3 replies to this topic

[amproehl]

I'm a non-professional map designer making maps mostly in Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop. I'm interested in getting access to shaded terrain imaging for some of my maps and was wondering if anyone knows a good source. It seems like some of this should be available for free but I'm willing to pay a reasonable (non-commercial) fee for it.

Anyone know a source?

thanks!

[Hans van der Maarel]

I'm a non-professional map designer making maps mostly in Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop. I'm interested in getting access to shaded terrain imaging for some of my maps and was wondering if anyone knows a good source. It seems like some of this should be available for free but I'm willing to pay a reasonable (non-commercial) fee for it.

If I'm not mistaken, the USGS Seamless Server offers shaded relief images based on NED and SRTM. They seem to be having some hardware problems right now, so I can't check.

However, ESRI is offering them as well:
NED Shaded Relief

The downside would be that you have little to no control over the image. If you download the elevation data, you can use GIS software such as Global Mapper to create the shaded relief and have some more control over the output.

[BEAVER]

I'm a non-professional map designer making maps mostly in Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop. I'm interested in getting access to shaded terrain imaging for some of my maps and was wondering if anyone knows a good source. It seems like some of this should be available for free but I'm willing to pay a reasonable (non-commercial) fee for it.

Anyone know a source?

thanks!

Most likly you won't be able to use any of the on-line images since they will be projected (stretched) by the creator to their liking. All you have to do in download free 3DEM at http://www.visualiza...e.com/3dem.html and download the terrain form USGS Seamless Server. This way you can create your own shading any way you want it.

[natcase]

For small-scale maps, you might also consider the "prepackaged" mapping of (for example) Mountain High Maps or USA Relief Maps, both by Digital Wisdom. I've seen these used to good effect as editorial illustration. You can't reproject and there's a limit to what scales you can use, but the file structure is solid. Map Resources (formerly Cartesia) also offers a "terrain" package. I'm sure there are others internationally... perhaps our non-USA colleagues can suggest some?