We are excited to announce the release of MAPublisher 12 for Adobe Illustrator, the latest update to our geospatial extension for Adobe Creative Cloud.
MAPublisher 12 is our most automation-focused release to date, introducing a powerful new Atlas Creation toolset alongside several enhancements to data management, geographic verification, and attribute workflows.
Here’s what you can expect with MAPublisher 12:
Atlas Creation Workflows
The headline feature of this release is a new suite of Atlas Creation tools, designed as modular, composable utilities rather than a locked-in wizard. While tools like Data Driven Pages or the QGIS Atlas Tool work well for standard layouts, they can feel limiting on the complex, bespoke projects many of our users tackle daily.
MAPublisher 12 replaces the one-size-fits-all approach with a flexible system that lets you adjust variables at any stage without restarting your workflow. All new utilities are accessible from a dedicated Utilities section on the artboard, organized into two panels:
Layer Utilities — Spatial operations on map layers, including a new tool to convert Grids and Graticules output into area polygons that define the bounds of each atlas page.
Document Utilities — Multi-document operations covering four stages of the atlas production pipeline: cropping data to individual page files, generating a unified place-name index across all pages, and batch exporting to Geospatial PDF or GeoTIFF/image formats.
The Export Documents to Image action also supports a reusable settings file, so you no longer need to re-enter export parameters each time. This settings file can additionally be referenced in the MAPublisher Automation dialog, which now supports image export alongside PDF.
Active Data Links
A new concept of active data links has been introduced. Active data links can now be updated directly from the MAP Views panel, reducing the steps required to refresh linked data sources.
GeoPackage Improvements
GeoPackage is now treated as a database format rather than a simple file format. This means you can query a GeoPackage for specific layers and data without importing the entire file. Spatial indexes can also be created at export time to accelerate subsequent queries.
MAP Validate Location Tool
A new Validate tool enables rapid geographic verification without leaving Illustrator. Click any location on the artboard with the tool active, and a Google Web Map opens at that position — eliminating the manual copy-paste workflow previously required.
MAP Attribute Table Enhancements
All right-click context menu options previously available only in All Features Mode are now accessible in Selected Features Mode as well, including the ability to delete selected features directly from the attributes table. Text wrapping support has also been added and can be toggled per column, making it easier to work with attribute fields containing longer text values.
Multiple Image Import
The Multiple Data Import dialog now includes a dedicated button for importing multiple images in a single operation, simplifying the process of incorporating raster data into a project.
MAPublisher 12 is available now!
If you want to learn more about MAPublisher 12’s new features or have any questions, please check out the documentation in our Support Centre.
MAPublisher 12 is immediately available today. It is free to all current MAPublisher users with active maintenance subscriptions and available as an upgrade for non-maintenance users.
We hope that MAPublisher 12 continues to deliver the tools you need to bridge the gap between geospatial precision and creative design!
Colour plays a fundamental role in cartography, helping convey both quantitative and qualitative information, differentiating features, and guiding users through visual hierarchies. However, for individuals with colour blindness, interpreting maps can be challenging if they are not designed with accessibility in mind. By understanding how colour blindness interacts with cartography, we are able to leverage the tools available in MAPublisher and Adobe Illustrator to create more inclusive, colour blind-friendly maps.
Understanding Colour Blindness
Colour blindness, or colour vision deficiency, affects an estimated 8% of men and 0.5% of women globally. Most colour blind people are affected by congenital red-green colour blindness, which means they have decreased colour discrimination ability on the red-green axis. There are two main types of red-green colour blindness:
Protanopia: a lack of red cones, affecting the ability to perceive red light
Deuteranopia: a lack of green cones, affecting the ability to perceive green light
These types of colour blindness vary in severity, but both affect the user’s ability to distinguish between red and green hues. Fortunately, Adobe Illustrator offers soft colour proofing features that simulate these conditions, helping us design maps that work for everyone.
