Introduction to Cartography
What started this session:
Too often Cartography Salon sessions are jammed! But we often find a few different
groups of people:
1. Cartographers who have entered maps into the salon and want to hear from the
judges why their map won/lost and how to improve it
2. Beginning mapmakers who are just starting out and want to hear the input so that
they pick up pointers their upcoming maps
3. Brand new cartographers looking to get into map making and trying to pick up any
information on how to draw good looking maps
Talking about this, the Survey and Cartography Section decided to open a forum for the
second and third groups to try and give beginning mapmakers a forum to learn and ask
questions….
Introduction to Cartography
What we hope to do today:
1. A quick rundown of the steps of mapmaking (AFTER the survey is done!)
2. A discussion of some of the tools available
3. Common features of a map
4. How maps are judged in the salon. (We add this not to make the point that all maps
should be judged in competition, but share those features that make maps easier to read
and understand
5. Look at some examples of maps here
6. Head out to the Map Salon and look at more examples
7. Make Cartographers in the S&C Section more accessible
Introduction to Cartography
Quick Rundown on Mapmaking steps
1. Clean Notes!
2. Enter notes in survey program to reduce data
3. Get lineplot
4. Import lineplot into drafting program
5. Scan in notes/ sketch
6. Draft details
7. Label and Final Prep
8. Print
Introduction to Cartography
Reduce the data
There are many way to reduce data
- Hand
- Graphically
But there really is no better way then via computer and one of the many free/low
cost programs available!
- Compass
- Walls
Introduction to Cartography
Compass:
- Excellent graphical presentation
- Well supported
- Easy to use
- Shareware ($25)
Introduction to Cartography
Walls:
- Excellent error detection
- SVG roundtripping
- Free !
Introduction to Cartography
For better or worse the day of hand drawn computer maps
is coming to a close
Introduction to Cartography
Computer Cartography is quickly replacing it
Introduction to Cartography
There are a LOT of reasons for this:
- Better and cheaper computers
- Easy and powerful Software
- Access to good color printers
- Easily accessible formats (JPEGs, PDF) to share
data and maps
Introduction to Cartography
And the maps themselves!!!:
- Better Lineweight control
- Color!
- Typesetting
And most of all
- Correctable
- Updateable
Introduction to Cartography
A quick overview of Computer Graphics
Raster
Graphics
Vector
Graphics
Raster Graphics
is a grouped
collection of
individual dots
(pixels)
In vector
graphics, shapes
and lines are
described by
formulas
When areas are picked
and moved, everything
goes. There is no
difference between
different parts
So individual
features can be
moved as a
whole
Introduction to Cartography
Some popular graphics programs :
Vector based software
Raster based software
- Freehand
- Macpaint
- Corel-Draw
- MS Paint
- Autocad
- Xara
Introduction to Cartography
Lets Talk about Map Components
We will use the Judging sheet as a guideline, not because all
maps can or will be judged, but because it is a good reference
for making good looking and usable maps.
The closer we can follow these recommendations the more
the map will stand out as a quality work
Introduction to Cartography
Cave Map Required Components:
1) Cave Name
Seems Obvious, but there are some rules!
- No Abbreviations
- Location information (usually County and State)
- Graphical hierarchy (should not be too big or small, but should stand out)
- Font sizes should emphasize Name
- Cave names are usually not underlined
Introduction to Cartography
Introduction to Cartography
Cave Map Required Components:
2) Entrance
We need to know where the entrance is – in larger caves this is harder then you
may expect, especially to those unfamiliar to the cave
- Clearly marked
- Stand out
- If the map is just a section of the cave, then the connection to the rest of
the
cave should be clearly marked
- Entrances should be marked with drip line symbol
Introduction to Cartography
Introduction to Cartography
Cave Map Required Components:
3) North Arrow
All maps need a North Arrow!
- Clearly marked as to Magnetic or true North.
- If Magnetic is used, a declination should be provided and dated
- If possible, both a true and Magnetic north arrow can be displayed
- Should be long enough to scale off of
- Not too ornate
- Best if it points in an ordinal direction of the paper the map is on (up,
down,
left or right)
Introduction to Cartography
Introduction to Cartography
Cave Map Required Components:
4) Scale
All maps need to have some kind of scale so that we know how large the cave is,
how big the passages, and so on…
- Should be a Bar scale of some type
- Scaled measurements such as 1”= 50’ should be avoided. As the maps are
reproduced these can lose their meaning
- Units should be included, 2 bars (Metric, English) can be shown if desired
- Not too ornate nor should it overpower
- Should be rational to the size of the map
Introduction to Cartography
Introduction to Cartography
Cave Map Required Components:
5) Vertical Control
Vertical Control is necessary to show the vertical extent of the cave – due to the 2dimentional nature of paper maps, ,this is the most difficult to visualize, and thus
MUST be added in some way to make the map useable
This seems obvious, but is one of the MOST forgotten component, and will often
disqualify maps in competition
There are two widely used methods:
Introduction to Cartography
Cave Map Required Components:
5) Vertical Control (Cont.)
