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Yearly Archives: 2016

Difference Between Lines and Tracks When Exporting from Avenza Maps

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There are two methods of exporting GPS tracks from Avenza Maps in KML format: as a line and as a track. Which option to select depends on the intended purpose. Lines are much simpler than tracks and store only the position of each vertex in the line as latitude longitude and elevation. Tracks contain a complete description of how the path moves through space including the position at one-second intervals, the time at which each position was recorded, the compass angle of the heading, and the velocity. Lines take up much less storage space than tracks. To switch between exporting to Lines or Tracks, select Track Export in the Export Settings screen.

Export Settings screen

Tracks are useful in applications where the GPS position at a given time and space is important. For example, in Google Earth there is an option to record a tour that moves to predetermined places on the globe. This would be useful if you wanted to follow along on a hiking path or do a virtual walkthrough of a proposed building development. To make a tour from a track, open the KML file in Google Earth, select the track in the places panel, and click the Play Tour icon. The animation below shows a walk through Mount Pleasant Cemetery in Toronto, Canada. Lines contain only the location information: latitude longitude and elevation. Export to line when the time data is not important such as if you are making a map of a hiking trail.

Play tour in Google Earth
A tour of Mount Pleasant Cemetery in Toronto, Canada using Google Earth

KML Code for Lines and Tracks

KML (short for Keyhole Markup Language) is an XML notation for displaying spatial data in web applications. It was developed for use with Google Earth and can be read by many programs. Avenza Maps uses KML to import and export placemarks, lines, and tracks. You can view and modify KML files in any text editor. The KML element used for lines is called a Linestring which is defined as “a connected set of line segments”. A Linestring element contains a coordinates tag which is a list of longitude and latitude positions in decimal degrees and elevations in meters.

KML Linestring code sample

Tracks use the KML element “gx:Track” which contains several tags.

  1. when – the date and time a point was recorded in UTC
  2. gx:coord – the location of the point in decimal degrees and the elevation in meters
  3. gx:angle – the current heading in compass degrees (i.e. 0 degrees is north, 90 is degrees east and so on)
  4. gx:value tag defined as “speed” – the current speed in meters per second

There are equal numbers of each of these tags. A full description of the vertex includes all the tags in the same sequence. For instance, the first when tag, coord tag, angle tag, and speed tag, describe the first vertex in the track.

Track KML code sample

 

Isolating and Displaying Specific Grid and Graticule Lines

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MAPublisher Grids and Graticules is a powerful tool. There are dozens of settings to create an indexed grid, measured grid, or graticule exactly the way you want. We often receive questions about how to create certain grid and graticule styles and this was interesting. We were asked how to create a graticule to display a very specific latitude and longitude, perhaps even by itself (only a single line of latitude or longitude).

Creating a single graticule line

In this example, we’re going to create a graticule that will only display the Tropic of Capricorn at -23.4371 degrees (or 23.4371 degrees south of the equator).

On the MAPublisher toolbar, click the Grids and Graticules button to open the dialog box. Click the Graticules button to create one. On the Graticules Grid main settings, the important setting to note here is the Pass through section — it specifies lines of latitude and longitude that must be included in the graticule. Enter 30 deg Long and -23.4371 deg Lat. This means that a graticule line must pass through -23.4371 degrees latitude (the Tropic of Capricorn). The reason why a line at 30 deg longitude is specified is to hide it from the map view (it is placed at 30 deg longitude outside of the map extent).

Pass through setting

In the Intervals section, set 90 deg Latitude interval and 180 deg Longitude interval. Because the intervals are at the extreme, this means that the the only lines left to display are the ones specified in the Pass through section (30 deg long and -23.4371 deg lat). In this case, it will only display a single line of latitude (the Tropic of Capricorn) for the graticule.

Intervals setting

If you want to label the graticule, go to the Line Labels setting. Click the Lat and Lng on the grid label control to enable them. To control how many decimals are displayed, click the Format setting, then change the number of decimals to something greater than 0.

Label settings

To intersect single lines of longitude and latitude, adjust the Pass through setting so that the line is within the map’s extent. In this case, it was set to -50 deg (50 deg west).

