Toronto, ON, December 13, 2005 – Avenza Systems Inc., producers of MAPublisher cartographic software and Geographic Imager spatial tools for Adobe Photoshop, and The XYZ Digital Map Company Ltd., specialists in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and cartography and resellers of Avenza products in the United Kingdom, announce that the Royal School of Military Survey (RSMS) and Royal Engineers (Geographic) Regiment (REGR) have chosen MAPublisher for their cartographic needs.

Multiple MAPublisher licenses have been purchased by the RSMS and REGR for use in both the educational and practical activities of the training and deployment of Royal Engineers for the British Military.

“We are thrilled at this advancement in MAPublisher use in the UK,” said Ted Florence, president of Avenza Systems Inc. “Through our success in the US military sectors we have come to know that MAPublisher is a very useful and desirable tool in military mapping and it is exciting to be making similar inroads overseas,” he added.

“We have been working with the Royal School of Military Survey for some years, providing training and the occasional guest lecture, so it is very pleasing to see things develop in this way,” said Tim Rideout, Director of The XYZ Digital Map Co. Ltd. “The School and the Royal Engineers have a major GIS capability, and have recognized that MAPublisher can work with their existing facilities to help the graphic designers make the best possible maps,” he added.

More about MAPublisher

MAPublisher is powerful map production software for creating cartographic-quality maps from GIS data. Developed as a suite of plug-ins for Adobe Illustrator and Xtras for Macromedia Freehand, MAPublisher leverages the superior graphics editing capabilities of these applications with the strength and power of GIS data. Full details and downloadable demo versions are available at www.avenza.com.

More about Royal School of Military Survey and Royal Engineers (Geographic) Regiment

The role of the Royal Engineer Regiment (Geographic) is to provide field deployable geographic support to Defence. This support is provided by the use of specially trained geographic staff embedded within major Army Headquarters and by the deployment of specialist teams on operations. Geographic support is provided in 7 key areas. All Royal Engineer geographic specialists are trained at the Royal School of Military Survey. Officers attend the Army Survey Course and, if successful, are awarded a Master of Science degree in Defence Geographic Information.

More about Avenza Systems Inc.

Avenza Systems Inc. is a privately held, award-winning supplier of powerful map-making software and affordable geodata products. Led by its flagship MAPublisher product for Adobe Illustrator and Macromedia Freehand and new Geographic Imager suite for Adobe Photoshop, Avenza has brought GIS and geographic workflows to the mainstream graphics and imaging environments. The Company also offers product training and consulting services. Visit www.avenza.com for more details.

More about The XYZ Digital Map Company Limited

The XYZ Digital Map Company was established in 1998 to provide high quality affordable map data for use in Geographical Information Systems (GIS), such as MapInfo, ArcView and ArcInfo, and for use in Internet applications. The company has grown to become specialists in Geographic Information Systems (GIS), cartography and digital air photography, and have been the UK resellers of Avenza products since 1999. The company’s founders have many years experience in both cartography and geography: Visit www.xyzmaps.com for more details.

For further information:

Avenza Systems ● 416-487-5116 ● info@avenza.com ● www.avenza.com
The XYZ Digital Map Co. Ltd. ● +44-(0)131-454-0426 ● info@xyzmaps.com ● www.xyzmaps.com

Toronto, ON, December 8, 2005 – Avenza Systems Inc., producer of MAPublisher cartographic software and Geographic Imager spatial suite for Adobe Photoshop, is pleased to announce the winners of the 2005 MAPublisher Map Awards – a competition that showcases the quality and diversity of maps that can be produced with MAPublisher and recognizes and rewards their excellence.

“As in previous years, the entries in this year’s awards did not fail to impress us all,” said Ted Florence, president of Avenza Systems Inc. “MAPublisher users continue to shine and display true cartographic excellence in their work. We congratulate the winners and thank all entrants for their excellent display of cartographic skill using MAPublisher,” he added.