Using Colour Proofing in Adobe Illustrator
Adobe Illustrator’s “Proof setup” feature, also known as colour proofing, is a valuable tool for designing colour blind-friendly maps. This feature allows you to simulate how your maps will appear in different viewing conditions, including for people who are affected by red-green colour blindness. Proof setup has options for previewing your artwork in protanopia and deuteranopia modes.
Enabling colour proofing in Illustrator is very simple:
Open your map file in Adobe Illustrator.
Navigate to View > Proof Setup > Color Blindness.
Here you can select between protanopia-type and deuteranopia-type proofing.
Toggle the “Proof Colors” option below “Proof Setup” to switch the simulation on and off as required.
Simulating what colour vision-deficient users see enables you to adjust your maps to ensure they are understandable and effective for all users. These adjustments may take the form of simply changing the colour of particular objects or using other indicators such as labels or varying patterns, textures, and line types to differentiate between features.
Designing Accessible Maps
When designing maps for accessibility, consider these three colour attributes:
Hue, often used interchangeably with colour, refers to the actual colour wavelengths one perceives (problematic for colour blind individuals).
Value refers to how dark or light a colour is, with a lower value being closer to black and a higher value being closer to white.
Saturation refers to the intensity or purity of a colour, with a higher saturation being very intense and a lower saturation being duller, or closer to grey.
Since hue can be challenging for those with colour blindness, we can leverage value and saturation to help provide better differentiation. Here are a few colour-related tips to consider when creating a map for users with red-green colour blindness:
Use orange-red instead of pure red, as it’s easier to identify.
Opt for bluish-green over yellowish-green.
Keep in mind that grey may be confused with pale or emerald gree, and lighter shades of pink.
Avoid using the following combinations to differentiate features wherever possible:
red and green
yellow and bright green
light blue and pink
dark blue and violet
The image above makes it easy to envision why it is not advised to use red and green as differentiating colours on a map. However, if we take the darkest red and green of each side and use some of our tips above to adjust them, we can already see an improvement:
Even with the slight adjustments of adding orange to the red and blue to the green, a greater difference can be observed. These can be enhanced even more by changing the value or saturation of the colours as well.
ColorBrewer, created by Cynthia Brewer, is a great resource for selecting colour swatches pre-designed for colour blind users. Here, you can toggle the option to view only colour blind-safe palettes. All of the ColorBrewer swatches are available in MAPublisher through the Swatches panel by selecting Open Swatch Library > MAP Swatches > ColorBrewer.
The image above shows the 9-colour Red Blue ColorBrewer swatch, which is just one of its several options for symbolizing your data in a colour blind-friendly way.
Differentiation Beyond Colour
When colour isn’t enough, here are some other methods you can try to make a map more accessible:
Patterns and textures: Utilize different patterns or hatching to distinguish features, even when they are the same colour.
Labels and annotations: Clear, legible labels or annotations can ensure that users do not solely rely on colour to understand map features.
Alternative formats: Offer grayscale or high-contrast versions of your map where possible.
Practical Example
On the above map, the greens, browns, and yellows representing different land use types might be difficult for someone with red-green colour blindness to discern. We can adjust some of the greens to be more bluish to make them more differentiable from each other and the brown background of the map. I can also use different patterns to tell them apart if necessary. For example, adding a grainy pattern and making the pale yellow colour used here to depict sand a little more orangey helped it stand out more on the map when proofing for colour blindness.
With just a few small changes, the map becomes much easier to read and more accessible to people with colour blindness.
Colour blindness presents unique challenges in cartography. Since our maps often convey essential (and sometimes even vital) information, we must ensure they are clear and accessible to anyone who relies on them. By practicing mindful design and using tools like Proof Setup, these challenges can easily be mitigated to create a map that everyone can understand.
Check out Adobe’s help article on colour proofing for accessibility in Illustrator for more help.
Avenza was founded and headquartered in Toronto, and as such, we pride ourselves on being a Canadian company with a global reach. This year we have celebrated by creating a map highlighting the names and capital cities of each province and territory of Canada using MAPublisher.
