9 replies to this topic

[petersa]

Hi there,

I'm looking to recreate the following map:



I can pull all the trails off of saved garmin gps tracks but need to know how to attach them to a map. I have photoshop CS5, is there a program that will do this on it's own or do I need to find a map and then somehow overlay the tracks onto it.

The finished map will be used on a website and cannot have copyright issues. The area is in Alberta west of Calgary in Kananaskis.

As well, I'd also like to create a trail map, either on google maps or another program with a trail elevation profile as well. Is there a program that I can import the saved tracks into and it'll display on google maps or other maps that can be shared, as well as reveal an elevation profile?

Here is an example of a trail guide that I want to immitate:

http://www.bikepirat...ails/star-wars/

I have a number of trails to map out, so the more user friendly the program, the more appreciative I'll be! The best solution would be a program like "map it first" that simply uploads gps tracks onto a topo map and calculates the elevation profile on it's own. The only issues with this program is that the maps are copyright and cannot be shared.

It has to be one that runs on apple, produces maps that are easy to display publicly on a website without having to go to a separate link, and doesn't have copyright issues.

Thanks in advance for any help!

Attached Files

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[Bogdanovits]

Hi,

I suggest you the OCAD
You can try it for 21 days for free and isn't impossible to draw this kind of map in 2-3 days (even if you are new to this software)

Cheers,

Andras Bogdanovits
www.mapstart.com.au

[Igor Brejc]

Here's what I managed to produce in a couple of minutes (most of it spent on searching for the actual location) in Maperitive: http://www.flickr.co...in/photostream/

The map data is from OpenStreetMap (OSM), hillshading is from NASA SRTM3. Unfortunately I don't have access to a digital elevation model with a better resolution for your area. As for licensing issues, as long as you credit OSM, you can do anything with the map. I used my own hiking styling, but you can change that.

[petersa]

Hi,

I suggest you the OCAD
You can try it for 21 days for free and isn't impossible to draw this kind of map in 2-3 days (even if you are new to this software)

Cheers,

Andras Bogdanovits
www.mapstart.com.au

Thanks for the suggestion but starting at $500 is a bit steep for what I want to do and it doesn't look like it'll run on a mac either. Thanks for the input though, do you know of anything under $200?

[petersa]

Here's what I managed to produce in a couple of minutes (most of it spent on searching for the actual location) in Maperitive: http://www.flickr.co...in/photostream/

The map data is from OpenStreetMap (OSM), hillshading is from NASA SRTM3. Unfortunately I don't have access to a digital elevation model with a better resolution for your area. As for licensing issues, as long as you credit OSM, you can do anything with the map. I used my own hiking styling, but you can change that.

Wow, thanks for the hard work Igor. Unfortunately, I need something a little more advanced then this. It doesn't show any topography and it doesn't look like it'll provide an elevation profile either.

[petersa]

Thanks Igor,What program were you using to blend the maps?

[Hans van der Maarel]

Ortelius is below $200, works on a Mac and user-friendly, but I don't think it can generate contours or shaded relief.

Is there any way you can soften up some of your requirements? It'd give you a bit more options. There isn't a whole lot of cartographic software on Mac, let alone under $200. Whether it's user-friendly is a bit of a grey area of course, there's always going to be a learning curve.

You may also want to look for multiple software packages. One to do the shaded relief and contour lines, a second one to combine that with the GPS tracks and produce the final map.

[petersa]

Here's what I managed to produce in a couple of minutes (most of it spent on searching for the actual location) in Maperitive: http://www.flickr.co...in/photostream/

The map data is from OpenStreetMap (OSM), hillshading is from NASA SRTM3. Unfortunately I don't have access to a digital elevation model with a better resolution for your area. As for licensing issues, as long as you credit OSM, you can do anything with the map. I used my own hiking styling, but you can change that.

hey igor do you have a good link for a mac download of maperitive?

[tonyw]

Hi,
Greetings from BC. If you have data from a GPS then qGIS might be a good choice. It's open source and reasonably easy to use (I teach people over the phone how to use it and these folks have no prior mapping experience). I'm not sure what the province of AB provides in the way of access to map data but it looks like the person who made the map you showed had access to hillshades.

So with something like qGIS, you'd build your map in layers. For background, if available, you can download or link to provincial hillshades. Then import from your GPS the tracks and points. These will drop right into place geographically. Then other layers for your legend, titles, scale, etc. See if there any suitable base map layers here http://xnet.env.gov..../portal_pub/ptk

With qGIS you can export .kml files which will import to Google Earth. I've done this after hikes to show where we've been and the elevation gains/losses. If you are using Google Earth, check out their permissions tool to see if your use qualifies http://www.google.co...guidelines.html

There is a Mac version of qGIS http://www.qgis.org/

[Addendum] I think for nicer looking legends and other text similar to the sample map, you can either import your map
to an Illustrator type program or alternatively create the legend and other text items in other programs, export as jpeg and import them to qGIS.

-Tony

I'm looking to recreate the following map:

As well, I'd also like to create a trail map, either on google maps or another program with a trail elevation profile as well. Is there a program that I can import the saved tracks into and it'll display on google maps or other maps that can be shared, as well as reveal an elevation profile?

[David Medeiros]

If $500 is out of your budget then I'd suggest perhaps you not try to accomplish this yourself but hire someone to do the work for you. If you find the right cartographer you could probably come in under that cost and have a better product then if you were teaching yourself an unknown program (or programs). Alternatively if your looking to learn a new skill as part of a new profession, well, to replicate the kind of work your after it may take some investment on your part in both time and money.