I have high quality color aerial photography. I'm trying to reproduce the look of the FEMA DFIRM panels and "gray out" or dim or "blue out" the aerials.
Mapping Center Answer:
I am assuming that what you are referring to is in the examples on this web site: http://www.fema.gov/library/viewRecord.do?id=2996. If not, please send us another question here on Ask a Cartographer to let us know which maps you want to replicate either by sending a URL to the web site with the maps or by adding an example map as an attachment. If the maps are like those on the web site I noted, read on!
For the map with the two brown tints, you can simply add a polygon fill to those two areas using brown colors that are slightly darker than what you would finally like to see on the map. Then use the Transparency option (on the Display tab of the layer properties dialog) to set the transparency of the polygons.
For the maps with the blue pattern fills, you can use a similar approach but instead of using a simple fill symbol, you would use a marker fill symbol (to fill the polygon with dots) and/or a line fill symbol (to fill the polygon with lines). You can use these together by simply duplicating the layer in the Table of Contents and drawing the marker fill symbol layer over the line fill symbol layer (be sure to use no outline on the bottom layer so that you do not duplicate the border).
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