[GRASS-user] help needed with creation of (printable) maps

Hi all,

this is slightly off topic, but at least Grass should be used to create the base data for maps.

We want to create a map of a part of a mountain. It will consist of several layers (DOP, height lines, polygon lines, coordinate grid, ...). I've never done something like this and I hope that I can get some reccomendations regarding the work flow and suitable software to use.

One big problem is that one of my friends prefers to use Adobe Illustrator to create one of these layers, but as far as I know Illustrator can't handle anything else as paper units and therefore all georeferenciation is lost. The advantage of Illustrator would be that it is easy to colorize (or fill) areas and create nice looking plots.

An other task is to create (a kind of) atlas where parts of the big map fits on single A4 sheets. Are there any possibilities to cut out parts of a big map and automatically create a grid (with numbers at the border)?

I had a short look at gmt, but I find it quite cryptic to use.
Any suggestions are welcome.

Regards
Wolfgang

Illustrator has a plugin that can import, export and help annotate and draw GIS data: MAPublisher, by Avenza. A bit pricy, but if Illustrator is required, that will do it. I use it a lot with exported GRASS (and, er, other) rasters and vectors (geotiff and shapefile).

On Nov 8, 2007, at 9:24 AM, WolfgangZ wrote:

Hi all,

this is slightly off topic, but at least Grass should be used to create the base data for maps.

We want to create a map of a part of a mountain. It will consist of several layers (DOP, height lines, polygon lines, coordinate grid, ...). I've never done something like this and I hope that I can get some reccomendations regarding the work flow and suitable software to use.

One big problem is that one of my friends prefers to use Adobe Illustrator to create one of these layers, but as far as I know Illustrator can't handle anything else as paper units and therefore all georeferenciation is lost. The advantage of Illustrator would be that it is easy to colorize (or fill) areas and create nice looking plots.

An other task is to create (a kind of) atlas where parts of the big map fits on single A4 sheets. Are there any possibilities to cut out parts of a big map and automatically create a grid (with numbers at the border)?

I had a short look at gmt, but I find it quite cryptic to use.
Any suggestions are welcome.

Regards
Wolfgang

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William Kyngesburye schrieb:

Illustrator has a plugin that can import, export and help annotate and draw GIS data: MAPublisher, by Avenza. A bit pricy, but if Illustrator is required, that will do it. I use it a lot with exported GRASS (and, er, other) rasters and vectors (geotiff and shapefile).

When I found the right plugin than it is quite expensive. I think I first need to get a own copy of AI to test if it is a suitable tool for our needs.

Regards
Wolfgang