Intersect single lines of longitude and latitude

Remember that you can share Grids and Graticules settings with anybody by clicking the Save Settings button, selecting a destination folder and sharing the configuration files.

The Difference Between Constraints and Bounds in a Graticule

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A graticule is the network of lines of latitude and longitude drawn at regular intervals on a map. Graticules are created in MAPublisher using the Grids and Graticules tool. In some maps, you may want to limit the area on the map that a graticule covers. For example, you may want it to cover only the map’s area of interest. The image below is a map of North America with a graticule drawn at 5-degree intervals. US State boundaries are drawn in white. In this post, we’ll modify the graticule three times so it conforms to the edges of the image, so it covers only the Continental United States, and lastly a combination of the previous two modifications.

North America with a graticule of 5 degree intervals.

MAPublisher can limit the geographic extents of a graticule in two ways: using Grid Bounds and using Grid Constraints. In both cases, you’ll specify the lower left and upper right corners of the graticule. Specifying Grid Bounds will limit the extent of the graticule to a rectangular area while specifying Grid Constraints will limit the graticule along lines of latitude and longitude. If both Grid Bounds and Grid Constraints are specified, the graticule will cover an intersection of the two areas. The image below shows bounds and the constraints and the intersecting area which forms the graticule.

Bounds and the constraints and the intersecting area which forms the graticule.

To modify a graticule so that it conforms to the edges of the image, you’ll need to specify grid constraints. In the Grids and Graticules dialog box, click the Specify Grid Constraints check box and set the Lower Left and Upper Right corners to the corners of the image which are -127°, 7° and -50°, 65° respectively.

Specifying Grid Constraints.

To create a rectangular graticule covering only the lower 48 states, click the Specify Grid Bounds check box and set the Lower Left and Upper Right corners to the corners of that area. Tip: click the MAP World Locations drop-down arrow to choose the values for the lower left and upper right corners.

Specifying Grid Bounds.

When both Specify Grid Bounds and Specify Grid Constraints check boxes are both checked, the graticule will cover an intersection of each of the extents. For instance, in the map below, the northern extent follows the 49th parallel at the Canadian border, the western extent is at the edge of the image (127° west) and the south and east extents are the same as in the previous map.

Both Specify Grid Bounds and Specify Grid Constraints selected.



 

Validating Georeferencing in Geographic Imager

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When georeferencing a map in Geographic Imager, there are two tools which can be used to check spatial accuracy: Validate and Show Image Extents Online. With Validate, click a point on the image and it will show the corresponding location on the web map service so that you can compare the difference between them. Show Image Extents Online will display a rectangle representing the spatial extent of the image on the web map.

The image below shows the Validate tool in action. Selecting the tool and clicking on the road intersection brings up the same intersection in the web map, displaying how accurate the georeferencing may be. It is good practice to test several known points on the image. Choose features that will be easy to identify on the web map such as road intersections, coastlines, buildings, and landmarks.

The Show Image Extents Online tool is shown in the image below. Use this tool to see the full area covered by the image. Note that the rectangle shown on the web map will include the non-map areas of the page (borders, legend, etc).

 

Easy Map Creation with WFS and WMS

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Online services can be used to create high-quality maps without the need to download and maintain large spatial datasets or spend time designing base maps. In this post, we’ll use two online sources to import data and create a map showing the potential energy generated from existing and proposed wind power projects in the state of Massachusetts.

Wind map

There are two types of online mapping services MAPublisher can use to import layers: Web Map Services (WMS) and Web Feature Services (WFS). WMS is an interface for accessing geo-registered images from an online source. This means that users aren’t able to modify individual elements of a WMS layer and are only able to select an area of the map to import. WMS also allows for transparency so map layers can be overlaid on top of one another.

WFS, on the other hand, is an interface for accessing vector map features in GML format. Features are imported as a MAP Layer which can be further modified using MAPublisher and Illustrator tools. To create this map, we’ll import data from two sources: a topo map from the US Geological Survey (USGS) and the Massachusetts Office of Geographic Information (MassGIS).

To start, open Adobe Illustrator and create a new document in portrait mode. Import a MAP Layer and select Web Feature Service from the Format drop-down. Click the “Click to select services and layer(s)”. link. The MassGIS layers are included with MAPublisher by default. If you do not see this service, click Load Services from Avenza. Select Commonwealth of Massachusetts, USA – MassGIS in the USA folder.