Vertical Symbols
- Numerical symbols on the plan view denoting distance above or below a
certain spot (usually the entrance) called the Datum
- Datum MUST be labeled
- Units must be shared
- All vertical extent and changes should be shown, such as pits, ledges, ceiling
heights, water depth
- Symbols should be shared in Keys
- Can use place outside the map and use leader lines to show location of
control, or place within map
Introduction to Cartography
Introduction to Cartography
Cave Map Required Components:
5) Vertical Control (Cont.)
Profile
- Usually shows a profile view of the cave
- Should include a Vertical Bar with ‘easy’ to read divisions
- Units must be shared
- Type of profile should be shared (projected, idealized….)
Introduction to Cartography
Introduction to Cartography
Cave Map Required Components:
5) Vertical Control (Cont.)
Other types of vertical control are acceptable as long as they are clearly explained
and serve the purpose of determining the vertical run of the cave
Introduction to Cartography
Introduction to Cartography
Cave Map Required Components:
6) DATA!!
Several Pieces of data MUST be included to finish out the map:
- Date of the survey
- Cartographer
- Survey group or Project
- Class (type) Of survey
Additionally there are several other pieces of data that can be shared to help the
understanding of the map
- Length, depth
- Survey crew
- Historical notes
Introduction to Cartography
Introduction to Cartography
Cave Map Required (?) Components:
7) Symbol Information
Symbols used in the map should be explained.
Some groups use standard symbols and do not add a legend. This is fine as long as the
symbol set used is standard and shared (NSS, MSS ect)
However most cartographers add a legend (or key) to the map to explain what the
symbols used mean. This is a great way to add more visual impact to the map but does
come with some rules:
- Every symbol should be detailed
- Should be clear, easy to understand, and not crammed or cluttered
Introduction to Cartography
Introduction to Cartography
Cave Map Required (?) Components:
8) Cross Sections
Who doesn’t love cross sections?.
Cross sections should be used liberally to explain what the passage is doing.
However it can be a complex dilemma to get as much detail in without cluttering
the map.
Likewise, complex cross sections can add a lot to the map if done well.
Cross sections should:
- either be scaled the same as the plan, or clearly called out as different
- Should have tic lines showing where they are being drawn in the cave
- Tic Lines should not contact map or cross section
- Should show direction sketcher is facing when drawing and up direction
- Detail in cross section should match plan
- Avoid gutless cross sections, don’t miss the complex areas!
- Adding bedrock symbols can help cross sections stand out
- Can be drawn Separate from plan – but must be located with labels
Introduction to Cartography
Introduction to Cartography
We have talked quite a bit about the components that make up a good
map.
But anyone will tell you that a map is more then its components, it is the
quality of those components and how they are laid out!
Warning - quality is in the eye of the beholder, the following is
subjective and highly opinionated
Introduction to Cartography
Cave Map Quality:
1) Drafting Quality
Its All about the Map!
Without a quality representation of the details of the cave, everything else is icing
on a poop cake!
- Depends on the quality of the survey notes, You will become a better
surveyor after drawing your first few maps. Work with your surveyors to
maintain a level of detail
- Represent the cave as it really is, try to stay away from formalized
representations
- Take your time to add the details
- However, especially with computer aided drafting, it is easy to add to much
detail. Zoom out to presentation level and check that your detail is not too
dense. Remove some detail if necessary
Introduction to Cartography
Cave Map Quality:
1) Drafting Quality (cont)
- The amount of detail should be consistent trough-out the map
- Floor composition should be called out graphically (or with notation)
- Drafting quality should be consistent and good with no gaps, blobs,
smudges, or the computer equivalent
- Print quality should be good too! A badly printed good map, is still a bad
map
Introduction to Cartography
Detail too dense
Detail Cleaned up
Too little detail
Introduction to Cartography
Examples of Better Detail
Introduction to Cartography
Cave Map Quality:
2) Line Weight Hierarchy
There should be hierarchy used in line weights in the drafting of the details
- Heaviest weight for the walls
- Next lighter for geology/ geological details in cave
- Lightest for details
Introduction to Cartography
Cave Map Quality:
3) Component Hierarchy
Just like details in the Cave Drawing, other components also share a hierarchy
- most important things should be bolder
- Cave Name
- Location
- North Arrow/ scale
- Entrance
- Other cave information
Introduction to Cartography
Cave Map Quality:
4) Balance and Layout
All this talk of detail and hierarchy lead up to one thing – it the map useful, and is
it ‘pleasing’ to look at?
Good Maps blend detail and usefulness with a good balance and layout so that it
is easy to use as well as something ‘more’ then a collection of details
Balance and Layout is hard to talk about – Lets give some examples
Introduction to Cartography
Examples
Introduction to Cartography
- No Title Hierarchy
- Uneven Lettering
- Doesn’t fit on Paper very well – Crammed in
- No vertical Control
- Entrance same font as other names
- Cave is lost on page
Good
- Good title Hierarchy
- Vertical Control
- Too Much information thrown in between
profile and map
- Once again cave gets lost
Better
- Cave draws eye, and stands out
- But still a lot of white space
- Downward facing north arrow?
Introduction to Cartography
Even Better
- Map fills Page
- Cave stands out
- Vertical Profile
Introduction to Cartography
Ribbon Winner
- Color
- Striping