Dozens of individual submissions were received this year including a great many from overseas including some from Peru, Italy and Norway. The overseas entries again proved to be an excellent contingent and figured prominently in the final results.

A copy of all winning maps and notable entrants for this year’s competition will be forwarded to The Map Division of the Library of Congress in Washington, DC to be added to the MAPublisher collection established in 2003.

Summary of category winners

2005 Best Map Overall – J. Eric Schuster, Division of Geology and Earth Resources, Washington State Department of Natural Resources for ‘Geologic Map of Washington State’

2005 Best Special Purpose Map – Patrick Jankanish, The King County GIS Center for ‘Regional Trails in King County’

2005 Best Topographic Map – Patrick Dunlavey, Pat Dunlavey Cartographics for ‘Berkshire County’

2005 Best General Purpose Map – Craig Molymeux, Meridian Maps for ‘Tasmania Wall Map’

2005 Best Transportation Map – Craig Molymeux & Will Pringle, Australian Geographic for ‘South Coast of New South Wales’

2005 Best Geologic Map – J. Eric Schuster, Division of Geology and Earth Resources, Washington State Department of Natural Resources for ‘Geologic Map of Washington State’

2005 Best Multimedia Map – Jim Blakeslee, Geocentric for ‘Downtown Bethesda Interactive Guide’

2005 Best Collections Maps – Will Pringle & John Cleasby, Australian Geographic for ‘Explore Australia’s Outback’

5 additional submissions received Notable Entry status.

Details of each map, the associated images and the notable entries can be found on the Avenza website at https://avenza.com/MPcomp/2005.

More about MAPublisher

MAPublisher is powerful map production software for creating cartographic-quality maps from GIS data. Developed as a suite of plug-ins for Adobe Illustrator and Macromedia Freehand, MAPublisher leverages the superior graphics capabilities of these design packages with over 40 tools including import/export of major GIS file formats with all the attribute information intact and usable.

More about Avenza Systems Inc.

Avenza Systems Inc. is an award winning, privately held corporation that provides cartographers and GIS professionals with powerful software tools for making better maps. In addition to software offerings for Mac and Windows users, the Company offers value-added data sets, product training and consulting services. Visit www.avenza.com or call 416-487-5116 for more details.

For further information:

Tel: 416-487-5116 ● Email: competition@avenza.com ● Web: www.avenza.com

– Powerful software suite adds geospatial functionality to Adobe Photoshop CS2 –

Toronto, ON, November 11, 2005 – Avenza Systems Inc., producers of MAPublisher cartographic software for Adobe Illustrator and Macromedia FreeHand as well as MAPdataUSA andMAPdataWorld royalty-free data sets, announces that Geographic Imager, a new plug-in suite for Adobe^® Photoshop^® CS2 that adds geospatial functionality to this powerful image editing program is now shipping.

“Geographic Imager is the next evolutionary step in bringing geospatial image editing to the masses and is the perfect companion suite for MAPublisher and Adobe Illustrator”, said Ted Florence, President of Avenza Systems. “Just imagine the power and flexibility of being able to work with your aerial and satellite photos and map scans within the Photoshop CS2 environment.” he added.

Geographic Imager enhances the already commanding Adobe Photoshop CS2 imaging environment by adding all the tools and technology necessary to support the import, edit, manipulation and export of geospatial images such as aerial and satellite imagery.  In addition to allowing the use of Photoshop CS2 and its numerous native imaging functions such as cropping, transparencies, individual pixel editing and brightness/contrast control, Geographic Imager adds the ability to import and recognize geotiffs and other referenced raster formats, automatically mosaic images spatially, reproject and transform images, geo-reference images based on ground control points and re-export images with all spatial information intact.

