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I tried to generate thumbnails from shape file and display them on my website(using jsp).I had been read this and this question .Very similarity questions ,but I know nothing about python... Is there any open source tools or projects to deal with it?Is there any solution or idea to implement it via ArcGIS javascript api or other solutions ?

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I argue this is a fantastic opportunity to cut your teeth on Python. I mean, your case merits an automated solution, and the second GIS.SE thread you cited provides a 20-line Python recipe. It doesn't get any friendlier than that. IMO, ArcGIS javascript api is the wrong horse to whip---this is not the kind of thing you want to do from a browser client. Are you running Windows? – elrobis Jun 19 '12 at 15:41
@elrobis I do agree with your suggestion,using python script to deal with some kind of geospatial problem. But in this question,it invokes in a existing project which using jsp. – Vent Lam Jun 20 '12 at 1:34

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If this does not need to be automated then, since you are using ArcMap, you could use the built-in Create Thumbnails function for a layer.

Alternatively you could make a simple map showing only your shapefile, save it as a JPEG and down-sample it to thumbnail size with Photoshop or GIMP (you can do this in Arc obviously and set your resolution and page size way down)

If you have ArcMap, you don't need Mapnik or any other open source tools just to create an image of your data and you only need Python or Java etc if you want to automate the process!

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