Cynthia A. Brewer Pennsylvania State University Charlie Frye ESRIdownloads2.esri.com/.../Brewer_2005_ICA_Spain.pdf · 2010-01-26 · ICC2005 Spain ICC2005 Spain Brewer & Frye: GIS

ICC2005 Spain Brewer & Frye: GIS and Graphics Software for Advanced CartographyICC2005 Spain Brewer & Frye: GIS and Graphics Software for Advanced Cartography

Comparison of GIS and Graphics Software for Advanced Cartographic Symbolization and Labeling

Comparison of GIS and Graphics Software for Advanced Cartographic Symbolization and Labeling

Cynthia A. BrewerPennsylvania State University

Charlie FryeESRI

Cynthia A. BrewerPennsylvania State University

Charlie FryeESRI


And cartography students in Cindy’s advanced classes…

Applied Cartographic Design:Matthew Welshans (TI), Sean Ayers, Adrian Cox, William Gordon, James Griffin, Raya Guruswamy, Eric Harmon, Nate Hautala, Adam Heyler, Nathaniel Howard, MartinJarocki, Kevin Kulick, Christina Larwill, Robert Lavelle, Anthony Scardino, Robert Wheland

Cartography Seminar (presented at NACIS 2004):Tanuka Bhowmick, Steve Gardner, Adrienne Gruver, Tania del Mar López Marerro, Sohyun Park, Anthony Robinson, Steve Weaver


When do you bail?

Begin with starting project (.MXD and .MDB) and final result graphic (.PDF)

Completed same project in ESRI ArcGIS and Adobe Illustrator/Photoshop

Critiqued each environment and prepared “Bail” decision


Five GIS projects

Project 1: Multiple line overlays, including removal of lines along the coast.

Project 2: Labels along a coast, including creating and curving annotation.

Project 3: Making cartographic roads data, including advanced symbol-level drawing.

~Project 4: Advanced labels with Maplex and masking,

including contour line manipulation.Project 5: High-end shaded relief, including

multidirectional lighting and hypsometric tints.


Goals and bias

Challenge is real:Finish GIS map in AI format for print publication

Bias in challenge: Starting with GIS design and remaking in graphics software gives preference to GIS-possible representations.

Goals: Academics learn more about reference mapping tools.ESRI learns more about why cartographers leave ArcGIS.


Goals

Critique some details of functionality; general insights.

Not providing definite bail step (students don’t have enough experience).

Students can be good critics; accomplish advanced tasks but are still new to software. Learning and critiquing at same time is hard.

May help you articulate own frustrations and bail points.


Contrast student approaches

Adam: “…with a few additional symbol levels, I will have achieved hierarchy such as overpasses, bridges, and which roads go on top of other roads. This, in my opinion, is much easier than messing with casings and multiple paths and such in Illustrator. Another advantage of ArcMap, especially when joining, is that two types of road can be selected, such as the gray streets, and when merges, ALL the roads of that type are merged/joined correctly.”

…Need not read entire quote…


Surprised

Most of my students wanted to stay in GIS environment.

Environment you know first seems right despite its faults.

I started in Freehand/Illustrator but have started students in ArcMap in intro cartography class.


Projects 1, 2, and 3


Project 1: Multiple line overlays





Trace segmentsand add attribute;

Explode, select by location, and delete;

layer order

Tania


Tool behavior

Marty: [re AI] “…it was very annoying when I chose the tool I wanted to use and then figured out that it would not work because of a constraint which I had not seen before, such as attempting to cut when a compound path was not released. I would suggest right clicking a specific layer in order to slide out a menu with possible actions which can be performed for that layer in that specific location. For example if I right clicked one path a menu would slide out which let me choose whether I wanted to cut, add an anchor, remove an anchor, select it etc…


Processing

Nate: [in AI] “It took me quite a long time to select and delete all of the features of the states that were along the coastline, and I feel that this type of work should be an automated feature of the Illustrator software. To complete the same procedure in ArcMap would only take a few moments, but depending on the scale of your project, it could take days using Illustrator… [AIshould] simply implement a function that could sense which layers of one layer were covered by a different layer, and automatically select or delete those sections.”


Select by location


Gaps, intersections

Nate: “You should be able to select the POINT where two line segments meet, and edit the interaction directly. A more advanced menu would allow you to edit the interactions of every occurrence of a specific type of intersection. This would allow the user to easily edit line interactions on-the-fly. It would also allow for the ability to select multiple intersections on-the-fly and change their styles in one step, while still allowing for basic automated styling based on intersection type.”[detail editing]


Proj1

Sohyun: Problems in PDF export …

Change properties, Edit line feature


Finding solutions

Budding cartographers…Repeatedly closing gaps manually by shifting points to overlap. Repair unsightly ends at T or oblique intersection.

Students assume have to edit details themselves…learn to look for tool/symbol/data that repairs or avoids problem


Choosing problems

Lines style with dash plus halo compensates for data structure of multiple lines with shared boundaries – halos mask underlying lines.

Solution may be in removing data redundancy or changing export rather than duplicating symbolization effect.


Project 2: Labels along a coast


Project 2: Labels along a coast


Selection tool additions

Adam: [re AI] “Instead of having to use some finesse and select portions of labels, which is especially difficult when labels are positioned close to other labels, I propose yet another selection arrow tool. … A new arrow could be developed that allowed a user to select a certain feature such as a label, and would always select whatever feature(s) was contained underneath that label as well. Perhaps the arrow could look like the white arrow but with a black shadow, and be placed on the bar which already contains the 2 existing white arrows.”


