Vector drawing programs for neat geology maps

[Glen]

Hey everyone,

I am working on my dissertation/ mapping project at the moment and i am about to start creating my neat copy geological map. Previously i have used powerpoint 2007 which basically did the job but had its limitations. ive heard that corel draw and adobe illustrator are pretty good but i wanted to get some feedback about any limitations the programs might have, so if you have any experience in either of the programs ive mentioned, or can recommend any other programs then i would appreciate it.

Thanks

[Xittenn]

Defining your project for the readers is going to be, for you, the best way to get a properly informed opinion!

 

Adobe Illustrator is a very powerful piece of software and is considered by many to be the superior product. It's hard to start assigning its features to your tasks however, because I do not know what you hope to accomplish. If you are unsure if it is vector drawing that you require or if you would prefer to avoid spending any money, I would first look at Inkscape and see if it does what you need it to.

 

If you require precise numerical control over your lines I would use AutoCAD's Map 3D. Granted this is an expensive alternative, but consider it an investment in your own future . . . . . Above all AutoCAD will give you precision and control. In terms of presentation viewports will make many of your tasks much more manageable.

 

I'm kind of curious what you mean by "Previously i have used powerpoint 2007 which basically did the job" because it's sort of unfathomable that you were generating maps for a degree program using Powerpoint alone???

[Glen]

Defining your project for the readers is going to be, for you, the best way to get a properly informed opinion!

 

Adobe Illustrator is a very powerful piece of software and is considered by many to be the superior product. It's hard to start assigning its features to your tasks however, because I do not know what you hope to accomplish. If you are unsure if it is vector drawing that you require or if you would prefer to avoid spending any money, I would first look at Inkscape and see if it does what you need it to.

 

If you require precise numerical control over your lines I would use AutoCAD's Map 3D. Granted this is an expensive alternative, but consider it an investment in your own future . . . . . Above all AutoCAD will give you precision and control. In terms of presentation viewports will make many of your tasks much more manageable.

 

I'm kind of curious what you mean by "Previously i have used powerpoint 2007 which basically did the job" because it's sort of unfathomable that you were generating maps for a degree program using Powerpoint alone???

 

 

Thanks for the reply,

During the summer I did a mapping project in which geological units were plotted with the use of GPS onto a topographic basemap. The units are delineated by boundaries which may be either observed (solid line) or inferred (dashed line), and the basemaps include information such as fold hinge orientation denoted by an annotated arrow (precisely rotated), foliation orientation denoted by an annotated line with a smaller line (tick) bisecting it (again rotation needs to be precise) and other features such as faults which displace the geological boundaries. Basically in order to create a neat copy geological map i need to scan the basemaps into a suitable program without scaling, then trace over the relevant information on the basemap. The geological units need to have a transparent fill colour in order to see topography on a clean basemap below the trace.

 

Powerpoint enabled me to do all of these funtions, however, in order to create a shape for fill colour i used the free form function which automatically finished the shape when i zoomed in or out. This was a major problem as in order to get a good enough quality of trace around the units i had to zoom in, but was then not able to scroll or zoom out to view the continuation of the shape due to the auto complete.... irritation Hours were lost but i managed to complete a reasonable copy for a project in my 2nd year, however, the finished product is not an acceptable standard for my dissertation needs. I hope that answers your question about the use of Powerpoint 2007.

 

This is a link to a picture showing the standard of finish i need to acheive http://www.geo.brown.edu/People/Grads/abt/Photos/Kygyzstan/Lenin'sFoldMap.jpg

 

I am in the process of trying inkscape so i will get back to you.

 

Thank you

[Klaynos]

Inkscape.

[Glen]

Inkscape.

 

Yeah ive been playing around with it and its pretty much exactly what i needed. The only thing that held me back from getting the free trial for corel draw was that it only lasted 30 days and i would rather not be put under the added pressure of completing it in that time. My friend who used corel draw said that he had trouble creating the symbols i outlined in my previous post as the pre-set arrows etc were not quite right. any ideas on how to create custom arrows etc?

 

Cheers

[Klaynos]

Yeah ive been playing around with it and its pretty much exactly what i needed. The only thing that held me back from getting the free trial for corel draw was that it only lasted 30 days and i would rather not be put under the added pressure of completing it in that time. My friend who used corel draw said that he had trouble creating the symbols i outlined in my previous post as the pre-set arrows etc were not quite right. any ideas on how to create custom arrows etc?

 

Cheers

 

Sorry about the slow reply, the inkscape arrows annoy me a bit, I normally draw a symmetric triangle, fill it and remove the boarder, leaving a nice pointed arrow head.

[Glen]

Sorry about the slow reply, the inkscape arrows annoy me a bit, I normally draw a symmetric triangle, fill it and remove the boarder, leaving a nice pointed arrow head.

 

No worries. Yeah i ended up making arrows by using overlapping rectangles and the 'snap to' function. The program literally does everything i could want, i'm going to recommend it to our lecturer as a much better substitute for Powerpoint 2007. Thanks again for your help!

[Xittenn]

Quantum GIS and Grass GIS look like they may have all the functionality that someone might need and are geared towards the generation of geographical/geological mapping. Something to look into I guess. I'm not interested enough to go through it myself.