The study and practice of making maps.
126
votes
39answers
19k views
Examples of Beautiful Maps
Often times when we make maps it is based on our subjective interpretation of what is aesthetically pleasing. I would like if people posted examples of beautiful maps, displaying any phenomena in any ...
52
votes
11answers
8k views
Examples of badly designed maps
A poorly designed map can not only look visually unappealing, but can convey the wrong message, which could lead to bad decisions being made.
I would like to ask people to post examples (that are in ...
4
votes
4answers
3k views
How to reproject base layers in OpenLayers?
The issue is:
I have vector/topo/image tiled maps for some places in north america which were published as ArcGIS Server REST service. These maps (A) are based in EPSG26912 projection. Now I wanna ...
19
votes
9answers
1k views
Discontinuous or Interrupted map projections?
Do any of the current open source GIS softwares support discontinous projection systems? E.g. sinusoidal, dymaxion, butterfly, etc? If not, are there any affordable commercial ones that do (affordable ...
8
votes
2answers
244 views
Create a summary table of the symbology of all datasets in multiple mxd's
This is related to the following Retain ESRI symbology in Mapinfo TAB . As an initial step (in arcpy) I want to access the symbology of all the datasets and create a document which has the details of ...
22
votes
9answers
1k views
Effectively displaying demographic data on a printed map
I would like to plot the following per zone (30 zones total) data on a printable/non interactive map:
Average age
Average household income
Number of households
Population density
Number of people
...
40
votes
8answers
1k views
One dimensional map of the world?
Bit of a strange question but hope this is OK to ask here.
Has anyone heard of a '1-dimensional' projection of the world map - that is mapping all the points on the globe to a single line?
I was ...
10
votes
5answers
605 views
How to implement value-by-alpha map in GIS?
I've been doing some background reading about cartograms recently and stumbled upon interesting alternative - value-by-alpha maps.
Concept is described in more details here and full paper is ...
19
votes
6answers
475 views
Open access repository of general GIS spatial data?
As a newcomer to using GIS for research, I am wondering if there are online repositories for spatial data, similar to package repositories for Linux distributions.
For instance, I would be able to ...
8
votes
3answers
289 views
How do I compare two maps to determine which is better?
I'm trying to do an objective comparison of two different maps for the same region. At the moment, I'm struggling with defining criteria that will allow me to do a dispassionate evaluation.
Does ...
7
votes
3answers
2k views
QGIS- How to create an “area of interest” polygon mask
I've created a GP tool using ArcGIS that creates an "area of interest" mask from selected features. Effectively it creates a new donut polygon layer where the hole was the previously selected ...
11
votes
7answers
1k views
Color palette conventions
I wonder if there is a "unified" source for map color conventions, that GIS map builders are encouraged to follow?
EDIT
To clear up my question a bit. I'm more interested in the color <-with ...
6
votes
2answers
926 views
Cartographic techniques for symbolizing routing data
Some common problems with displaying routes created from street data, such as bus routes, include:
Routes may overlap themselves, such as when a route takes the same road in opposite directions
...
4
votes
1answer
298 views
Getting a constant background color for transparency
I am creating a series of tif files at 1:10k scale over a vast area (760 tiles) using arcpy.mapping.ExportToTIFF and then stitch them together to create a single ecw. The output looks ok but when I ...
2
votes
2answers
237 views
Is it possible to convert an ESRI style sheet to a font set?
This is related to Retain ESRI symbology in Mapinfo TAB
As a workaround I am wondering if I can save all my ESRI symbology from the lyr files created using the script below to an ESRI style sheet and ...
56
votes
11answers
2k views
Colour blind cartography
Depending on what you read, 7 to 15% of the general population has some form of colour blindness. That's a significant amount of people. Do you try to account for this in your map designs? If so, how? ...
22
votes
2answers
4k views
How to style beautiful road maps with QGIS?
I am trying to design a beautiful map using Qgis. As I'm a software developer not a designer, I was hoping that this will be easy, but it isn't!