“Geographic Imager is yet another example of how Adobe Photoshop CS2 functionality can be extended into new realms,” said John Nack, senior product manager at Adobe Systems. “We continue to see unique uses of Photoshop CS2 in the science, medical and engineering industries and are pleased that it speeds the workflow, allows for more flexibility and control over images and helps make the once impossible, possible. Avenza is certainly a big part of making a positive impact and contributing to future innovation within the geospatial and mapping communities and we’re glad to see Avenza’s latest contribution and its functionality within Photoshop CS2,” he added.

Features and Benefits of Geographic Imager

• Allows the use of Adobe Photoshop native functionality without destroying the spatial properties of the image
• Import geotiffs and other spatial raster formats along with all georeferencing
• Export geotiffs and other spatial raster formats
• Georeference non-referenced imagery
• Ground Control Point (GCP) transformation
• Reprojection of spatial imagery
• Automatic mosaicking of spatial imagery
• Adobe Photoshop CS2 compatible
• Mac and Windows versions available
• Floating licensing option availability

More about Geographic Imager

Geographic Imager is powerful software for working with spatial imagery in Adobe Photoshop that leverages the superior image editing capabilities of this raster-based image-editing software.  Geographic Imager is priced at US$599 for a single-user fixed commercial license. MAPublisher maintenance program members will enjoy a US$100 time-limited discount. Educational and floating licenses as well as discounted MAPublisher/ Geographic Imager bundles are also available.  Full details are available at www.avenza.com.

More about MAPublisher

MAPublisher is powerful map production software for creating cartographic-quality maps from GIS data. Developed as a suite of plug-ins for Adobe Illustrator and Macromedia Freehand, MAPublisher leverages the superior graphics capabilities of these design packages.

More about Avenza Systems Inc.

Avenza Systems Inc. is an award winning corporation that provides cartographers and GIS professionals with powerful software tools for making better maps.  In addition to software offerings for Mac and Windows users, the Company offers value-added data sets, product training and consulting services.   Visit www.avenza.com for more details.

For further information:
Tel: 416-487-5116
Email: info@avenza.com
Web: www.avenza.com

Toronto, ON, August 17, 2005 – Avenza Systems Inc., producers of MAPublisher cartographic software, and its Australian Reseller, Ozemap, announce that The Papua New Guinea University of Technology has selected MAPublisher software for use in the Department of Surveying & Land Studies computer laboratory.

“After much searching for the right software package, we are delighted to now offer MAPublisher in the various programs within our department,” said Wycliffe Antonio, Lecturer in the GIS and Cartography programs of the Department of Surveying and Land Studies at The Papua New Guinea University of Technology.  “MAPublisher has been proven to excel as a map design and cartographic tool and as much of our work and study requires good cartographic technique and final map output we are excited to be using and instructing with it“, he added.

MAPublisher will be primarily used in the department’s cartographic processing laboratory.

More about MAPublisher

MAPublisher is powerful map production software for creating cartographic-quality maps from GIS data. Developed as a suite of plug-ins for Adobe Illustrator and Xtras for Macromedia Freehand, MAPublisher leverages the superior graphics editing capabilities of these applications with the strength and power of GIS data.  Full details and downloadable demo versions are available at www.avenza.com.

More about Avenza Systems Inc.

Avenza Systems Inc. is a privately held, award-winning supplier of powerful map-making software and affordable geodata products. Led by its flagship MAPublisher product for Adobe Illustrator and Macromedia Freehand and new Geographic Imager suite for Adobe Photoshop, Avenza has brought GIS and geographic workflows to the mainstream graphics and imaging environments. The Company also offers product training and consulting services. Visit www.avenza.com for more details.