Using the MAP Point Plotter Tool to Plot Canadian Capital Cities
This blog will detail how we quickly and easily plotted points to represent the capital cities of Canada and its provinces and territories using the MAP Point Plotter tool. Firstly, a MAP Point layer must be created and selected before opening the MAP Point Plotter tool. This is the only layer type that can be used with this tool, for obvious reasons.
There are several different ways in which addresses and coordinates can be entered into the MAP Point Plotter tool. This blog will highlight a few of the common techniques.
Using a Point’s Address
The simplest way to plot a point is by entering its address, following a specific-to-general granularity format as seen in the examples below. After opening the tool, the Address tab was selected and the following cities were plotted using MapQuest to locate these addresses:
Victoria: 1 Centennial Square, Victoria, BC V8W 1P6
Edmonton: Edmonton, AB T5J 0R2
Regina: 2476 Victoria Ave, Regina, SK
Winnipeg: 510 Main Street, Winnipeg
Using a Point’s Coordinates in Decimal Degrees
Another way to plot points is to use coordinates, by selecting the Coordinates tab. There are several different coordinate formats accepted by the MAP Point Plotter tool. We entered simple decimal degrees by selecting Decimal degrees as the format and using these coordinates:
Whitehorse: Long: -135.056839, Lat: 60.721188
Yellowknife: Long: -114.371788, Lat: 62.453972
Iqaluit: Long: -68.519722, Lat: 63.748611
Decimal degrees with a compass direction can be entered similarly to the previous step by using negative or positive numbers to indicate the hemisphere of the point or the compass direction can be indicated by using a letter. The follow cities were added to the map in this manner:
Toronto: 43.6532° N, 79.3832° W → Long: -79.3832, Lat: 43.6532
Québec: 46.8139° N, 71.2080° W → Long: -71.2080, Lat: 46.8139
St. John’s: 47.5615° N, 52.7126° W → Long: 52.7126W, Lat: 47.5615N
Using a Point’s Coordinates in Degrees Minutes Seconds
Coordinates that are formatted as Degrees Minutes Seconds, can be added using various delimiters, such as spaces, dashes, underscores, colons, or d (degree), single quote (minute), double quote (second). We entered the last 3 provincial capital cities using these formats:
Points can also be plotted from previously created MAP Locations (to learn about this tool, visit the MAP Locations page in our Support Centre). This is how we plotted a MAP Location for Ottawa on our map. In the MAP Point Plotter tool window, we selected the hamburger menu and selected Plot MAP Locations. Then we selected our MAP Location for Ottawa and set the Destination Layer to Existing… and added it to the Capitals MAP Point Layer. After clicking OK the point was added to our map!
Finally, we used other MAPublisher finishing tools to stylize and complete our map so it would be ready to post on this blog just in time for Canada Day!
To tell the complete story, we added insets of the major urban areas around the country, to make the additional detail there more readily accessible. Making the insets was easy using MAPublisher’s Copy Map Objects tool in Adobe Illustrator.
Maps are powerful story-telling tools that can provide additional context and a deeper understanding of an issue. In a highly visual way, they can summarize complex data in an engaging presentation. Maps can sometimes contain very large amounts of data, compressing it into an easy to read the overview. Maps can also drill down into the data to offer more depth, and sometimes a very different story than the overarching one.
One way to do that is by using insets. Insets on a map can be used to bring faraway places closer together, erasing expanses of water or land that aren’t relevant to the map. They are also a way to focus on map data that cannot be easily distinguished at a different scale. For example, after the most recent Federal Election in Canada, we made a map showing the election results in each of the ridings across the country.
If you’re not familiar with the Canadian system, the country is divided into geographic areas, called ridings, based at least in part on population density, so that each riding represents a certain number of voters. In each riding, a representative is elected to hold a seat in Parliament. In the 2019 election, there was a total of 338 seats. The government is formed by the political party that wins in the majority of ridings.
So the morning after election day the political map of Canada, at the federal level looked like this. We made map importing publicly available data on the riding boundaries and election results.
Clearly, our political leanings (at the federal level, at least) are influenced by our geography. Or are they? There is, in fact much more data on the map than can be seen at this scale.
