Prerequisites
- You must have created and activated your account.
- You must have a current subscription.
- You need access to at least one area layer.
- You need editing permissions.
Required time: Up to 10 minutes.
Creating an area is really easy in Vision. These instructions cover the most popular way to create an area, where one or more areas in one area layer (base area layer – a good example is Postcode Sectors) are grouped together to create a single, larger area in another area layer (target area layer). If you prefer to hand-draw your boundaries, please see the detailed instructions here.
Let’s start by making sure you’ve positioned the map where you want to create a new area. Remember, you can use the search feature to get there faster! We’ve gone to York in the UK.
Next, make sure the target area layer you want to create a new area in is turned on. Your screen should look similar to this.
Click the green Create a new area button underneath the layer name.
This starts the area editor and performs any necessary setup to complete the task. Note that it automatically activates the base area layer and moves it to the top of the country group, ensuring you can interact with the areas unhindered.
You may want to turn on the labels for the base area layer at this point, if they are not already displayed.
Start selecting base areas by clicking on them on the map to create your new area. If you make a mistake, don’t worry, you can simply click an area again to deselect it. You can also use the selection tools (the tabs on the left side of the area editor window), Select in area and Select in radius, if you want to grab more areas at once. If you’ve set them up, you’ll notice how each selection updates the attribute totals on the right-hand side. When you’re done, click Continue in the bottom-right.
Before finalising your new area, there is a tab on the left side of the area editor window called Impact analysis. As this is your first area, it has limited use, but it's there to demonstrate the changes to attributes that any new or edited areas have on any existing areas in your layer. You can close this dialogue box when you're finished by clicking the cross in the top right.
To complete the process, simply give the area a name and (optionally, if you’ve set them up on the layer) select a classification to assign. When you’re finished, click the Save button in the bottom-right.
This will close the area editor, and your new area will be shown on the map.
Well done, you’ve just created your first area in Vision!