Tag Archives: Cartographic Design
Combining colored and grayshade rasters with high fidelity
By Rajinder Nagi, Esri Cartographic Product Engineer
Have you ever noticed when you display a colored raster, such as elevation tints, transparently over a grayscale raster, such as a hillshaded surface, that you lose the intensity of your colors and that it is harder to see the hillshade details? This is a problem common to all software in which colors and grayshades are combined.
In this blog entry, we explain how you can overlay colored rasters on graytone rasters without losing detail in the graytones or intensity in the colors. The example here uses a colormap file and mosaic dataset functions. In a related blog entry, we demonstrate the same overlay method using color ramps and Image Analysis functions. No matter how you work with your rasters, this new overlay method will allow you to retain the detail and colors in the overlaid rasters. Continue reading
Making a large-scale 3D map: Part 3
By Kenneth Field, Esri Research Cartographer
1. Introduction
In part 1 and part 2 of this blog entry, you learned about some of the design considerations for creating a large-scale 3D map, prepared your 2D building data in ArcMap, used ArcScene to create 3D representations of your building data, and transferred your data to Google SketchUp to render your models and then brought your models back into ArcScene. In this final part, you will use the models to create a 3D isometric map and add a range of additional symbols to create a rich large-scale 3D landscape for your static map. Continue reading
Esri Color Ramps Version 3.0
By Jaynya Richards, Esri Research Cartographer
Now available for download from Mapping Center (zip file, 0.3MB) is an updated set of color ramps that can be used for mapping elevation, bathymetry, environmental events, and much more! These are the newest versions of color ramp styles published earlier (ColorRamps 2.0). Continue reading
Adding labels to ArcGIS Online web maps: Part 2
By Kenneth Field, Esri Research Cartographer
In Part 1 of this blog entry we showed you how to use the Feature Outline Masks tool to convert annotation feature classes to polygon feature classes in ArcMap which can then be added to your ArcGIS.com web map as an operational overlay. This is a great way of adding labels to your web map (figure 1).
Ten quick references for map makers
By Alex Tait, Chief Cartographer and Vice President, International Mapping
At the North American Cartographic Information Society (nacis.org) conference in October, I presented a list of 10 quick references for mapmakers. These are the scraps of paper on my bulletin board next to my computer. Some are photocopies of key pages out of books, others are screen captures from useful web pages, and some things I’ve jotted down freehand as I’ve worked with maps over the years.
Variable depth masking: Contour label example
By Aileen Buckley, Mapping Center Lead
Variable-depth masking is an ArcMap drawing technique (available at the ArcInfo level) for hiding parts of one or more layers. One common use for masking is to clarify the legibility of a map that’s packed with text and features.
In the contour map example below, contour lines and annotation features for the contour labels overlap each other making it difficult to read the contour values.
Figure-ground: Whitewash
By Aileen Buckley, Mapping Center Lead
In a previous blog entry, I discussed some of the major design principles used in cartography, including figure-ground organization, which is the spontaneous separation of the figure in the foreground from an “amorphous” background. Cartographers use this design principle to help their map readers find the area of the map or page to focus on. One way to promote figure-ground organization is to use a “whitewash” effect in which the area that is not the focus of attention is slightly “washed out”, thereby drawing attention to the “figure”. The way this is done in ArcMap is to symbolize a polygon for the area outside the figure with a white fill and transparency. Continue reading
Figure-ground: Drop shadow
By Aileen Buckley, Mapping Center Lead
In a previous blog entry, I discussed some of the major design principles used in cartography, including figure-ground organization, which is the spontaneous separation of the figure in the foreground from an “amorphous” background. Cartographers use this design principle to help their map readers find the area of the map or page to focus on. One way to promote figure-ground organization is to use a “drop shadow” effect in which a shadow is drawn for the “figure”, giving the impression that it is raised above the ground. The way this is done in ArcMap is to use cartographic representations and the Move geometric effect.
Design principles for cartography
By Aileen Buckley, Mapping Center Lead
Cartographers apply many design principles when compiling their maps and constructing page layouts. Five of the main design principles are legibility, visual contrast, figure-ground, hierarchical organization, and balance. Together these form a system for seeing and understanding the relative importance of the content in the map and on the page. Without these, map-based communication will fail. Together visual contrast and legibility provide the basis for seeing the contents on the map. Figure-ground, hierarchical organization, and balance lead the map reader through the contents to determine the importance of things and ultimately find patterns.
Esri Canvas Maps part II: Using the Light Gray Canvas map effectively
By Mamata Akella, Esri Design Cartographer, and Kenneth Field, Esri Research Cartographer
In the first of our Canvas Maps blogs, Esri Canvas Maps Part I, we explained the initiative and philosophy behind the new suite of Canvas Maps being developed by Esri. They are a new style of basemap designed with neutral colors, minimal features and detail that allow you to map many of your operational overlays more effectively.
In this second part, we suggest some best practices to get the most out of the first of the Canvas Maps to be released, the Light Gray Canvas Map, and illustrate how it can be used effectively. The Light Gray Canvas Map works particularly well in combination with operational overlays that contain point and line features. By design, it provides users with a way of improving a number of key cartographic objectives such as developing a sound figure-ground relationship and hierarchical organization in your map. Continue reading
