I'm just learning the basics of Arcmap and I'm currently stuck on doing this.
Ive got a road with a 500m buffer (polygon) and I'm attempting to convert it into a raster so I can reclassify it into (1(suitable) and 0(unsuitable) in order to use the data for the boolean tool so I can have 2 factors merge into 1 area.
However I'm currently stuck on converting the polygon into actual data that I can reclassify because currently I'm just getting an errors, or no data.
Best Answer
You can use the 'polygon to raster' tool (toolboxes\system toolboxes\conversion tools.tbx\to raster\polygon to raster).
For the 'value field' you would have to create a dummy variable in your buffer layer, so that the resulting raster has a '1' for cells with the buffer, and '0'/'nodata' for the rest of the cells. So each polygon feature should have an attribute with a value '1'. You can do this by adding a field in the attribute table and executing the 'field calculator' on this field (http://desktop.arcgis.com/en/arcmap/10.3/manage-data/tables/calculate-field-examples.htm).
After that you would have to fill the rasters 'nodata' cells with '0', you dan do this via the raster calculator(see http://support.esri.com/technical-article/000010059).