NR 422- Advanced GIS Cartography

1. NR 422- Advanced GISCartography Jim Graham Spring 2009

2. GIS Professionals • Produce GIS reports, articles, posters, and web sites that are: • Accurate & Precise • Astatically pleasing • Informative • Legal • Include the standard cartography elements: • Spatial data, legends, scale bars, north arrows, regional maps, credits, author(s), and projection & datum • Are recognized as authors!

3. What is a map?

4. Questions • Purpose: • What is the map trying to communicate? • Audience? • What data is available? • What is the schedule? • Required accuracy? • What resources are available? • Software • Computers • Existing photos, graphs, maps

5. Maps by type • General reference maps • Show a variety of fixed features • Water bodies, coastlines, roads, etc. • Topographic maps • Thematic or special purpose maps • Show one attribute or relationships between them • Charts • Navigation by boat or plane

6. Maps by subject • Cadastral: ownership • Weather • Research • Recreational maps • Planning • Informational/Educational

7. Overall Style • Antique • Political • Chart • Academic • Trail Maps • Street Maps • USGS Topographic Map Series

8. Levels of Quality • Hand drawn • MapQuest • ArcMap • PowerPoint • Illustrator & Photoshop • Quark • Media: Electronic or paper

9. Types of content • Contone • DEMS • Photos • Some statistical layers • Spot color (drawings, vector) • Points • Polylines • polygons • Categorical rasters: • Land cover GoogleMaps ESRI ArcMap Data Set

10. Map Production • Computer Screens (CRTs, Monitor): • Emit light in a grid • About 100 dpi • Red, Green, Blue • Good for contone • Printers: • Place ink on paper • Cyan, Yellow, Magenta, Black (CYMK) • 300 to 2000 dpi • Good for spot color

11. Color Theory Light: Additive Pigment: Subtractive Computer Screens (CRT) Printers

12. Hue

13. CIE Color Diagram

14. Color Separation

15. Process Color

16. Color Printer Process • Get the layout right • Test the margins on a black and white printer • Test the color print • Adjust the colors until they look good • Show it to others including target audience • Cut off a white border if desired

17. Offset Press • Professional grade • Large numbers of copies • $500 for 500 copies • Cheaper for additional copies • Each color on a separate “plate” • Can mix special colors • Almost all magazines and books are printed on offset press

18. Pre-Press Process • Talk to the printer! • Follow color printer process • Take the file and the color print to the process printer • Process printer creates “photo ready art” • May do a test run • Approve final output

19. Paper • Paper is graded by “hardness” • Newspaper • Office paper • “Hard” paper (Hammermill) • Glossy paper • Colored paper • Dark colors rarely work with computer printers • Use white paper and print the background solid

20. Using ArcMap with GA Applications • Prepare your map elements • File -> Export • Select the appropriate file type • Resolution as specified by the printer: • With spot color: 300 to 1000 dpi • Without spot color: 150 to 200 dpi • Files will be big! • Import into the other application • Add backgrounds, callouts, redo the legend

21. Export File Formats • Contone: • JPEG • TIFF with JPEG compression • Spot Color, Line Drawings • GIF • PNG • TIFF with LZW or run-length compression • Combined: • JPEG with high quality (low compression) • TIFF without compression

22. Using Color • Pastels - calming • Saturated colors – fun, exciting • Young: • Red, blue, green, saturated • Older: • Blue, green, red, unsaturated • Color preference varies by culture! • 10% of men and 0.5% of women are color-blind (poor color discrimination)

23. Background Color • Sets the tone • Black – dramatic • White – technical • Green – comforting, natural • Red – exciting, danger • Beige – soothing • Orange, yellow – warm • Should not be bright • Should compliment the content

24. Borders • Neat lines – contrast background: • Light background: black • Dark background: white or yellow • Large regions – typically black • Dashed for smaller subdivisons

25. Solid areas • Oceans: light blue • Regions: pastels • Patterns: going out of style? • Patterns of sparse vegetation, rocks, etc. are ok. • Hashed areas only used for special purpose

26. Networks • Standard symbols for highways, roads • Blue with black outlines for rivers, black lines for streams GoogleMaps

27. Points, “Marks” or Symbols • Standard when available • Easy to identify and remember • Size: big cities larger National Geographic

28. Standard Symbols from the USGS • http://pubs.usgs.gov/tm/2006/11A02/

30. Overlays • Informational balloons • Photos • Call outs National Geographic

31. Labels • Typically black or a dark color • Drop shadow or “halo” to highlight on a dark background • Size matches importance National Geographic

32. Label Placement • Typically horizontal • Large roads and steams the label should be above the feature and curve with it • Labels in regoins can follow it’s shape • Should always be right side up • Should not overlap with other labels and symbols

33. Positioning Guidelines • Entirely on land or entirely on water • Match orientation of the map • Small scale: match parallels • Large scale: match bottom edge • Not curve unless needed • If out of orientation, should have a slight curve • Avoid wide spaces unless needed • Never upside down Elements of Cartography

34. Label Placement Place name 5 2 Place name Place name 1 4 Place name Place name 3 Place name 6 Place name 7 Place name 9 Place name 8 Place name 10 Elements of Cartography

35. Visual Variables • Primary: • Shape • Size • Orientation • Color • Secondary (Pattern): • Arrangement • Texture • Orientation

36. Map Elements • Title • Spatial Data w/neat lines • Regional maps • Scale bars • North arrows • Text: Author, data, projection, datum, sources, descriptive • Grid lines and margins • Magnetic declination: navigation maps

37. Regional Maps • Enough for the user to identify the area • US map does not need regional • Some maps need multiple: • Global • Regional • Local

38. North Arrow • Style should match overall map style • North points to true north • Must follow lines of longitude (meridians) at the location of the arrow (ESRI does not do this automatically!)

39. Scale Bars • Who is the audience? • What measures for distance do they use? • Units: Degrees, metric, English? • Always use metric (SI) or degrees for scientific maps • Must be readable • Which region does it match?

40. Techniques • Classification • Simplification • Exaggeration • Generalization

41. Classification • Express the salient character of a distribution • Similar attributes into categories • Create “typical” attribute for an area • Clustering • Combining features at small scale (large extent) • Combine related features that are close together

42. Simplification • Must reduce the detail of the map while maintaining it’s informational content • Small-scale maps: • Find points that represent clusters • Polygons can be become points • Multiple points can become one

43. Exaggeration • Exaggerate a feature of interest • Elevation • City size • Feature size • Buildings • Bridges • Monuments

44. Generalization • Reduces the size of the data (in bytes) • Reduces detail • Reduces interest in the generalized item

45. Composition • Spatial data should be the focus, set the stage, and take up the most area (typically) • Legends, scale bars, credits and other items fill in the gaps • This makes each map layout unique • Try different arrangements until you find the one that “looks best” (show it to others)

46. Map Element Placement • Title at the top • Sometimes vertically on the left • Rarely on across the bottom • In or around the map? • Either way it must stand out! Title Title Title