Canada is the second-largest country in the world, by landmass, with a relatively small population of just under 38 Million people. Combine that with the fact that 80 percent of the population lives in urban areas. That means that in order to fairly represent the population with representatives in Parliament, urban areas will contain many, smaller electoral ridings while the rural ones will be much larger in area. Does the map at this scale then really tell us what’s really going on with politics in Canada? Can you tell which party was the victor with this view?
To tell the complete story, we added insets of the major urban areas around the country, to make the additional detail there more readily accessible. Making the insets was easy using MAPublisher’s Copy Map Objects tool in Adobe Illustrator.
First, create a new document, which will be used as a temporary working space. Using the Copy MAP Objects tool, copy the required data layers from the original document into the new one. Zoom in to an area of interest and draw a box around it. With the box selected, use the Crop to Shape tool to remove data outside of the area of interest. In the original document, create a new artboard where you want the inset to be located. Then use the Copy Map Objects tool once again to bring the cropped data back into the original document and scale it to the new inset artboard. Draw a box around the pasted bits to indicate the inset, and add labels. Return to the temporary document, undo the data crop and repeat the process for as many insets as you need. Easy!
With the insets added we get the full extent of the election picture, and a better sense of what the results actually were. The map together with the insets also highlights the impact of population density and regional population distribution on political representation. It’s valuable information for future campaigns, but also raises interesting questions about the fairness of the current electoral system. For now, we’ll leave election reform to the experts and stick to making maps. ^_^
We’re excited to announce that we’ve completed the release of Avenza Maps 3.5 for iOS and Android. This update contains new features and performance improvements as well as fixes for reported issues. Some highlights are mentioned below, for the full release notes see below.
Plus subscription. We’ve renamed the Unlock Map Imports subscription tier to Plus. The simply named Plus subscription tier will better align with more features that we’ll be introducing in the near future. This subscription still allows you to import as many of your own maps as you want—ideal for map and outdoor enthusiasts who enjoying sourcing and loading their own or third-party maps.
Active and inactive maps. In this release we’re introducing the ability to make imported maps (not including those downloaded from the Map Store) inactive. In previous releases, the standard version (without a paid subscription) allowed you to only import up to three of your own maps into the app and were limited from importing any more. However, now you’ll be able to import as many of your own maps as you’d like. The first three imported maps will be considered ‘active’ and available to use with all of the app’s functionality. Subsequent imported maps will be considered ‘inactive’. Inactive maps can still be opened and viewed, but without GPS location and map tools enabled. You will have the ability to delete active maps that you no longer use and then activate new ones to stay within the three active map limit. Maps downloaded from the Map Store (versus imported from an external source) are always location-enabled and are never limited. To import an unlimited number of your own maps with full location-enabled features and functionality, Plus and Pro subscriptions are available.
Sort and filter your maps. This release provides some handy sort and filter options on the My Maps screen. You’ll have the ability to sort by distance (how far away a map is from your current location), by name, by date, and by how much storage the map takes (measured in MB). In addition, you’ll now be able to filter maps to show only those from the Map Store, maps that you imported, folders and collections, active or inactive maps, just maps (no folders), or all items.
Map Store Login and My Account improvements. The user interface around logging and viewing your Avenza Maps account details has been vastly improved. You now have the ability to change your password, change your email, and view your download history. The Download History screen has new functionality as well. Previously you were only able to download one map at a time. Now you’ll be able to select multiple maps at a time and download in bulk. In addition, you’ll also be able to access map descriptions without having to go to the Map Store to look it up.
Layers now available on Avenza Maps for Android. Rejoice Android users, layers are finally here! Having the same functionality as the iOS version, map features (placemarks, lines, tracks, areas, photos, and schema) are now contained on layers. Map features can be managed here, including adding, deleting, and editing map feature information. In addition, the layers can be linked (and unlinked) to maps, so that map data can continue to be used even if a map is no longer on the device. Similarly, if that map is installed again, you’ll be able to link that layer to the map again. You’ll also be able to export layers data directly from the Layers screen without having to go into each map.
