Sometimes the responsiveness of ArcGIS Pro in the cloud environment is less than users would like, leading to frustration and slower work. Here are some tips that may improve matters.

General IT measures 

Your internet connection needs to be above 80 Mbps to get good performance from the Interpine cloud environment.

If in doubt, test your speed at www.speedtest.net  

Connecting your computer to the internet via an ethernet cable is usually faster than connecting with WiFi – if your internet speed is marginal, or if you would just like to see if it makes a difference, try connecting via an ethernet cable. If you only have WiFi, try to be in the same room as the router, with direct line of sight to it.

Do you need to run it? 

You don’t always need ArcGIS Pro to use GeoMaster. For tasks like looking up non-spatial attributes (e.g., the year a stand was planted) or generating reports, you can run GeoMaster independently. This approach is quicker and avoids the need to connect GeoMaster with GIS.

Similarly, you don’t need GeoMaster running when using ArcGIS Pro. The patch layer in ArcGIS Pro already contains basic attribute information from GeoMaster, making it easy to access key data without switching between tools.

Project organisation

Unlike ArcMap projects, ArcGIS Pro projects support multiple maps and layouts, which can either be open in panes (beneath the ribbon) or stored within the project. However, based on Interpine’s experience, having more than five maps or layouts—whether open or closed—can lead to two issues:

1. Performance Slowdowns: Larger project file sizes can slow down the software.
2. User Confusion: It becomes harder to track what maps and layouts are present.

ArcGIS Pro can also add maps and layouts silently, often without user notification. Common scenarios include:

• Converting a map from ArcMap, which adds both a map and a layout to your project.
• Using built-in layout templates, which also add a map and a layout.
• Closing GeoMaster GIS Mapper using the X button instead of the “Close” button, which saves the layout to the project.

These additions are not automatically opened and may go unnoticed.

For example, a training map shown below includes three maps and two layouts, but only one map is open. The user unknowingly saved the project with these additional maps and layouts, leading to potential confusion.

Interpine recommends keeping the Catalog Pane open in all ArcGIS Pro projects. This makes it easier to monitor and manage the addition of maps and layouts, helping to prevent unnecessary clutter and maintain project organisation.

Data sources 

Best Practices for Managing Spatial Data

• Use Geodatabases Whenever Possible: Spatial data performs faster and is more stable when accessed from a geodatabase compared to shapefiles.

• Avoid External Data Connections: Refrain from connecting to data sources outside the cloud environment, such as drives on your company’s local system, as this significantly reduces performance. The exception is web services, like the LINZ aerial imagery service, which are optimised for internet-based access. Interpine’s remote desktop is internet-connected and well-suited for such services.

• Store Data in Shared Locations: Avoid saving your organisation’s data in your personal documents section of the Interpine cloud environment. While performance won’t be impacted, no one else will be able to access the data. Additionally, if your Windows user profile becomes corrupt—a rare but possible occurrence—any personal storage will be lost during a reset. 

Optimising Raster Data in ArcGIS Pro

When working with new raster data (e.g., aerial, satellite, or drone imagery, digital elevation models, or hillshades), always build pyramids and statistics to enhance performance:

• Pyramids create generalised versions of the raster at multiple scales, reducing display time by showing only the necessary level of detail for the current map scale.
• Statistics calculate the distribution of grid cell values in the raster, which is essential for efficient rendering and analysis.

Typically, pyramids and statistics are built automatically the first time you add a new raster to an ArcGIS Pro project (.aprx). However, adding multiple rasters at once can significantly slow down the process. To streamline this, use the Build Pyramids and Statistics geoprocessing tool, which allows you to process an entire directory of rasters, including sub-directories, in one go.

Most commercial imagery comes with pyramids and statistics pre-built, and all web layers have them built-in. Ensuring this step is complete will improve performance and simplify analysis.

Optimizing Performance in ArcGIS Pro

Managing Layers at Project Closing

Before closing an ArcGIS Pro project (.aprx), turn off large layers like raster data (e.g., aerial imagery or canopy height models) and extensive vector datasets (e.g., land parcels). Then save the project. This reduces the load when reopening the .aprx, significantly improving startup performance.

Using Layer Scale Ranges

Set scale ranges for raster and large vector layers to improve map performance and clarity. By default, ArcGIS Pro will attempt to draw all visible layers regardless of scale. This can result in unnecessary processing and clutter, especially for detailed data at inappropriate scales:

• Zoomed Out: Detailed data becomes hard to see and may slow performance.
• Zoomed In: Coarse data may not provide useful detail.

By assigning visible scale ranges, layers will only display when the map scale is appropriate. Layers outside their defined scale range will not draw, reducing the processing load. If a layer isn’t visible due to its scale range, a dimmed scale bar will appear under its checkbox in the table of contents/layer list.

