Editing a map

[markmedic]

I would like to edit a map of Alaska to have 7 regions. I was wondering if anyone had suggestions as to what would be the best way to get something done that allowed zooming and or editing.

http://www.sremsc.org/Images/Map%20of%20...egions.gif

The above is an example that needs updating.
Any help is appreciated as to direction on how to make this map. I looked at google mapmaker but it seems out of order.

[steve...]

Your example map was probably done in Adobe Illustrator.

If you have a copy of the original vector map, you could import a rough map of the revised boundaries and trace them.

If not, you could use this free vector map of Alaska, import a rough copy of the revised map boundaries and trace them.

I'm not sure what you mean by zooming. For online use? A vector file can be scaled at any size and still be razor sharp when printed.

This would be a fairly easy project if you know Illustrator.

[Mr Downtown]

Actually, I suspect the original map was created in ArcMap, and that was just exported as a GIF. I don't think someone used to working in CMYK, like most Illustrator users, would have chosen those colors. Another giveaway is the box around the legend.

Anyway, tell more about what kind of edits you need to make. Since the regions follow borough boundaries, it may be quite simple to start from scratch. I could probably just send you a new Illustrator file.

[markmedic]

The new map would be linked to the pages of Regional Councils but also be part of a brochure with a small pie piece pulled out showing the region. Magazine brochure style. It would be nice to zoom in and see the boundaries if a link to the map was done i.e. google maps but mostly just an improved map since a few of the boundaries are no longer correct.

[Mr Downtown]

OK, there are several things lumped together in that description.

The first thing is probably to use ArcGIS or QGIS to create the new regions. You can also start with a clip-art (Illustrator/PDF/SVG) map of Alaska boroughs and do it manually. The end result should probably be a vector file in Illustrator/PDF/SVG format for the brochure, and that file can then be rasterized into a GIF to be put on the website.

Next, you have the task of creating a usemap overlay, to make the regions clickable on a web page. That can be done pretty easily in Dreamweaver and other tools.

To make the web map zoomable is quite a task. First, zooming more than 50% probably means you need to add more detail, so you may actually need to create maps at three or four different scales. Right now there are two basic ways to do something like this (a slippy map UI). One is a Flash- or HTML5-based plugin like Zoomify. The other is using a reasonably complex workflow of OpenStreetMap data, styled in CartoCSS using TileMill, and displayed using Leaflet in a window on your web page.

Finally, for the brochure, you have the task of creating a detailed map of each region. Chances are that these, being at larger scale, need additional detail beyond what's visible on the statewide map.

Doing all this properly is not a half-hour's worth of "editing." I would probably price it as a six-hour job (a slippy map solution would be even more). PM me if you want further explanation of the steps by phone, or if you want professional assistance.