Better quality Map Store previews. All of the map listing previews in the Map Store have been updated and now have higher resolution of busy sections of the map to provide better detail of features, lines, labels, and colours.
Release Notes
User experience improvements, including sorting and filter options on the My Maps screen
Newly designed Map Store Login and My Account screens
Re-discover, select and re-download previously purchased Map Store maps using new options available on the Downloads History screen
Export Layers data directly from the Layers screen
Link a layer to any available maps or unlink from all maps from the Edit Layer screen
Better quality map previews in Map Store
More granular control of map features’ visibility
Manage, import or export your data independently of maps using the new Layers tab on Android
One of the great features of Avenza Maps is being able to navigate offline using your own maps or maps from the Map Store. By tapping the GPS icon twice (once to locate yourself and then again to enable the compass), the map will rotate and align with your compass. Your current location is represented by a blue dot and the little arrow points in the direction you are facing. This feature allows you to navigate easily, however it can be problematic when your devices’ compass isn’t calibrated. If you notice that your blue dot’s arrow is not pointing in the right direction, or isn’t functioning as you’d expect, try these steps to calibrate your device’s compass!
Android
Not calibrated (Android)
To calibrate your compass on Android, go to your Google Maps app. If your blue dot’s beam (the blue shading coming out of it) is pointing in a different direction to where you are facing or is very wide, your compass will need to be calibrated. To calibrate, tap the blue dot and select “calibrate blue dot compass”. From here, you will be instructed to move and tilt your device in a figure 8 pattern, shown in the following diagram.
Calibrate device (Android)
Your compass accuracy will improve as you continue to do this. When you are happy with your compass accuracy, tap Done. The beam from the blue dot on the display will now be narrower and point in the right direction. If at any point the accuracy lowers again, this process can be repeated. If this does not solve your issues, you can select “report blue dot issues” by pressing the blue dot again. For more information, click here.
Calibrated device (Android)
iOS
On Apple devices, use the Compass app to calibrate your compass. This app comes pre-installed on iPhone devices. If for any reason it has been deleted, it can be found in the App Store if you search for “Compass”.
Compass app on App Store (iOS)
When the calibration screen appears after you open the Compass app, you’ll need to perform a few easy steps to calibrate the compass. Follow the on screen instructions and tilt your phone until the ball moves all the way around the circle. If you are using an earlier iOS, you will be prompted to move your phone in a figure 8 motion.
Calibrate device (iOS)
Once this process has been completed, the default compass screen will appear – your compass is calibrated and ready to be used! If the default compass screen appears as soon as the app is opened, your compass is already calibrated. If you see a different page appear on screen, the Compass app also doubles as a leveler; swipe left you will return to the compass screen.
Avenza Maps is capable of importing and displaying georeferenced maps in several different formats. The app processes a map by rasterizing and tiling it on import. The speed and result of processing will vary depending on the type of file used and the size and dimensions. We’ll discuss the types of files allowed and the advantages of each.
Usually larger files take longer to process than smaller ones with some exceptions. An image may have a very high resolution but a small disk size due to image compression. It is recommended that images be less than 100 megapixels for upload to the app. A geospatial PDF file with many vector features may also take a long time to process. In this case, you should convert the file to an image to avoid having to rasterize vector data in the app.
Maps can be loaded into the app faster by processing them before import. Maps can also be preprocessed by uploading them to the Avenza Maps Store or using the Export to Avenza Maps tool in Geographic Imager or MAPublisher.
Comparison of Allowed File Types
GeoTIFF
A GeoTIFF is a TIFF file (Tagged Image File Format) with spatial information embedded in the file. This format is typically the preferred format for uploading directly to Avenza Maps without preprocessing. Since this is an image format, the app doesn’t need to rasterize the file on import meaning processing times will generally be faster compared to PDF’s, and it will maintain the native resolution.
It is also possible to import a normal TIFF file by zipping it with a TIFF World File (TFW) and either a WKT or PRJ file which contains projection information. It is best not to do this for the sake of simplicity. Usually, any GIS software that can produce a world file will also be able to save to GeoTIFF.
