Street Mapping

[redpossum]

Derbyshire also has a mapping portal as does Telford & Wrekin Unitary Authority.

http://derbyshiremaps.derbyshire.gov.uk ... sf=&sv=&p=

[Wayward-O]

Cumbria mapping portal here:

http://www.gis1.cumbria.gov.uk/eggp/eggp.asp

[Wayward-O]

What areas are available at the highest resolution on Elgin? I've been expanding out from Canterbury, but after a short distance, the page goes white.

I've tried other towns and cities including the centre of London, but have not found anywhere else that has mapping at this resolution, even in Kent.

Here's a link to the edge of the Canterbury area, at a smaller scale than the original Canterbury link.

http://www.elgin.gov.uk/GetSvgMap.aspx? ... E%20M1%3D1

(Note, Elgin at this resolution tends to crash IE, so it is better to open it in another browser).

[martin]

The elgin front page shows the coverage, which is most of England SE of Derbyshire, but misses some of London.

Here is a square km of Chatham

http://www.elgin.gov.uk/GetSvgMap.aspx? ... E%20M1%3D1

Note that the BBOX coordinates must be consistent with the grid ref near the end of the URL (TQ76 in this case).

My svg2ocd program will generate the url from the grid references of the bottom left and top right corners. If you haven't got it I can give you a URL if you send me the grid reference.

[Silva Surfer]

I would like to use the 1:2,500 map of my village from the Elgin web-site to use as a base map for an informal urban event. Can anyone tell me how to extract the detail as a background map into Ocad? I am not an Ocad expert - having only previously used it to update maps when planning events using the planning tool, other than that I do not use Ocad regularly. Thanks.
To save multiple postings, if anyone can help, a pm would be fine / preferred, then I can pass on my e-mail address for any more instructions. Cheers.

[DavidJ]

To save multiple postings, if anyone can help, a pm would be fine / preferred, then I can pass on my e-mail address for any more instructions. Cheers.

I would find a non-technical guide useful as well so perhaps someone could post a guide here first. I wouldn't worry about multiple postings - people don't have to read them if they have no interest but they could provide additional valuable points. That's my view anyway. Thanks.

[martin]

I'm skipping work this morning because of the deep snow and the gridlocked roads.

The simplest way to get an Ocad template from Elgin is to start microsoft paint (mspaint) or any similar graphics program, then go to Elgin and use the shift printscreen key on the keyboard to copy the screen image and then paste it in to mspaint. The image can then be saved in a gif or bmp or jpg format that Ocad will accept as a template file. This method can also be used to obtain templates from other sources, eg Google maps. The disadvantage is you are limited to your screen size and resolution, and the dpi and scale values that Ocad asks for the template may be difficult to estimate. Note some browsers (eg firefox which I use) have zoom and unzoom (ctrl + and ctrl -) functions which can be useful.

At one time it was possible to get vector files from Elgin, and convert directly to Ocad symbols. This way is unfortunately no longer available. The best we can currently do from elgin is to save the image as a template file, and then trace the required information.

I gave a way in a different thread (OS maps to go free online) to get a larger template from Elgin. I repeat it below with a few additions.

Open streetmap.co.uk and moving the pointer to the centre of your required area. Note the location coordinates at the bottom of the page.

To simplify getting a large template map from elgin edit the url below.

http://80.168.56.101/mapguide2009/mapag ... scale=2500

This_URL_says......http://80.168.56.101/mapguide2009/mapagent/mapagent.fcgi?USERNAME=Administrator&PASSWORD=admin&mapdefinition=Library://Maps/BaseMap_OSMM_EandW.MapDefinition&operation=GETMAPIMAGE&format=PNG8&locale=en&version=1.0.0&setdisplaydpi=127&setdisplayheight=2000&setdisplaywidth=2000&setviewcenterx=389000&setviewcentery=386500&setviewscale=2500

This url will give a 2000 by 2000 pixel, or 1km by 1km area around Bramhall park.
To obtain a similar image for your area you must edit the URL. I would suggest copying the whole URL into notepad and editing it there, before copying it into your browser window.
Change setviewcenterx and setviewcentery to get your required centre location (these are the location values in metres at the bottom of a streetmap.co.uk map)
Increase setdisplayheight or setdisplaywidth to give a bigger area.
Change setdisplaydpi or setviewscale to alter the scale

When you have opened the url, use left mouse click to zoom/unzoom and right mouse click to copy or save the image as a png file. Use mspaint or similar to convert the png file to a gif or bmp or jpg format that Ocad accepts for templates.