More about the Department of Surveying and Land Studies at The Papua New Guinea University of Technology

The Department offers a number of courses which could be broadly described as the collection, collation, analysis, interpretation and application of spatial and economic data associated with the land. The application of technology is emphasized as is the role of the professional in the development of Papua New Guinea . The Department’s facilities include a comprehensive digital mapping, geographic information systems and remote sensing laboratory, state of the art global positioning systems technology and software, a cartographic processing laboratory and automated surveying systems as well as the usual surveying and mapping facilities. The Department is also involved in a number of research programs including volcanic deformation monitoring and remote HF radio data transfer using GPS. The Department has been producing graduates for over twenty five years many of whom occupy senior positions in Government and the private sector in PNG and the Pacific Region.

For further information:
Tel: 416-487-5116 ? Email: info@avenza.com ? Web: www.avenza.com
Tel: 61-3-5447-2908 ? Email: info@ozemap.com.au ? Web: www.ozemap.com.au

Toronto, ON, October 19, 2005 – Avenza Systems Inc., producers of MAPublisher cartographic software, announces that the Geomatics Institute at Fleming College in Lindsay , Ontario , Canada has expanded their MAPublisher installation with 70 floating licenses of MAPublisher 6.2 software.

This implementation extends the existing usage of MAPublisher in Fleming’s Geomatics programs and puts it within reach of every student in geomatics programs at Fleming.

“We have long recognized the contribution that MAPublisher has made to the geomatics industry and the importance of including it in a complete geo-science educational offering,” said Hardy Kraft, Project Manager, Geomatics Institute at Fleming. “Having MAPublisher in our labs meets our objective of continuing to ensure that our students have access to the best software tools available for cartographers and GIS professionals,” he added.

“We are very pleased that Fleming continues to allow MAPublisher to play such a key role in educating the map-makers and GIS professionals of the future,” said Ted Florence, president of Avenza Systems Inc. “This deployment demonstrates and affirms the commitment that Avenza and Fleming have to each other,” he added.

More about MAPublisher

MAPublisher is powerful map production software for creating cartographic-quality maps from GIS data. Developed as a suite of plug-ins for Adobe Illustrator and Xtras for Macromedia Freehand, MAPublisher leverages the superior graphics editing capabilities of these applications with the strength and power of GIS data.  Full details and downloadable demo versions are available at www.avenza.com.

More about Avenza Systems Inc

Avenza Systems Inc. is a privately held, award-winning supplier of powerful map-making software and affordable geodata products. Led by its flagship MAPublisher product for Adobe Illustrator and Macromedia Freehand and new Geographic Imager suite for Adobe Photoshop, Avenza has brought GIS and geographic workflows to the mainstream graphics and imaging environments. The Company also offers product training and consulting services. Visit www.avenza.com for more details.

More about Fleming College

Fleming College, with campuses in Peterborough, Lindsay, Haliburton and Cobourg, Ontario offers outstanding programs in a variety of disciplines including Geomatics. The Geomatics Institute at Fleming delivers customized training for government and industry and post-secondary education, including Ontario’s first Geomatics Technician Diploma program which was established in 2003. The Geomatics Institute is part of Fleming’s Lindsay-based School of Environmental and Natural Resource Sciences which is recognized across North America for the breadth and quality of its programs.

For further information:
Avenza Systems ● Tel: 416-487-5116 ● Email: info@avenza.com ● Web: www.avenza.com
Fleming College ● 705-324-9144 x3249 ● Email: HKRAFT@flemingc.on.ca ● Web: www.geomaticsatfleming.ca

Toronto, ON, August 11, 2005 – Avenza Systems Inc., producers of MAPublisher cartographic software, announces that the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has chosen MAPublisher software for use in the Department of Urban & Regional Planning computer laboratory.

“We are very pleased that MAPublisher is now available for our students to use” said Varkki George Pallathucheril, Associate Professor of Urban and Regional Planning at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. “We tested MAPublisher in a course and found that students learned to use it without difficulty to produce high-quality maps using digital spatial data. By providing access to MAPublisher we expect to realize significant benefits in the classroom and when our students become professional planners“, he added.

MAPublisher will be primarily used in the department’s state-of-the-art instructional computer laboratory.