There is a similar question here Qgis tutorials and ...
12
votes
4answers
752 views
Is there a name for deformation-based maps?
I have already seen maps using deformation to visualize information. For example, this map shows temporal distance between some French cities when traveling by train:
Is there a name for this kind ...
10
votes
3answers
651 views
Crime mapping symbology
Are there any standard, publicly available symbol sets for crime mapping? What are their intended applications and their strengths and weaknesses?
5
votes
5answers
276 views
Provincial Base Mapping Data Sources in Canada
I'm very familiar with the Ontario Base Mapping Data, and am looking for similar data for other Canadian Provinces. Perhaps we can start a list of resources here? I'm looking for something at a larger ...
5
votes
2answers
224 views
How can I make segmented roads appear as one line?
I am footling around with Quantum GIS and the British OS Strategi dataset. If I render the roads with a simple line style they look fine:
However, if I apply something slightly fancier, it looks ...
5
votes
2answers
765 views
Retain ESRI symbology in Mapinfo TAB
Is there anyway to retain/easily transfer symbology from ESRI to Mapinfo? The only process I found was posted in 2010 - https://groups.google.com/group/mapinfo-l/browse_thread/thread/883223ff4ae56809 ...
4
votes
4answers
496 views
How to represent several points with same coordinates on map?
I'm working on Arcgis 10.
I have a point shapefile representing events with several points having coinciding coordinates (They have the same coordinates). For representing them in a dynamic way, I ...
-2
votes
0answers
56 views
How to convert shape file to .map format
i have made a .shp file from the srtm data for contour making.I need to get the output as >map format,with elevation details.If i am trying to convert into .bna there is some error happens along with ...
19
votes
10answers
1k views
Good websites for map-lovers?
Do you know some good websites for map-lovers?
I often visit strange-maps, cool-maps, makingmaps and hipkiss.org.
Do you know others?
15
votes
4answers
3k views
How to produce a better inset map?
Attached is an example of a generic inset map designed in ArcMap 10. For all the wonderful things that this software can accomplish, there has to be a more sophisticated way to produce better looking ...
30
votes
4answers
3k views
Why has Web Mercator (auxiliary sphere) become the web map standard?
I understand what the difference is between the Web Mercator projection and Web Mercator Auxiliary Sphere (WMAS). I also understand that both Google and Esri have adopted this projection as their ...
19
votes
2answers
511 views
Can I reproduce this classic cartographic hillshade relief effect (hachures) electronically using modern DEM data?
I own a number of old cetral-European maps and I always liked the classic hand-drawn cartographic hillshade relief presentation that these maps feature. I am not wanting to reproduce the shading ...
19
votes
2answers
652 views
Color polygons so each is distinct from its neighbors
I'm using ArcGIS 10, and I have a layers of 2010 Census blocks, block groups, and tracts. There are thousands of polygons in these layers. I want to color them so that each is distinct from its ...
21
votes
4answers
353 views
How to use directional shading on boundaries for cartographic effect?
The attached screenshot of a National Geographic map shows some beautiful directional shading of boundaries. I'm trying to reproduce this sort of shading for a burn perimeter map, as I want to ...
8
votes
2answers
288 views
PostGIS (2.0?) - Native Versioning of the Datastore
I recently have been surprised to see there are not too many solutions at all discussing the best methods of versioning datastores which are made available for editing.
I am looking for a robust, ...
13
votes
13answers
3k views
Alternative cartographic software programs?
I am looking for an alternative software product for cartography other than ArcGIS and Adobe Illustrator. The graphic quality in ArcGIS outputs is substantially poor when compared to outputs in ...
17
votes
3answers
383 views
How much Water on Earth(USGS) : A Wrong Map representation?
I happened to read a USGS article, How much water is there on, in, and above the Earth? showing a representation of all the water(which includes water from Oceans, Seas,Bays,Ice caps, Glaciers, ...