Selecting WFS for import

On the Select Features dialog box, select Wind Power. Note the default SRS – EPSG 26986. On the Import dialog box, click the link to select a coordinate system. Choose Massachusetts Mainland Zone (EPSG 26986). Click OK.

WFS information

The Wind Projects layer has been imported as a MAP Layer. It can be modified using MAPublisher or Illustrator tools to symbolize, label, select, and so forth. To create the style for this layer, add a new Stylesheet MAP Theme of Point feature type, then Batch generate rules for the KW column using three quantiles, and select Set scale so the symbols scale proportionally to the value. For more on how to replicate this style, see the MAPublisher Help article MAP Themes.

Wind point attributes (click to see larger image)
Batch generate rules

The next step is to import a WMS layer to use as a base layer. This map uses the USGS Topo Base Map which was created as part of the National Map program. A list of WMS and WFS services provided by USGS is available at http://viewer.nationalmap.gov/services/.

Go to the USGS web page and open the WMS link under Base Maps (Cached) > USGS Topo Base Map – Primary Tile Cache (Tiled). This is an XML document with the location and metadata of the WMS. Copy the link from the address bar and in Adobe Illustrator, click the MAPublisher Import button and choose Web Map Service from the Format drop-down menu. Click the “Click to select service and image” link. Click Add New Service and paste the URL into the GetCapabilities URL text box. Choose the service from the list and click OK.

Add new service

On the Select Web Map Layer dialog box, choose USGS Topo Base Map from the Layers list. Set the Image Size to 1000 to increase the resolution. To change the extents of the output image click Select Area. This dialog box provides several options for setting the extents of the base map image. Click-and-drag to specify an area to select – the image will automatically crop. The buttons at the top of the panel allow you to enter the coordinate extents manually, match the extents of a MAP View or match the extents of a vector layer. Since we have already added the Wind Power layer to the map, we will set the extents to match this map view by clicking “Select area by MAP View” and choosing Wind_Projects from the drop-down menu. Leave the other options as default and import the base map image.

Select area

For the final step, open the MAP View panel and drag the layer DMARRIER.EEA_WIND_Point to the MAP View USGS_TNM_Toppo_Base_Map. This will transform the points to the same coordinate system as the base map.

There are thousands of freely available WMS and WFS sources available online. For a good starting place see this blog post from the Open Geospatial Consortium for advice on finding services. You could also use a basic web search – for example – “WMS Toronto” or similar. For more help on web services in MAPublisher see the help article Web Map/Feature Service.

Avenza Systems Fixed and Floating License Solutions: What Are The Differences?

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Avenza desktop applications, MAPublisher and Geographic Imager offer two options for the licensing system: Fixed license and Floating license.

The Fixed license option allows only one license per computer. For most users or small companies, this is generally sufficient, even with a few licenses. Since your license is fixed to a specific computer, it can’t be moved freely to another machine. However, Avenza does allow you to move your license occasionally. For example, if you purchased a new computer or when your computer is being fixed and you need to transfer your fixed license to another computer. If your subscription status for MMP (MAPublisher Maintenance Program) or GMP (Geographic Imager Maintenance Program) is up-to-date, then moving your fixed license to another computer (i.e. rehosting a license) can be done without a cost. Complete this form to do so. You will receive a notification email from Avenza when this is completed.

The Floating license option is for users who wants to share a number of licenses on the network. This is a great solution for any size company that has multiple users who share use of MAPublisher or Geographic Imager. You will need to set up a license server for which users will need check out a license from the server before using MAPublisher or Geographic Imager. In general, this option is used when sharing a number of license with colleagues. For example, the license server holds two seats of MAPublisher license. When users on Computer A and Computer B are using MAPublisher, other users can’t check out a license until the borrowed licenses are checked in.

An example environment of a floating license system

Another great advantage of the floating license the ability to borrow a roaming license with their laptop so that they can use MAPublisher and Geographic Imager outside their immediate office. This is a good solution for users who need to use the software on the go and doesn’t have a connection to the floating license server.