How to Adjust Scale Ranges:

1. Right-click the layer name in the table of contents.
2. Select Properties and go to the General tab.
3. Set the desired scale range.

Recommended Scale Ranges:

• General use: 1:50,000
• High-detail layers (e.g., contours, detailed imagery, land parcels): 1:25,000

Adjusting Scale Ranges for Layers

To modify a layer’s scale range, you can:

1. Highlight the layer name in the Table of Contents.
2. Select the Feature Layer tab from the Ribbon at the top of the project.
3. Adjust the Maximum Scale and Minimum Scale options to set the desired visibility range.

Grouping Similar Layers

If you have multiple similar layers, such as satellite images with the same resolution, consider creating a group layer. By applying scale ranges to the group, you save time and effort compared to adjusting scale ranges for each individual layer. This approach also keeps your Table of Contents organised and simplifies map management.

Labels

Labels, like map features, need to redraw whenever the map is panned, zoomed, or otherwise interacted with. This process can slow down map performance. To optimise this:

• Disable Unnecessary Labels: Only enable labeling for layers where it is essential. If a layer doesn’t need labels, keep them turned off.

• Set Label Scale Ranges: For layers with dense label details, such as a road network, define a label scale range in addition to the layer’s scale range. This prevents labels from being drawn when they are no longer meaningful or legible at certain scales.

For example:

• Set the roads layer to stop displaying at 1:50,000.
• Set the road labels to stop displaying earlier, at 1:25,000.

Dealing with Project Corruption

ArcGIS Pro projects (.aprx) are not immune to performance degradation or corruption over time. If you’ve tried other optimisation tips but still experience poor performance, follow these steps:

1. Open the problematic .aprx.
2. Create a new .aprx file.
3. Drag your layers from the old .aprx to the new one.
4. Save the new project with a unique name.

Prepare for Easy Recovery with a Template Project

To reduce setup time in case of corruption, maintain a template or base .aprx file containing your organisation’s core data, well-symbolised and neatly organised. Mark this file as read-only in Windows Explorer to prevent accidental edits.

When needed, copy the template file to create a fresh project. This approach ensures consistency and reduces the time spent recreating layouts and configurations.

Need more help?

This is a quick guide to common causes of slow performance during the combined use of ArcGIS Pro and Geomaster. If you need more help, please contact support@interpine.nz

 

 

Mxd-specific steps 

Clear the display cache from your most frequently used map projects (mxds), and do this reasonably often, at least every tenth time you start the mxd. Go to Customise -> ArcMap options, then the Display Cache tab. Click Clear Cache (it may not drop all the way to zero). 

When you close a .mxd file, first tick off raster layers, like aerial imagery or canopy height models, and large vector data, such as the land parcels layer, then save the mxd. The .mxd will re-open faster. 

Set scale ranges on your raster layers and large vector layers.  

Normally, if a layer is turned on (checked) in the table of contents, ArcMap will draw it. However, as you zoom out, it may become difficult to see the more detailed information, or as you zoom in, information may become too coarse. While you can turn off a layer, this may be inconvenient, especially if your map contains several layers or if you change the scale frequently as you work.  Layers can be set to automatically display only within the appropriate scale. You can set a layer’s visible scale range on the General tab of the Layer Properties dialog box. Whenever the scale of the data frame is outside the layer’s visible scale range, the layer will not draw.  This will increase the map performance.    
 
If a layer isn’t drawing because it has a visible scale range set, you’ll see a dimmed scale bar under the layer’s check box in the table of contents/layer list. 

Group layers are also a useful shortcut when you need to set visibility scale ranges for more than one layer. Often it makes sense to create group layers for each scale range within which your map will display data. The scale range within which a group layer is set to display features overrides the scale range of any layers within the group layer. To further refine the level of detail shown within your map, you can set any of the layers within a group layer to turn on or off at scales within the scale range of the group layer.  

Right-click the layer name, then choose Properties. In the General tab, tick the button Don’t show layer when zoomed.  

Setting a minimum visible scale for a layer = if you zoom out beyond this scale, the layer will not be visible 

Setting a maximum visible scale for a layer = if you zoom in beyond this scale, the layer will not be visible 

To clear the zoom scale, tick the Show layer at all scales button 

Mxd projects don’t live forever. If you have tried the other tips and still get poor performance from a specific .mxd, keep your poor performance .mxd open and open a new blank .mxd. Drag your layers across from the old .mxd to the new .mxd, and save it with a new name.  

You can also try the MXD Doctor, which you can access from the Start menu in the remote desktop. MXD Doctor is intended for extracting valid entities from broken .mxd files. However, you can also use it to retrieve entities from valid .mxd files as a way of copying things from one .mxd file to another.  Before using MXD Doctor, Create a backup of the broken file and, if you’re using an existing file as the target file, create a backup of the target file too.