Frame line vs neat line in ArcGIS

Brief definitions of frame line and neat line and how to use both in ArcGIS

[ngvn]

studying for a test in my Intro to GIS class and this is exactly the information I needed! Thanks for posting the video...

[DonBoyes]

You're very welcome - I'm glad you found it useful!

[cristhiangallegos]

Buena contribución
Tengo una consulta de cómo puede hacer una plantilla como base para otros mapas.
Gracias

[_arrgh]

Frame Line, Neat Line and Paper line are in fact printing or lithographic terms that are a couple of hundred years old. They come from a time of hand set type and large block cut illustrations. In fact British Admiralty Charts still use the term Neat Line to define the size of the chart!

The Neat Line is in fact a very old term used by printers to describe the maximum printable area. The paper is ALWAYS larger than the Neat Line as that is the gripper line. Additionally in 4 colour process printing, registers are established outside of the Neat Line. After the sheet is printed it is trimmed to size in the bindery.

In AutoCAD the Frame Line is what you would use as an mview or model space viewport from paper space. You can of course have multiple Frame lines or model space viewports.

There is also a very good reason for putting a frame around an illustration in early printing practice. An illustration is a block cut. A block cut illustration is an etched copper halftone plate mounted on a wooden block. In earlier times it would be a hand cut block of wood. Every photograph printed before offset printing became widespread was from an etched copper plate.

Without a frame around the block the wear on the block by the inking roller and the paper roller puts undue wear upon the edges of the block cut. The frame around the block absorbs this wear. In the day of type set printing the frame was a full height lead strip with a thickness matching the line weight. These frames would in fact be replaced every few thousand sheets. In fact many print shops and book publishers would run text only pages with the illustration space blank as they could be run at higher speeds. Then the illustration would be run on another press. The amount of ink and paper pressure for text and a halftone cut are quite different.

The neat line is simply the maximum printable area which is of course just slightly smaller than the paper line or sheet limits. In fact in AutoCAD, the paper space setup page shows the neat line just inside of the paper limit line. AutoCAD however does not use the term Neat Line.

Understanding where terminology actually comes from is essential. When I was a young man I worked for a large printing company and saw the old ways replaced by the new. It was sad to see hand set type and linotype machines go away.

[karlasepulveda]

I am using Arcmap 10.4.1. I accidentally added a neatline, but now I can't remove it. I now have an ugly white space in between my map and the neatline.

How do one remove it?