For more information about the licensing options for our MAPublisher and Geographic Imager, contact Avenza sales.

If you have any technical questions about setting up a license server or any other licensing issues, contact Avenza Technical Support.

Force Multiple Line Labels By Adjusting Text Attributes In MAPublisher

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Single line label vs. multi-line label

There may be times when you want to have labels be multiple lines. Multi-line labels allow them to fit in tighter positions on the map. Currently, in MAPublisher LabelPro there’s a rule to allow stacking up to 2, 3 or even 4 lines. However, this rule only “allows” stacking and doesn’t “force” stacking. It is only meant to fit labels when there isn’t enough space for a single line.

MAP LabelPro allow stacking rule

Fortunately, there is a trick to manually force text to label as multi-line: you need to manipulate the text attribute. Always make sure to create a backup or duplicate of your layer before trying this on your own data.

1. Go to your attribute table. Double-click to edit the text and click the Edit icon.

Edit feature attribute in MAP Attribute table

2. Edit the text so it is on separate lines.

Edit the text so it is on separate lines

In the attribute table, you will only see the first word of the multi-line text. But all the text is still there and you can see it by adjusting the row height.

Adjust the row height to see all the text

3. Run MAPublisher LabelPro, Label Features, or the MAP Label Tagger tool. MAPublisher will label the feature using the multi-line text specified in your attributes.

Labeling result

If you have the Allow Stacking rule enabled in MAPublisher LabelPro, it won’t affect multi-line text since it’s already setup that way. Generally, it’s good practice to leave the allow stacking rule enabled in case other labels require tighter fitting. Remember to create a MAP Text layer to contain labels that could not be placed. This can provide hints as to what LabelPro rule adjustments you need to make.

28th International Cartographic Conference – Washington, D.C.

Past Event

The 28th International Cartographic Conference will take place in Washington, D.C., USA, July 2-7, 2017.

Avenza will be participating as an exhibitor at the conference. Avenza product specialists will be available to discuss how Avenza Maps technology is changing the cartography industry and how MAPublisher and Geographic Imager desktop mapping solutions can be a great fit for your organization. Come visit us in booth #422

Location:
Marriott Wardman Park Hotel
2660 Woodley Road NW
Washington, District Of Columbia 20008
USA

More about the International Cartographic Conference

The Cartography and Geographic Information Society (CAGIS) invites the world of cartography and GIS to come to Washington, DC, July 2 to 7, 2017 for the 28th International Cartographic Conference of the International Cartographic Association. We are planning a fantastic conference that will draw upon all the resources of the nation’s capital. The National Galleries of Art, the Smithsonian Institution, the National Geographic Society, and the Library of Congress will all play a role in making this a great conference.

Visit http://icc2017.org/ for more information.

Avenza Releases MAPublisher 9.9 For Adobe Illustrator

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ArcGIS Online integration and CC 2017 compatibility

Toronto, ON, December 15, 2016 – Avenza Systems Inc., producers of the Avenza Maps app for mobile devices and geospatial plug-ins for Adobe Creative Cloud, including Geographic Imager® for Adobe Photoshop®, is pleased to announce the release of MAPublisher 9.9 for Adobe Illustrator. This latest update includes many new features including full compatibility with Adobe Illustrator Creative Cloud 2017.

This MAPublisher release also introduces the ability to import geospatial features and attributes directly from ArcGIS Online into Adobe Illustrator enabling users to harness MAPublisher’s mapping tools to create georeferenced and feature-rich maps from ArcGIS Online data sources.

Several new geoprocessing tools including the MAP Trim and MAP Extend tools are also included in this release.

“We’re pleased to release MAPublisher 9.9 with full compatibility for the latest Adobe Illustrator CC 2017 update,” said Ted Florence, President of Avenza. “We’ve been working hard to stay in sync with the regular updates of the Creative Cloud platform.”

“The ArcGIS Online integration is a very exciting addition to MAPublisher,” said Doug Smith, Director of Sales at Avenza. “Our users have asked about easier ways to import their GIS data and we’ve committed to providing them with a new way of doing so,” he added. “MAPublisher is full-featured from start to finish and anyone can begin with raw data, use dynamic mapping tools, and deliver print-ready maps as well as digital maps for use on mobile and web platforms.”