Geospatial PDF
A Geospatial PDF stores spatial data in either raster or vector format as well as associated attributes and layer information. Files should comply with the Adobe Acrobat PDF 1.7 specification which has been standard since 2006.
Avenza Maps rasterizes geospatial PDF files on import which discards layer and attribute information. PDF files typically take longer to process than image files. There is also a chance that the file may process incorrectly (e.g. discarding labels).
Despite this, there are some instances when it may be preferable to use a geospatial PDF file. For example, the map may already be in this format and isn’t worthwhile to convert to another format. Geospatial PDF files tend to be smaller than image files so they would be a good solution if device storage space or download speed is an issue. Also, occasionally converting from PDF to TIFF degrades the image quality and may make maps illegible.
To ensure a geospatial PDF file has a good balance between size and quality, open the file in Adobe Acrobat and go to Advanced > PDF Optimizer. This is especially helpful if the map contains large raster images.
JPEG
JPEG is an image format like TIFF but it does not have the ability to store spatial information. To load a JPEG into Avenza Maps, it must be zipped with a JPEG World File (JGW) and either WKT or PRJ file. JPEG files are compressed so this may be an option to consider if file size is a consideration, however, a better alternative would be to compress a GeoTIFF file.
Processing Maps with MAPublisher, Geographic Imager, and the Map Store
It is best to process maps before loading them into the app because desktop computers are more powerful than mobile devices. It also avoids having to process the file each time the map is loaded onto a device. Geographic Imager and MAPublisher each have a utility to export to an Avenza Maps package with the capability to upload directly to the Avenza Map Store if you have a vendor account.
Running these utilities produces a folder that contains a ZIP file with a thumbnail to show a preview of the map, a reference file, and a folder called tiles that contains a tiled version of the map in PNG format. This ZIP file can be imported into the app in the same way as other files.
MAPublisher and Geographic Imager provide an extensive library of predefined coordinate systems available for referencing or transforming mapping projects.
In the United States, the NGS (National Geodetic Survey), a department of NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) has established a system that divides the United States into 124 zones, each with its own custom projected coordinate system. This system is known as the State Plane Coordinate System. It is important to note that there are two sets of State Plane coordinate systems defined in the United States, one based on the North American Datum of 1927 and the other based on the North American Datum of 1983. In addition to NAD 83, the NAD83 HARN and NSRS2007 adjustments are available for use. All three versions of NAD83 are available in metres, feet or international feet.
State Plane Coorindate Systems projections
There are four projections for SPCS. The geometric direction of each state determines the projection utilized. For states that are longer in the east-west direction, the Lambert Conformal Conic is used. States which are longer in the north-south direction use the Transverse Mercator projection. The panhandle of Alaska, which has the sole distinction of lying at an angle, garners the use of the Oblique Mercator projection, while Guam uses a Polyconic projection.
These coordinates systems are all defined in the MAPublisher and Geographic Imager library, however the initial question “which one do I need to use for my map” cannot be answered by the software itself.
There are a number of ways to determine in which zone your American area of interest lies. One online resource, searchable by latitude and longitude coordinates, can be found on this NGS website.
In an effort to better assist mapmakers in their selection of the appropriate system, the Avenza support team has prepared a searchable interactive map using MAPublisher 8.2 MAP Web Author tool. View the SPCS map here.
A MAPublisher geospatial PDF of the same map is also available for download here.
Transform into State Plane Coorindate Systems using MAPublisher
When it comes time to transform your data into the appropriate State Plane Coordinate System zone, use the MAP View Editor Perform Coordinates System Transformation option. When you specify the destination coordinate system for the transformation, navigate to Coordinate Systems > Projected > North America > United States > US State Plane NAD 83 – on the right hand list, you’ll find all the state plane zones sorted by state name and zone name: select the right one!
Note: similarly you can select the NAD27 state plane systems from Coordinate Systems > Projected > North America > United States > US State Plane NAD 27 if appropriate.
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