13
votes
2answers
284 views
Opensource solutions for finishing maps
After seeing the $600 price tag for Adobe Illustrator, I am especially interested in learning open source solutions for finishing maps created in a GIS. What open source, or commonly available, ...
9
votes
5answers
560 views
Are there any convenient sources of color palettes to use in ArcGIS software while producing maps?
Since it was asked in Beta and I want to know the answer, I post it here.
8
votes
3answers
219 views
How to present three spatial variables in one map? [closed]
I want to assign 3 category of variables in a single map.
In other words, I have to produce a cartographic visualization of the damage including a legend listing:
damaged surface area in the ...
5
votes
2answers
777 views
Can shaded relief be “blended” with DEM colour ramp in ArcGIS to produce a more visually dramatic result?
Not being able to use true transparencies with ArcGIS colour ramps where only solid colours are allowed has me always wondering about how to improve the look of the surface in my maps without ...
9
votes
4answers
197 views
Where can I find a high quality real globe of a decent size without axis?
I'm trying to find a physical globe of a high map quality that doesn't have any axis or bearings as the axis mounted on standard desk globes completely obscures the arctic regions.
High-quality map ...
9
votes
3answers
739 views
What software to use as an all-around solution for mining GIS?
My employer wants me to look into constructing geology maps, modeling 3D subsurface geological formations, producing geological cross sections and other mining related products from various drill hole ...
6
votes
2answers
191 views
How to capture data for mapping
Well it might be an newbie question but I can't find it
In my project I need the paths in a campus but these paths are inexistents so I'm going to walk around and mapping (I don't know if it's the ...
5
votes
3answers
969 views
How to create a user map from CSV?
I dont even know if QGIS is the right program for what I need..
What I need:
I need a program with maps(Denmark to be specific), that I could feed with a database of users through a CSV file.. e.g. ...
5
votes
3answers
589 views
How to normalize choropleth maps of census information?
I'm trying to improve on the census-based maps on this site, which shows census values at 5 scales from Collection Districts through to State.
Currently the maps show whole numbers (eg total ...
5
votes
3answers
226 views
Is there a recomended method for symbolizing inland lakes, streams and rivers in a topographic map?
I produce a lot of maps with inland lakes, rivers and streams overlaid over a dem surface symbolized with a color graduation (green for lows and brown for higher elevations) I also use a ...
4
votes
2answers
418 views
Dynamically change zoom level of overview map to fit with current extent in DDP
I am using DDP pages in a large mapset with pages ranging from 1:7500 to 1:130,000 and the overview map is zoomed out to far to see some of the smaller zones. Is it possible to set the overview map to ...
2
votes
0answers
175 views
How to create polygon “stamps” and extend lines by fixed distance? in QGIS
This is related to Does QGIS have these CAD editing functions?
Cadtools have solved a lot of the issues I had but I need the ability to see how long a line is while I am drawing an orthoganal ...
7
votes
2answers
626 views
Is it possible to emulate “Swiss style” shaded relief with ArcGIS tools?
Is there a way to create a Swiss style (or other hand-shaded-like styles) shaded relief from a dem using ArcGIS tools alone?
6
votes
2answers
291 views
How to alter transparency by spatial location
I'm trying to create a map that has a all layers within a subject area having 0% transparency (full opaque), while features outside that area (defined by a polygon shapefile) having a reduced ...
4
votes
1answer
93 views
Map automation, create and populate inset maps for densely-labelled areas
I would like to know if it is possible to automate the example in the picture below, unlike the picture below i'm using vector data.
I would like for a fixed scale generate map, but when labels are ...
4
votes
2answers
277 views
How to represent an imaginary flat world in QGIS without using a round-world CRS
Like one or two other users, I'm interested in using QGIS to map an imaginary flat world. A previous answer suggested simply refraining from defining a CRS for such a world, but I cannot seem to make ...
4
votes
3answers
452 views
How to place multiple symbols on one polygon centroid?
I am using QGIS for visualizing the health conditions of elderly living in an old age home, some of the elderly have multiple medical device with them and I want to show them on the map.
Suppose I ...