More about MAPublisher

MAPublisher is powerful map production software for creating cartographic-quality maps from GIS data. Developed as a suite of plug-ins for Adobe Illustrator and Xtras for Macromedia Freehand, MAPublisher leverages the superior graphics editing capabilities of these applications with the strength and power of GIS data.  Full details and downloadable demo versions are available at www.avenza.com.

More about Avenza Systems Inc.

Avenza Systems Inc. is a privately held, award-winning supplier of powerful map-making software and affordable geodata products. Led by its flagship MAPublisher product for Adobe Illustrator and Macromedia Freehand and new Geographic Imager suite for Adobe Photoshop, Avenza has brought GIS and geographic workflows to the mainstream graphics and imaging environments. The Company also offers product training and consulting services. Visit www.avenza.com for more details.

More about the Department of Urban and Regional Planning at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

With a long history and tradition in planning education focused on land use and the physical development of communities to achieve social and environmental goals, the Department of Urban and Regional Planning at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (http://www.urban.uiuc.edu/) responds to these needs. Emphasizing the analysis and interpretation of data to devise and implement plans, the programs of study integrate a natural science component with a strong social science component. The Department’s programs are designed to educate persons who can plan effectively in a variety of institutions—public planning agencies, private development corporations, or neighborhood organizations. The Department is one of only two departments in the United States to offer accredited professional degrees in planning at the bachelor and master levels and a PhD.

For further information:
Tel: 416-487-5116
Email: info@avenza.com
Web: www.avenza.com

August, 2005. In this second segment of his online series, From GIS to the Desktop, author Steve Gordon of Cartagram LLC, further discusses using Adobe Illustrator and MAPublisher to create great looking map products.

“My first article in this series, From GIS to the Desktop, explored the visual and production value of taking GIS data and maps to desktop software like Adobe Illustrator. The visual effects you can elicit in desktop software will make the trip rewarding – your maps will communicate more effectively, your clients will be more pleased with the richness of your proofs and prints, your files will be more portable, and you may discover new ways of symbolizing map data along the way. How do you travel from GIS to the desktop, quickly and affordably? […] you import, edit and perform various GIS operations on your data before exporting files in a GIS format that you then import into Illustrator as data. This packs your attributes and georeferencing information in case you need to access or manipulate it using the Avenza MAPublisher plug-ins during final map production…”

See the Directions Magazine article

Powerful software suite adds geospatial functionality to Adobe Photoshop

Toronto, ON, July 25, 2005 – Avenza Systems Inc., producers of MAPublisher cartographic software for Adobe Illustrator and Macromedia FreeHand as well as MAPdataUSA and MAPdataWorld royalty-free data sets, announces Geographic Imager, a new plug-in suite for Adobe Photoshop that adds geospatial functionality to this powerful image editing program.

Geographic Imager enhances the already commanding Adobe Photoshop imaging environment by adding all the tools and technology necessary to support the import, edit, manipulation and export of geospatial images such as aerial and satellite imagery.  In addition to allowing the use of Photoshop’s numerous native imaging functions such as transparencies, cropping, individual pixel editing and brightness/contrast control, Geographic Imager adds the ability to import and recognize geotiffs and other referenced raster formats, automatically mosaic images spatially, reproject images, transform and geo-reference images based on ground control points and re-export images with all spatial information intact.

“We have answered the call of spatial imagery users worldwide by extending the dominant image editing environment of Adobe Photoshop to the GIS realm,” said Ted Florence, President of Avenza, “Geographic Imager is the next evolutionary step in bringing geospatial image editing to the masses and is the perfect companion suite for MAPublisher.” he added.