[Red Adder]

If anyone has problems getting their templates in to the correct size in OCAD here is a method which seems to work fine for small parks and school grounds, and should work for larger maps as well.

Google has a function that allows you to measure the distance [to 0.01 m] and bearing [to 0.01 degrees]. What I do is identify three tiny points near the edges of the map that are clearly common in google and my template .bmp file [Google is generally not my favourite aerial photo - I prefer one from Freshlogic Studios]. Best to be at ground level and no more that 2x2 pixels. I then draw a red register cross in the template at each of the three points.

From Google I then measure (and write down) the angle and length between each point - ie the three sides of a triangle. On to OCAD and create a purple register cross, then use "numeric mode" to draw a very fine line using each successive angle and bearing to hopefully return to the first register cross. If the closure is less than .3m I'll accept the line and add purple register crosses at the two other corners of the triangle. The fine line can then be deleted and the register crosses used as the guide to position the template before starting to create the base map.

If I want more than one template I overlap them and use an existing pair of crosses as my baseline for a new triangle (yes I did nick this idea from OS - do I owe them a royalty ??)

It may seem a bit labourious but with practice it takes only about 10 minutes per triangle and does help give a correctly sized base map.

[Adventure Racer]

At one time it was possible to get vector files from Elgin, and convert directly to Ocad symbols. This way is unfortunately no longer available. The best we can currently do from elgin is to save the image as a template file, and then trace the required information.

Not quite. As I mentioned on the other thread, it is still possible to get vector files from Elgin for direct import to OCAD - you just have to convert from the raster image. First obtain the .png image as you suggest above using the direct link method (you can use "printscreen" I suppose, but you'll not get such a good quality image and it will make the next steps much harder). Download WinTopo freeware. Use WinTopo to convert the .png to a vector file - this may take a bit of fiddling to get best results, but I found when I tried that the Elgin files are clean enough if you select a large enough scale that one-touch conversion worked well. Then simply import the resulting vector file into OCAD and convert the resulting lines to OCAD symbols. There's quite a bit of work there, but it's a lot better than tracing over a template.

[gg]

Mapping is not all about just changing layers though - I always prefer to 'trace' as then you can add the correct level of detail, not just the default of what is given. Changing layers also means that sometimes symbols can be too close to each other to make the map illegible - there are guideline for this. A good example is a narrow alley between two buidlings, just changing the layers will probably mean you get the 2 buildings either side practically obscuring a valid route - whereas in fact if anything the width should be exaggerated for easy reading on the run.
Also if you transfer layers you end up with a huge amount of useless information in out of bounds areas which clutters the map and as to be deleted later (or left on if you don't care about making the map as good as possible) - eg. boundary lines in olive green.

[graeme]

I also prefer to trace. Another example on the latest Edinburgh map has a load of high walls with alleys between. At 1:5000 the uncrossible wall symbol is 2m wide, more than enough to completely block all the alleyways!

[Red Adder]

I prefer to trace - you can start to interpret and also become more intimate with the area - you tend to have several "are thats what that line really is" moments when the field survey starts. You also quickly realise when something has significantly changed from your base. In the last couple of years, judging from new buildings / play areas and car parks, quite a lot of money has been spent on the fabric of schools.

[Paul T]

This is a useful thread - at least I feel vindicated in doing alot of tracing in the past few months.

How about another aspect of urban mapping - differentiating pedestrian and traffic areas. ISSOM is clear that the events it applies to are largely in traffic free areas, and that pavement edges need only be mapped where they help navigation.
Several urban maps have included most or all pavements, and some other have used a darker brown infill for roads than for pedestrian areas. A good thing?

[Red Adder]

It may not be pure ISSOM but I would agree the use of light / dark brown infils to differentiate between roads & pavements. In many areas there is a clear difference. I bet the rules maesters will hate this though.

Whilst it isn't in accordance with standards the schools I have mapped like me to use this on their maps [S105 v S106]. As one teacher commented - I can also give the children a basic road safety lesson with this.

[Scott]

I don't mind having thin edge-of-paved-area lines used for pavements (although the only times I've ever found them useful is when crossing major roads with traffic islands etc). But I really dislike the use of different coloured shading for road and pavement - it clutters the map, and I find distracts from the more important details. But that's just my personal opinion, and I guess some must like it(?)