From Wikitravel

This is very, very heavily based on Image talk:Paris.svg, by Wikitravel's resident map-master Mark. Jpatokal 06:29, 1 Jan 2006 (EST)

Thanks a lot for this. I am trying out some stuff and it is surprisingly easy. --Ravikiran 00:10, 3 Jan 2006 (EST)

Please add in any feedback. I'd also like to develop a "palette" of standard symbols etc to set a standard and enable drag'n'drop easy map creation. Jpatokal 00:43, 3 Jan 2006 (EST)

On the basis of reading this article, I have been playing around with Map Making using InkScape and it is remarkably easy to get the hang of (though haven't had the patience to build a complete city map just yet). One problem though - I followed the link to the Blue Highway font but am unable to see where to download it for free from. Can someone who knows update the link to a more suitable site please?

Also, I am in the process of developing a template SVG, based on jpatokal's Singapore map, which groups the different types of graphic (e.g. street, label, buildings) into distinct layers so that a user can copy and paste the elements and not need to draw from scratch / worry about setting colors etc. Once I get the font issue sorted out (above) I will post this template on the Expedition page. --Stuart Edwards 19:52, 7 Jan 2006 (GMT+10).

I found a free one here [1]. --Ravikiran 04:18, 7 Jan 2006 (EST)

Regarding the template, please use Mark's Lausanne map as a base instead, he's much better at this stuff than I am. Jpatokal 05:10, 7 Jan 2006 (EST)

Contents 1 Rights to Google Earth 2 Metro/rapid transit lines 3 Altitude into map scale? 4 Isle Royale map 5 Help me export my new map 6 How to obtain satellite images

Rights to Google Earth

Mark, I don't understand your deletion -- Google hasn't copyrighted the planet, why do you think using their satellite data for mapmaking is not within our 'rights'? As long as the data is not visible in or attached to the image, I don't see what the issue could possible be. Jpatokal 22:15, 13 Feb 2006 (EST)

Sadly although Google has no copyright to the Earth the people who supply them with photographs and map data do have copyright to those images and that data. Taking a photo of the Earth is no different whatever in the eyes of the law from taking a photo of a building. The photo belongs to the photographer.

There's a longer explaination over at OpenStreetMap if you don't believe me.

No, I understand that the photographs are copyrighted, that's not the issue. Jpatokal 01:26, 14 Feb 2006 (EST)

Now that said, the data itself (ie. where the streets of a town are) is not subject to copyright, but there is and unfortunate "database" right in European law. Still I think it would be awfully difficult to prove that a given map was traced from a given aerial photo unless of course the map were to appear in a project where it's suggested that people use photos from a given source. So I think it's best we not do that.

The link above says that whether derived works (eg. a map) from aerial photography are allowed or not is still disputed. However, I don't think the EU's database rights can be stretched to include raw, unannotated satellite imagery, or otherwise I could argue that any digital picture is a "database" of pixels. Jpatokal 01:26, 14 Feb 2006 (EST)

I think you're underestimating how hard the map data companies are likely to fight. They make it very clear in their terms that they believe that they have the rigth to limit derivative works. Of course I'd welcome a favorable resolution, but I don't really want to put my energy and resources into the test case. You? -- Mark 02:01, 14 Feb 2006 (EST)

A further word of advice: aerial photos often introduce subtile distortions since they are rarely taken from an exact plum line position above the subject area. Therefore it's necessary to apply some skew to the photo before starting to trace streets in order to make it match a local map projection more closely. This skew if done with a little artistic license can pretty much totally break any possibility of proving a particular photo was traced. Not that I'm saying anybody should disrespect any photographer's rights of course. -- Mark 00:31, 14 Feb 2006 (EST)

Metro/rapid transit lines

I have been using a solid blue line, as thin a possible, for rapid transit lines (0000ffff) as it seems to stand out from all the other map colours used. For above ground stations I use the same colour, in a rectangle or whatever in roughly the shape and size of the station. For underground stations I use a small blue circle. Annotations are also blue, in very small italic text (Arial) to stand out, and make it obvious the annotation is attached to the station. I wonder if underground lines should be dashed, and surface level/above ground lines solid, or if it matters. I am throwing this out here to guage some opinion, and see if anyone can agree to standardize how to represent metro lines in our maps. For examples see the maps in Vancouver/City Center, Toronto/Downtown and Toronto/The Annex. - bulliver 00:51, 15 March 2006 (EST)

For Singapore, I've been using a thin dotted red line (for underground sections) and the station symbol copied directly from Mark's Paris map. I'm not entirely happy with it though, both are a bit too small. Jpatokal 01:20, 15 March 2006 (EST)

I really like the way both of your sets of maps look, including the rapid transit lines.

The Metro symbol on the Paris map is a caracature of the Métro logo, I would imagine it to be sort of Paris specific. I agree that it would be better for it to be a bit bigger. For Lausanne I used an uppercase M in Courier Bold, which is the logo of their Metro system.