Features and Benefits of Geographic Imager

• Allows the use of Adobe Photoshop native functionality without destroying the spatial properties of the image
• Import geotiffs and other spatial raster formats along with all georeferencing
• Export geotiffs and other spatial raster formats
• Georeference non-referenced imagery
• Ground Control Point (GCP) transformation
• Reprojection of spatial imagery
• Automatic mosaicking of spatial imagery
• Adobe Photoshop CS2 compatible
• Mac and Windows versions available
• Floating licensing option availability

More about Geographic Imager

Geographic Imager is powerful software for working with spatial imagery in Adobe Photoshop that leverages the superior image editing capabilities of this raster-based image-editing software.  Geographic Imager will begin shipping in the fall of 2005 and will be priced at US$599 for a single-user fixed commercial license. MAPublisher maintenance program members will enjoy a US$100 time-limited discount. Educational and floating licenses as well as discounted MAPublisher/ Geographic Imager bundles will also be available.  Full details are available at www.avenza.com.

More about MAPublisher

MAPublisher is powerful map production software for creating cartographic-quality maps from GIS data. Developed as a suite of plug-ins for Adobe Illustrator and Macromedia Freehand, MAPublisher leverages the superior graphics capabilities of these design packages.

More about Avenza Systems Inc.

Avenza Systems Inc. is an award winning corporation that provides cartographers and GIS professionals with powerful software tools for making better maps.  In addition to software offerings for Mac and Windows users, the Company offers value-added data sets, product training and consulting services.   Visit www.avenza.com for more details.

For further information:
Tel: 416-487-5116
Email: info@avenza.com
Web: www.avenza.com

Toronto, ON, June 27, 2005 – Avenza Systems Inc., the developer of MAPublisher map production software, announces the 2005 MAPublisher Map Awards. This competition is a forum for MAPublisher users to showcase their work, receive recognition, share ideas and compare their productions with other MAPublisher users from around the world.

“We are very pleased to hold this awards event once again,” said Ted Florence, president of Avenza Systems Inc. ”Last year we again saw some tremendous examples of what MAPublisher can empower a user to create and we look forward to just as exciting a selection of entries this year,” he added.

A copy of all maps received for this year’s competition will also be forwarded to The Map Division of the Library of Congress in Washington, DC to be added to the MAPublisher collection established in 2003.

More about the MAPublisher Map Awards

The competition is open to all maps created with MAPublisher. Awards will be presented for the map judged as the best in each category along with a grand prize for the Best Map Overall. In the academic category the winning entrant with also be awarded a free license of the MAPublisher version of their choice that they may use to either expand or upgrade their existing MAPublisher working environment.

List of Categories

Best Map Overall
Best Thematic Map
Best Topographic Map
Best Transportation Map
Best General Purpose Map
Best Special Purpose Map
Best Geologic Map
Best Multimedia Map
Best Academic Map
Best Map Collection

Submissions will be accepted until September 2nd, 2005 midnight EST. Winners will be announced by or on October 15th, 2005.

Full competition details are available at www.avenza.com/MPcomp/ or by emailing competition@avenza.com.

More about MAPublisher

MAPublisher is powerful map production software for creating cartographic-quality maps from GIS data. Developed as a suite of plug-ins for Adobe Illustrator and Macromedia Freehand, MAPublisher leverages the superior graphics capabilities of these design packages.

More about Avenza Systems Inc.

Avenza Systems Inc. is an award winning corporation that provides cartographers and GIS professionals with powerful software tools for making better maps. In addition to software offerings for Mac and Windows users, the Company offers value-added data sets, product training and consulting services. Visit www.avenza.com for more details.

For further information:

Tel: 416-487-5116
Email: competition@avenza.com
Web: www.avenza.com

Summer, 2005. In this quarter’s Society for News Design Journal, Catherine Farley, deputy graphics director at the Toronto Star newspaper, discussed how the newspaper’s graphics department used MAPublisher and Adobe Illustrator to quickly and easily produce maps for the 2004 US and Canadian federal elections.

“We knew we were on to something when election night editors were using our proofs as road maps for their stories…..We also knew we would not have time to color the map manually so we used MAPublisher to automate the process.”