Enhancements and new features of MAPublisher 9.9

  • Fully compatible with Adobe Illustrator Creative Cloud 2017 on both Windows and macOS
  • Sign-in and import Feature Layers, Map Image Layers, Tile Layers, and web services from ArcGIS Online and ArcGIS Server hosts
  • Geocode addresses with ArcGIS Online using MAP Point Plotter
  • Use the MAP Trim Tool to quickly trim lines to a specified line
  • Use the MAP Extend Tool to quickly extend lines that intersect another line
  • A text utility that adds specified line breaks based on words or characters per line

 

More about MAPublisher for Adobe Illustrator

MAPublisher for Adobe Illustrator is powerful map production software for creating high-quality maps from GIS data. MAPublisher cartographic tools leverage the superior graphic design capabilities of Adobe Illustrator to manipulate GIS data and to produce both print-ready and online maps with accuracy and efficiency.

MAPublisher 9.9 is available free of charge to all MAPublisher users with an active maintenance subscription and as an upgrade for non-maintenance users starting at US$599. New commercial licenses are available from US$1399. MAPublisher FME Auto and MAPublisher LabelPro are also available as add-ons starting at US$399 per license. Floating and volume pricing are also available. Prices include one year of full maintenance. Visit www.avenza.com/mapublisher for more details.

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 to make better maps. In addition to software offerings for Mac and Windows users, Avenza offers value-added data sets, product training and consulting services, as well as the Avenza Maps app for purchasing and using maps on iOS, Android, and Windows devices. Visit www.avenza.com for more details.

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

Avenza Maps Pro Now Available to Industry Professionals

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New Pro subscription makes it easier for businesses and organizations to adopt and deploy the popular mobile application

TORONTO (November 15, 2016)— Avenza Systems Inc., producers of MAPublisher® cartographic software for Adobe® Illustrator® and Geographic Imager® geospatial tools for Adobe Photoshop®, has announced that its market-leading, award-winning mobile mapping app, Avenza Maps, will now have a Pro version available immediately. Avenza Maps Pro is a cost-effective annual subscription designed to meet the needs of professionals of businesses, government agencies, and educational institutions.

Avenza Maps Pro is the most powerful version to date of this popular and widely-used application and benefits from years of development and commitment to the mapping community. Features of the Pro subscription include commercial, government and other professional use rights (not available with other versions), allowing unlimited number of maps to be imported, Shapefile import and export, data collection and management, and enhanced support. The subscription also allows for enterprise-level management of the Avenza Maps app across mobile devices for organizations of any size using a new subscription management system.

“Avenza Maps Pro is a large part of our rebrand strategy,” said Ted Florence, President of Avenza Systems Inc. “The Avenza Maps Pro subscription is a logical step towards better serving our professional users. With a free version serving as a base for consumers and enthusiasts and a Pro subscription upgrade available to professionals, we now have an app and platform that can cater to these distinctly separate markets. Moving forward, we have plans to improve how we take care of both markets with clearer brand marketing approaches,” he added.

“Building Avenza Maps Pro is a testament to how popular the app is among professional users,” said Doug Smith, Sales Director of Avenza Systems Inc. “We have plans to build out additional professional features to increase the value proposition of Avenza Maps to the professional community.”

The Avenza Maps app is an all-inclusive mapping platform for iOS, Android, and Windows mobile devices. Consumers can download the app for free, get georeferenced maps from the Avenza Map Store, and use them completely offline with a variety of tools. Map publishers can register as a vendor in the Avenza Map Store and generate revenue by pricing their maps and making them available for purchase. Businesses and organizations can upgrade to a cost-effective Avenza Maps Pro subscription which allows for commercial use, includes enhanced tools and features, and enhanced support. For more information, visit the Avenza Maps website at www.avenzamaps.com.

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 as well as the Avenza Maps mobile mapping platform. In addition to software offerings for Mac and Windows users, Avenza offers value-added data sets, product training, and consulting services. For more information, visit the Avenza website at www.avenza.com.

Contact:
Christine Simmons
LFPR Public Relations – www.lfpr.com (for Avenza)
949-502-6200 ext. 320
Christines@lfpr.com.com

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