4 replies to this topic

[DrJill]

We are excited to announce the first release of Ortelius map illustration software for Mac OS X.

Check out our new web site for all the details on Ortelius, including a downloadable trial version. We’ll continue to add tips & tricks and screencasts to our web site to maintain it not only as our product site, but also as a rich educational resource for map making. To celebrate, we are offering an introductory special of $79 until September 30th. Development continues and we’d love to hear from you.

All the best,

Jill

[Hans van der Maarel]

Congratulations on the launch!

[rudy]

We are excited to announce the first release of Ortelius map illustration software for Mac OS X.

Check out our new web site for all the details on Ortelius, including a downloadable trial version. We’ll continue to add tips & tricks and screencasts to our web site to maintain it not only as our product site, but also as a rich educational resource for map making. To celebrate, we are offering an introductory special of $79 until September 30th. Development continues and we’d love to hear from you.

All the best,

Jill

Impressive . . . any plans for a PC version? Can it import GIS data? What export options are there? Can it do projections?

[DrJill]

Impressive . . . any plans for a PC version? Can it import GIS data? What export options are there? Can it do projections?

Thanks, we are pretty excited to have our first release out and finally available to the world. PC version? Apologies, we aren't ruling it out for the future but have no immediate plans. The Ortelius Standard Edition can import GIS Shapefile data, with limited support. We are keeping the Std Ed light enough for a broad audience not necessarily familiar with GIS – balancing feature richness and ease of use. Specifically, shapefiles import as graphical objects (points, lines, polygons) in "drawing space" on their own layer. They also import in their natively saved projection and all attribute information is retained, available for labeling, advanced search, etc. We continue development with the Pro Edition and plan to support "real-world" coordinate space, reprojection, and more.

What file formats can Ortelius import and export?

For export, Ortelius supports a number of bitmap formats - TIFF, JPEG and PNG. When exporting, all the vector layers are rasterized, and the user gets to enter their desired resolution (dots per inch).

Export also supports PDF, which preserves the vector data and is therefore resolution independent. PDF is the preferred choice for exporting maps for sharing with others or for publication.

For import, Ortelius currently is able to import a variety of image formats as images which are placed as elements within a map layer. This includes PDF, TIFF, JPEG, PNG, GIF and PICT. Import as an image object is the most versatile solution - the user is free then to size and position it as they wish, and place it on any layer.

[DrJill]

Congratulations on the launch!

Thanks Hans, quite happy to have it out there