Project 2:

Reposition Align Rotate Curve Anchor Leader


Curve tool, mirroring

Adam: “One option should allow for a smooth, broad curve to be made by simply having two vertices, one on each end of the label. Whenever one vertex is moved up or down, the opposing vertex would follow the exact same motion, resulting in a smooth upward or downward curve. This menu option could perhaps be labeled “smooth curve” [in addition to edit baseline sketch]


Curve tool, memory

Marty: “I would like the software to remember the last curve I made and make that the default for the new curve. This would have simplified the curvature we needed to do because each time I wanted to curve a label I would have to edit the baseline sketch again and again in order to slop the curve down first then up, which is the exact opposite of the default curve.”


Project 3:Making cartographic roads data

Save stylesDissolve SplitAdd level

attributeSymbol levelsJoin and

merge


Project 3:Making cartographic roads data


Project 3


Project 3: Splitting

Example data splitting


Tool differences

Bill: “One aspect of adjusting line work that was simple in ArcGIS was the joining of line segments. Select the lines you wish to join together, and click merge from a dropdown menu, it’s that simple.”

[very hard to join in Illustrator]


Symbol level drawing

Save stylesDissolve SplitAdd level attributeSymbol levelsJoin and merge


Symbol level drawing

Tania: “…it took me some time to reason and conceptualize what I was doing and how the program ‘thinks’…specifically the merge and join …because I think about the concepts in terms of geoprocessing, and not as a symbology task.”


Rethinking layers to see detail

Bill: “…[If] I only wanted to view roads on level one, I should be able to sort by that attribute and the lines that do not contain that attribute disappear momentarily. As it stands right now I’d have to move these different lines to a new layer. I’d rather keep the line work on the same layer, but still be able to only view certain levels in it. …a nested layers format.… Layer 1

Layer 2Layer 2.1Layer 2.2

Layer 3


Project 4: Advanced labels

Christina


Project 5: Shaded relief

Nate, Raya, Adrian


General barriers

Coarse display and tools

Cumbersome interface

Incomplete and difficult to edit export file


Image Quality

Raya: “A huge plus point to Adobe is that the [onscreen] resolution of the image is far better than the GIS. This is useful when the map needs to be cleaned up, especially where two line segments overlap. [When] zooming in the GIS, it would not be possible to notice overlapping lines or lines that extend beyond a boundary.”

[Need to repeatedly export to AI or PDF to inspect image quality was problem for students…GDI aliasing vs. AI custom display engine]


Image Quality

ArcMap AI


Display nuance

Marty: “…I found it difficult to work with a layer that was not visible because I wanted to have some kind of orientation [to] where it was in relation to the otherpaths I was working with. I would like to be able to see the layer outline like an “onion skin” [faint image] as several other graphical programs use…

“Considering that the masks [for annotation are]…hollow and have no border it is difficult to tell their location after moving them. An onion skin feature would work well in this situation [too]…” [see in context]


Coarse tools

Adam: “The program should make the highlighted line take up half the space of the original line, so that the original line can still be seen. Also, the ends of this new, narrower line should be flat, not rounded, to show the user exactly where the line segment ends. Additionally, the split tool was too cumbersome. The tool is circular and takes up space. Instead, the tool should be a thin line segment that will indicate the exact position of where the cut will be made. These “coarse” methods of editing can cause difficulties during the editing process, and lead to a sloppy map.”


Multiple clicks to function

Bill: “The process of un-placing a label on the map as follows (Note: This is within an editing session):1. Select the label.2. Right click on it.3. Select attributes.4. Click the attributes tab within the attributes window.5. Find the status property.6. Click on the word “placed” in the value column (Note: A dropdown list appears).7. Select “unplaced” from the drop down list.8. Close the attributes window.” …


Multiple clicks to function

Bill: (continued)“This approximately 8 step process is necessary for un-placing one label on the map. There should be functionality built into the right click menu that would allow for the label to be unplaced without having to go through those 8 steps. In the right click menu there is a long list of functions that may be performed on the label. Including an un-place function would work well from this menu.”


Multiple windows

Bill: “Modifying line work in ArcGIS is extremely cumbersome. It forces the user to adjust attributes in multiple windows in order to produce the desired result. Sometimes users are forced to go two or three windows deep in order to find the attribute they wish to change. Unfortunately with that many windows open users can no longer see the map they are adjusting, and cannot watch the map update itself with respect to the changes they made.”


Export text

Nate: [Arc to AI] “…curved text gets exported asuncurved for some reason… It shouldn’t be that hard to add this functionality, as other file types are able to do this… Another feature that could be helpful would be to allow for text styles such as callouts to be saved as a text style in Illustrator format so that it can be moved and edited all at once.”


Export barriers

Export format has nested masking and numerous compound paths that disable selection arrow variety for further editing in AI.

Dashes export as series of segments…unusable.

Lines made from multiple line layers export as separate lines.


Export barriers

Example of multiple overlayed and difficult to select lines in export.


Proceedings paper has course exercisesProceedings paper has course exercises

Questions for Cindy or Charlie?Questions for Cindy or Charlie?

Cuyumaca California grassland

Documents

Cynthia A. Brewer Pennsylvania State University Charlie Frye ESRIdownloads2.esri.com/.../Brewer_2005_ICA_Spain.pdf · 2010-01-26 · ICC2005 Spain ICC2005 Spain Brewer & Frye: GIS