15 replies to this topic

[nonie3234]

I DID IT!!!
I exported it from Illustrator as a png and then uploaded it to Flickr.

Take a look!: http://www.flickr.co...s/89173367@N00/

[MapMedia]

Good.

A question about the map, if I may: Is there a specific reason the north Bay is distinct from the Bay-Delta waters? They should be a uniform treatment from open water Delta
to Bay to Ocean, IMHO.

See here

[nonie3234]

I agree completely - I just don't know how to accomplish that.
(I learned Illustrator just 3 months ago!)

See - the blue background around the state is just that - a blue rectangle that I placed behind the polygon that is the land.
The blue that is ON the land are separate polygons of Rivers, Lakes, etc.

To get the offshore shading I did an outer glow on the land.
I have in the past experimented with doing an inner glow on the inland water, but it looks awful, and doesn't match up when it meets the end of the land.

What I think I need to do - if I can picture the layers like paper - is use the lakes and rivers inland as a stencil to "cut through" the land and then the outer glow will be the same all around.

(not sure if I explained that right...let me know)

Oh - by the way - the maps I make are the interior of a tabloid sized brochure that I create for sales people.
We are an advertising company, the pastel colored territories are groupings of 10,000 households that we mail to.

Good.

A question about the map, if I may: Is there a specific reason the north Bay is distinct from the Bay-Delta waters? They should be a uniform treatment from open water Delta
to Bay to Ocean, IMHO.

See here

[MapMedia]

The map itself looks fine.

To fix the Bay-Delta issue I would, in Illy, select the one or two east-Bay Delta polygon(s) and drag them into the Bay layer. The inner shadow should apply, if not, select all in layer and merge.

[nonie3234]

Right - but the outer bays aren't really a "layer" - that is just a blue rectangle behind the state.
I apply an outer glow to the land.

When I apply an inner glow to the inland water, they don't match where it meets the bay.

The map itself looks fine.

To fix the Bay-Delta issue I would, in Illy, select the one or two east-Bay Delta polygon(s) and drag them into the Bay layer. The inner shadow should apply, if not, select all in layer and merge.

[DaveB]

Some of the blues on the land are pretty close to the blue for the bay (although the blue for the inland water looks quite a bit lighter to me).
To make the inland water less different from the bay you could either increase the intensity of the inland water, but then with the "glow" it would likely be more easily confused with the land polygons; or decrease the intensity of the bay blue. How much does the bay need to stand out? I would probably lean towards decreasing the intensity of the bay and adding the glow to the inland waters. As it is, my eye is drawn to the bay.

[nonie3234]

Like MapMedia said - I would love all the water to look the same, but I'd prefer that they are not "flat" color, I enjoy using the glow effect, and my customers are enthusiastic about it, too.

If I could figure out how to make all of the water features into one polygon - either by using geoprocessing tools in ArcMap or some effect in Illustrator, then I could apply a filter to that ONE polygon, and not have to worry about what happens where the polygons meet.

OR - if I could use the inland water as a stencil to "cut" the land and make a hole in it so the background rectangle could show through, then the outer glow of the land would be uniform throughout.

Some of the blues on the land are pretty close to the blue for the bay (although the blue for the inland water looks quite a bit lighter to me).
To make the inland water less different from the bay you could either increase the intensity of the inland water, but then with the "glow" it would likely be more easily confused with the land polygons; or decrease the intensity of the bay blue. How much does the bay need to stand out? I would probably lean towards decreasing the intensity of the bay and adding the glow to the inland waters. As it is, my eye is drawn to the bay.

[MapMedia]

I use the clip extension in Arcview 3.x to create a new landform layer.
If you figure out a way to do it in Arcmap let me know.

This would be your fix, then just re-import that layer.

You could also use Path tools in Illy.

[Charles Syrett]

Like MapMedia said - I would love all the water to look the same, but I'd prefer that they are not "flat" color, I enjoy using the glow effect, and my customers are enthusiastic about it, too.

If I could figure out how to make all of the water features into one polygon - either by using geoprocessing tools in ArcMap or some effect in Illustrator, then I could apply a filter to that ONE polygon, and not have to worry about what happens where the polygons meet.

OR - if I could use the inland water as a stencil to "cut" the land and make a hole in it so the background rectangle could show through, then the outer glow of the land would be uniform throughout.

I'm not very familiar with Illy (proud and stubborn FreeHand holdout), but from what I've done in the past with glows I've found that you may not want the same glow in all the water. Small lakes look better with their own individual glows. Sometimes with large bodies (oceans) I have the glow on the shore, and with the small bodies (lakes) I have the glow in the middle. It may sound funny, but it actually works.

Usually I do this in Photoshop -- it's so much easier and intuitive using the airbrush tool. If you're not familiar with Photoshop, you may want to do a few late nights and experiment with lake glows using the Illy tools -- until you get it just the way you want. When you do, you'll feel 10 feet tall!

Charles Syrett
Map Graphics
http://www.mapgraphics.com

[nonie3234]

Oh, absolutely - when I have inland water only, and no shores that they meet up to, I do exactly that and give each it's own appearance filter.

And as for late nights? [sigh] I can't wait until I have free time again! I've been working pretty much around the clock since I took this new position. They say they'll give me some time off in February! I hope I make it till then!

But yes, to your point - I do have Photoshop, but I haven't touched it yet. On my to do list for March is to get a tuturial book and try to get some of that under my belt!

I'm not very familiar with Illy (proud and stubborn FreeHand holdout), but from what I've done in the past with glows I've found that you may not want the same glow in all the water. Small lakes look better with their own individual glows. Sometimes with large bodies (oceans) I have the glow on the shore, and with the small bodies (lakes) I have the glow in the middle. It may sound funny, but it actually works.

Usually I do this in Photoshop -- it's so much easier and intuitive using the airbrush tool. If you're not familiar with Photoshop, you may want to do a few late nights and experiment with lake glows using the Illy tools -- until you get it just the way you want. When you do, you'll feel 10 feet tall!

Charles Syrett
Map Graphics
http://www.mapgraphics.com

[nonie3234]

Cool - thanks for the tips!

I'll check ArcMap for a clip feature.
I'll also check the help document in Illustrator - do you know which path tool?

I use the clip extension in Arcview 3.x to create a new landform layer.
If you figure out a way to do it in Arcmap let me know.

This would be your fix, then just re-import that layer.

You could also use Path tools in Illy.

[nonie3234]

I saved the map I uploaded yesterday in CMYK and I heard that it not everyone could view it - so here it is again as RGB:

Attached Files

•  AlamedaContraCosta.jpg   1.02MB   93 downloads

[stroeh]

http://www.ika.ethz....ner_hutzler.pdf
Fig.1 could be interessing for you,
because there are a lot of blizzard from diffrent datasources

all the plugins for illustrator can be found here:
http://www.ika.ethz....gins/index.html

[nonie3234]

Oh, that is enormously helpful - thank you!

The plugin site is not in English, though - unfortunately, that's the only language I know - but the white paper you linked to gives me a good idea what to look for.

http://www.ika.ethz....ner_hutzler.pdf
Fig.1 could be interessing for you,
because there are a lot of blizzard from diffrent datasources

all the plugins for illustrator can be found here:
http://www.ika.ethz....gins/index.html

[Rick Dey]

You can do your "stencil" cut by selecting both your land shape and the inland water then use the Pathfinder tools Pallette. In the pathfinder Shape mode tools select "Exclude overlapping shape areas" and that should do the trick.