11 replies to this topic

[Matthew Hampton]

The presentation I gave centered on a map request I worked on involving the creation of 21 maps that were to be of a visually captivating kind; that would draw readers in and help promote private investment in public trail funding. The timeline was 2 weeks and after thinking for a bit I turned my regular workflow (GIS data --> exported to Photoshop for rasters and Illustrator for vectors and final compositing) on its ear and created a large raster basemap in Photoshop that was then plugged back into the GIS (I used a tiff image with a world file). The final map output was semi-automated in ArcGIS (database drawn layers and Maplex labeling) with the help of a few analysts. I think this type of basemap creation is a great way to exploit the strengths of the respective software used.

After exporting NLCD data for the whole regional extent of Portland into Photoshop, I started layering similar land cover classes and applying different pattern and color overlays with the Layer Style Effect editor. I used 4 different classes tree canopy density from the sub-pixel % canopy layer (also from NLCD) and used the both a layer style and a Photoshop shading effect for trees. Here's a few images of some different texeled land cover types (crops, water, urban, treed).
 Crops.png   10.08K   68 downloads  water.png   4.56K   54 downloads  Urban_Areas.png   13.57K   59 downloads  Trees.png   13.76K   67 downloads

Changing the opacity and size of the pattern overlay allows you to fine-tune the texels for optimum scales. The final maps ranged in scale from 1:26,000 to 1:250,000 and the colored texels held-up very well throughout that range of scales. Once the maps were done they were sent to our Creative Services dept. and placed on 5 ft panel displays for use around the region. Here is a link to download some of the finished posters (lo-res)

If you want to look at the presentation you can get (along with a regional map) at this ftp link (I had the best success using Firefox).

 BasemapScrShot_East.jpg   537.98K   176 downloads

I have been working with some 3ft Lidar recently and will post some interesting images soon.

[François Goulet]

If you want to look at the presentation you can get (along with a regional map) at this ftp link (I had the best success using Firefox).

Thanks Matthew for posting it! That's simply great!

[Hans van der Maarel]

I thought this was worthy of its own thread, so I split it off

Of all the things I've seen at NACIS this year, this is the one I most want to try myself. Now if only I could convince a client to pay me for it...

[Matthew Hampton]

Hans, I think you should just do it for fun!

You can pick anywhere in the US and head to the USGS Seamless server to download the NLCD data.

It's fun to take 30m data and massage it into a cartographic representation that visually holds its integrity at much larger scales than it normally would.

Plus, you'll amaze friends and family and reap fortunes beyond your wildest dreams...

No, but really - I think bringing in a texture channel along with color helps "code" the visual information in such a way that resonates with our perceptions of the natural and built environment. It's a step toward visually coding cartographic objects with a more 'realistic' appearance.

[François Goulet]

No, but really - I think bringing in a texture channel along with color helps "code" the visual information in such a way that resonates with our natural perceptions. It's a step toward visually coding cartographic objects with a more 'realistic' appearance.

You're right! You map speak for itself. Everyone could look at it and immediately identify the land cover.

If I only knew that technique 2 years ago, it would have same me a lot of trouble!

[Rob]

thanks for posting matt. nice work.

[François Goulet]

I was sure I had saved Matthew's presentation, but I can't find it know... anyone know where I could find it? The ftp link isn't working anymore...

Thanks!

[Matthew Hampton]

I was sure I had saved Matthew's presentation

I think I know someone who has a copy - wait - that'd be me.

I've thought a bit about this technique over the years and will make a point to write an article/tutorial in the future. It's tightly related to bump-mapping which concerns itself with shading, but it can combine "bumps" with colors/textures to generate visually intriguing map features that reduce the mental cost of decoding by providing a stronger connection to realism.

In the meantime I've downsampled the presentation into a 2MB pdf.
 nacis08_texels.pdf   1.88MB   70 downloads

[François Goulet]

I think I know someone who has a copy - wait - that'd be me.

Oh yeah!? I should have thought of that

Thanks! I'm trying to convince my bosses to try something new and it is the perfect example

[François Goulet]

Where did you find your patterns for Photoshop? Did you create them or found them on the net? I'm not trying to have you re-doing all the work... just evaluating the effort needed

[Matthew Hampton]

Where did you find your patterns for Photoshop? Did you create them or found them on the net? I'm not trying to have you re-doing all the work... just evaluating the effort needed

For some of the elements, I was able to use the default set of patterns that come with Photoshop. For instance the water texture came from the "streaks" pattern in the "Pattern 2" library that installs with Photoshop. There was a fair amount of time spent on experimenting with patterns and adjusting the scale, opacity, and color. I created a couple of patterns myself by using the texture from an air photo in one instance and sampling a photograph in another.

Your only boundaries are your creativity. Since then, I've bumped into many, many patterns freely available on internet. The trick is in refining the scale of the pattern to relatively match the scale of the map. I think you would expect to spend a few hours with each texture dialing them in to work well with each other.

[François Goulet]

I think you would expect to spend a few hours with each texture dialing them in to work well with each other.

That's what I thought too.

Thanks! Now let the fun begins!