Brig. K. G. Behi, Retd.
Ex-Officer of Survey of India
Secretary
All India cadastral Survey Committee
and associated with “Appu Committee”
Government of India.
Sketching the Picture.
It were the more techy, computer oriented people that brought gradually spatial information to the computer, organized in database so it can be used for analyzing for different applications and goals. A splendid job done. And still evolving further.
The cartographer has been involved in making maps that not just look good but are easy to read. It has very much been a craft. And making well readable maps is still an important skill to have for a cartographer. But he is no longer doing it using pen, engraving knife, overlay film,… today he must start from the digital data that sits in the databases.
The graphic computer tools of today are commonly available. Often they are referred to as DESKTOP graphic applications. They were developed for the desktop user, but gradually became more and more graphically powerful and so did the desktop computers. They have good general graphic functionality but lack any cartographic functions. The cartographer of today has to become more and more a computer versed creature and moving closer to the heart of it: the spatial information database.
GIS experts have all that information sitting in their database. They can manipulate it in any way but at the end of the day the results need to be presented, in small or big quantities: maps and reports. The GIS solution providers have expanded their software also to be able to make generate such presentations out of the digital data. The GIS expert is more and more becoming also a cartographer.
But why is it so difficult to make a map out of digital data? Why is it that it takes so long? Why is it that always that proof on paper is alright but the high volume printed map is not the same? Why is that it takes so long before my printer finally starts to print? Why is it that it will simply refuse to print?
Graphic Formats.
Raster versus Vector. In the spatial information world everybody likes vector. And indeed, also from a graphical point of view it offers great advantages over Raster, but before it can be output it needs a so-called PDL.
The most commonly used PDL today is PostScript. And this PDL is the cause of much of the anger and inconvenience sketched above, especially when it comes to big size maps or high volumes.
Conclusion
What then are the requirements for a graphic format for map output and production and does it exist?
