19 replies to this topic

[Parmenion]

Finally i have found some interesting info http://www.internati...Illuminated.pdf playing with hue saturation combined with transparency and reduced contrast are probably the key to include the shaded relief. I think i have enough information to begin a litlle project. I have a problem of performence in illustrator when i import contours i would like to join all that contours how cartographers do usually with this problem ?

Hmmm... I'm a bit weary of an 8-page tutorial that somehow fails to include a sample of the map described in it...

Good luck, and please do show us your results!

As for Illustrator performance, what kind of hardware are you on?

The document i found is from http://www.amazon.co...d/dp/0201775735 ...

I am on a p4c northwood 2800mhz with 2gb of ram. Normally it is ok. Is there any tips to know to manage the contour line for they use less memory ?

Thank you. I will post a result of my first attempt.

[Martin Gamache]

" Is there any tips to know to manage the contour line for they use less memory ?"


How about cleaning them up in a GIS first. You can reduce the number of nodes, and dissolve to reduce the number of objects. If they came from a CAD program this will help quite a bit.

Once you have them in illustrator you can also smooth the lines using path simplify at 99% or 100% setting which also helps.

You may also want to make sure your contour interval is appropriate for your map scale. It may be that you can increase the contour interval and get rid of some contour lines all together.

[ProMapper]

First of all, yes, get either Manifold or Global Mapper. Both will set you back about $250, but will make your life a lot easier. Illustrator and/or Photoshop on their own aren't enough if you want to import and use GIS data. Probabely Manifold is the best option for you because it has a decent output to Illustrator.

Then, start playing with it and get to know the software. If you have specific questions, check here to see if they've been asked before and if not, just ask them. Look at samples, try and get a clear idea of what you want to achieve.

Keep in mind there's no single one magic application that allows you to do the whole range of mapping. I personally use sometimes 4-5 different applications for one project, just for the simple reason that app A is really good for one thing whereas app B is better for another little part of the project.

Good luck!

I entirely agree with Hans. Start playing with Global Mapper or Manifold. I have not used Manifold but I am adept in Global Mapper. It can also get ESRI shape files into Illustrator by converting it into DXF (AutoCAD) file and then importing it in Illustrator. Now regarding the DEM / SRTM data, you can export it into tif file using a free utility called 3DEM. It is just great. Try it.

All the very best.

[ProMapper]

[quote name='Martin Gamache' date='Sep 13 2007, 06:30 PM' post='13303']
" Is there any tips to know to manage the contour line for they use less memory ?"

A good software for manipulating contours is MTA (Modular Terrain Analyst) which works on Microstation CAD environment. One can easily create a DEM and then recreate contours with specific interval and tolerance. The settings allow you to control the smoothness to the finest degree and as per the scale of the map. For example: a 1:100,000 scale map when printed would have a fine dot to measure at least 20m; so two points less than 20m apart on contour just add to the file size and not to the fineness of the map. I hope I have been able to explain.

The problem with Illustrator is that if the file is big, and as such contour files are huge, it may take quite a while checking the effect in Illustrator whereas GIS/Terrain Analyst software are built precisely for such works and the results can be obtained faster.

[Parmenion]

Thank you for all of these tips it is appreciate. The problem with dxf export is the size of the document in illustrator. There are to many path for a simple item representation. I have the same problem than liz1110 in this discussion http://www.cartotalk...x.php?t931.html

Do you think that manifold with "ai" export is more suited for that ? For the dem, globalmapper do a good job i think it is better than 3dem. i wonder if it make sense to mix in photoshop many shaded relief with different illumination setting to improve specific zone for exemple ?

I have two map in preparation i will show you soon