13 replies to this topic

[Kevin McManigal]

Greetings everyone!

Well, I have left Switzerland and made the move towards gainful empoyment with the Adventure Cycling Assoc. in Missoula MT.

We create bicycle touring maps and I could use some advice. I need to take an existing map drawn in Freehand and import it into ArcInfo for geo-referencing. I have tried opening a DXF, but how can I get each layer into a seperate shapefile?

Thanks for any help you can offer.

Kevin

[Hans van der Maarel]

Kevin,

If you have MAPublisher, you can georeference the map in Freehand and then export shapefiles of all the layers. Alternatively, depending on what you need to do with the map, you could also rasterize it and then georeference the whole thing as a TIFF in Arc.

[Kevin McManigal]

Kevin,

If you have MAPublisher, you can georeference the map in Freehand and then export shapefiles of all the layers. Alternatively, depending on what you need to do with the map, you could also rasterize it and then georeference the whole thing as a TIFF in Arc.

Thanks Hans, but I need to turn the layers (roads, routes, borders, ect) into shp files so that the map can be updated in Arc.
I actually have the task of geo-referencing all of our maps and building a geodatabase of them. Just searching for a workflow that is most efficient at this point.

Kevin

[Hans van der Maarel]

Thanks Hans, but I need to turn the layers (roads, routes, borders, ect) into shp files so that the map can be updated in Arc.
I actually have the task of geo-referencing all of our maps and building a geodatabase of them. Just searching for a workflow that is most efficient at this point.

Then the Freehand/MAPublisher way would be the most convenient. That way you only have to georeference each map once. However, Freehand on modern OS's is a bit of a nasty combination.

Also, you will need to know what projection is used on the maps as well.

[Dennis McClendon]

We've had no problems with FreeHand MX on Mac OS 10.4, and still defiantly use it every day. However, MAPublisher is not available for FreeHand past a certain point, so you may need to export from FreeHand to Illustrator, then use MAPublisher there.

[Kevin McManigal]

OK, the projection is not a problem, as I know what maps were used as reference. But asking the company to buy Map Publisher after just getting Arc may be hard. Do they offer non-profits a discount. Any other ideas out there?

Kevin

[ProMapper]

OK, the projection is not a problem, as I know what maps were used as reference. But asking the company to buy Map Publisher after just getting Arc may be hard. Do they offer non-profits a discount. Any other ideas out there?

Kevin

If you know the projection info then try converting into eps format with freehand and import into Arcgis with quick import tool. I have some time in hand, send me a file with full projection info to toy with. Best...

[pfyfield]

Since I'm sitting here at work doing the exact same thing right now (albeit with Illustrator) here's my process. This is something I am called on to do from time to time when some data long since lost resides only in a graphics file. I do have MAPublisher.

1. Determine the projection of the map
2. Import some data that matches data on the map in the proper projection
3. Align the layers in the graphics file to the imported GIS data- this can be a little sloppy since exported data (export to ai from ArcMap, the way the graphics file was originally created) will be generalized somewhat
4. Drag the layers you want to export into the map view (you'll need to define data type at this point, so make sure your points-lines-polys are all on separate layers)
5. Export away

If this is something you need to do a lot of, beg for MAPublisher.

[Charlie Frye]

Back to the original question (if what you're georeferencing to is not available in Freehand):

how can I get each layer into a seperate shapefile?

There are a couple of ways. First, you can open CAD data as a composite drawing, which is not what you want (When you drill into the CAD file icon in ArcCatalog or the Add Data dialog this is the White Icon).

Instead, add the Points, Lines, and Polygons. Then you can set Definition Queries on those layers, (and copies of them) based on the Layer field in the CAD file to isolate specific layers, which you can then export to shapefiles.

There's a help topic called Controlling CAD feature display, which covers how to get to the point of exporting.

[Ted Florence]

A couple of comments here:

1. yes we do offer non-profit pricing so Kevin, give us a call at 800-884-2555 and we will see if you qualify and what we can do for you.

2. Hans is indeed correct and as long as you know the projection and the scale you can georeference the whole map document and export the layers to shapefiles in almost an instant.

3. Dennis is somewhat incorrect in that while we have not produced a MAPublisher version for FreeHand in several years, no new version of FreeHand has been produced either. So, the latest version of MAPublisher for FreeHand, version 5.0, will work with the latest releases of FreeHand, 9, 10 and MX. You can download a demo from www.avenza.com

[Dennis McClendon]

That's good to know. Does it include all the features found in the more recent Illustrator versions?

[Ted Florence]

No. That is where it does fall behind.
In my earlier reply I was addressing the concern that the latest versions of FreeHand were not support by MAPublisher at all. However, as Freehand itself has gotten left behind by Adobe we have not released any new versions of MAPublisher for FreeHand. Thus, all the new developments of the last few years have focused strictly on the Illustrator side.
So, FreeHand users can continue to use MAPublisher 5.0 which does support MX.

[Kevin McManigal]

Thanks for all the replys! I think that MapPublisher is going to be the way to go. We have hundreds of map panels to be geo-referenced, and going from Freehand on Macs to Illustrator, to CAD, to Arc, then back to Illustrator on a PC just destroys the data, not to mention the font issues. I am working through some workflows now and will post when I get a winner.

Thanks again!

[Casey Greene]

Kevin,

I missed this thread, but welcome to Missoula , we'll have to hook-up sometime and go on a ride, and if you need any help with Mapubly, just let me know.