangle element layer in the Contents pane.
    2. Right-click the selected layers, click Align, and select the alignment for the elements. In this example, Align Center is selected.
Align the rectangle element and the legend on the Layout tab by selecting both layers in the Contents pane, right-click the layers, navigate to Align and select Align Center.
  1. In the Contents pane, right-click the selected layers and select Group to group the layers. This allows the rectangle element and the legend to be moved and resized simultaneously.
Group the rectangle element and the legend by right-clicking the layers in the Contents pane, and select Group.

Article ID: 000026478

Software:
  • ArcGIS Pro 2 8 x
  • ArcGIS Pro 2 7 x
  • ArcGIS Pro 2 x

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