As for the routes, I haven't done them yet for Paris, but I've been stuck on the 18th for about a year... I keep meaning to get back to it. For Lausanne I used red for M2 and blue for M1 which is what the city uses. -- Mark 03:08, 15 March 2006 (EST)

So can I draw from this then that we should _not_ standardise, and rather try to coordinate the colours with the official maps depending on the city? - bulliver 17:21, 17 March 2006 (EST)

No, I think we should standardize. I think transit maps (big lines, bright colors, simplified routings) and transit lines on street maps (station locations in detail, but connections just thinly dotted) should be kept distinct. Jpatokal 23:38, 17 March 2006 (EST)

The only problem is that transit lines in many cities are color coded, so if we don't use their colors it could be confusing for people trying to use the transit system, even if it results in prettier maps. I suppose use of the local color-coding is most important for the schematic transit maps than it is for street maps. -- Mark 02:20, 18 March 2006 (EST)

I guess I should have made clearer, in the above I was talking only about our city/district road maps. I full-on agree the subway/metro schematic maps should be colour coded as per the official lines. -- bulliver 03:19, 18 March 2006 (EST)

I think I do agree with you guys. After all one of the reasons that I haven't added metro traces to the Paris map is that I hadn't resolved this question in my own mind. I'm also thinking that it would be good to come up with a common metro symbol. I'm afraid that the Parisian "M" could be confusing where the metro is called something like "The subway" or "The El" or "U-Bahn". In SF for instance there are two systems, one of which is called "Metro" and the other of which is "Bart". -- Mark 03:31, 18 March 2006 (EST)

Altitude into map scale?

My turn to ask a question — how can I convert Google Maps' "eye altitude" into the scale of the map? Jpatokal 13:05, 4 April 2006 (EDT)

Are you talking about Google Earth? If so, it has a measuring tool (it's on the menu) that will tell you how far it is between two points. - Todd VerBeek 13:39, 4 April 2006 (EDT)

Isle Royale map

I started by capturing a satellite image of the island, and used Adobe Illustrator's Live Trace function to approximate the shoreline. (Inkscape has a trace feature too, but I've never used it.) I had to play around a bit with the settings to get something that got the shape right, and then simplified it to two colors. I ended up having to do a lot of smoothing and tweaking (such as reconnecting peninsulas to the mainland or separating inland lakes), so it might have been easier to trace it by hand (which is what I'm doing for my map of Sleeping Bear Dunes... which is also a simpler shoreline). As it is, most of the little details, such as the curvature of a small peninsula or inlet, were made up by Illustrator trying to interpret and simplify a pixelated satellite image. But I figure if some hiker really needs to know the geography, they'll get a professionally-made map.

From there it was mostly a matter of drawing the trails in (using a couple maps as reference and taking care not to try to be too detailed), adding symbols and labels, etc. I put each major kind of element (e.g. the land, the trails, campsites, geographic labels) on its own layer to make it easier to manage them. I did all the work in Illustrator, then exported to SVG (which flattens everythign to one layer). I used Photoshop to import the Illustrator file, then scale it, crop it, and export it to PNG. (GIMP could've done the same with the SVG file.) Hope this helps. - Todd VerBeek 11:22, 6 April 2006 (EDT)

Help me export my new map

I created it with Inkscape, but .png is apparently not one of the export options. It's all finished except for cropping and exporting. (can't figure out how to crop either) Took me all day to make this silly map and now I can't figure out what to do with it. Can someone please help me? Texugo 07:27, 8 August 2006 (EDT)

• Here's what I've got so far. [2] I need to trim the extra white space around the edges, as well as the extra grey box, then I need to export it to a different file format and re-upload it to wikitravel.

In my Inkscape it's just "File -> Export bitmap" and it'll automatically save as PNG. To crop, select a correctly-sized object and choose "Selection" in the export dialog. You sure you're not hunting for PNG under "Save as...", which only saves vector graphics? Jpatokal 08:25, 8 August 2006 (EDT)

• thanks a lot.. Yeah, it was something like that.

Great looking map, by the way! Jpatokal 08:34, 8 August 2006 (EDT)

How to obtain satellite images

Hi guys,

I have a very simple question. Reading this help page, I see:"The first step is to obtain satellite imagery of your chosen location".

Ok, very easy, I thought. I choose a location (done) and I want to obtain satellite imagery. But... can someone explain me how to do this??? Because I still do not understand how to do it!!! Is there any webpage where I can just take the satellite images?

I guess there isn't. So If images from sites like GoogleMaps are copyrighted, how can I do this? Do you expect people taking a space shuttle and take pictures from the space? ☺

I hope someone can explain me this a little bit. Thanks84.160.214.30 17:17, 4 October 2006 (EDT)