{"id":3497,"date":"2021-11-11T09:33:54","date_gmt":"2021-11-10T20:33:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.lincoln.ac.nz\/gis\/?p=3497"},"modified":"2021-11-11T09:33:54","modified_gmt":"2021-11-10T20:33:54","slug":"using-maps-and-map-data-in-adobe-photoshop-and-illustrator","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.lincoln.ac.nz\/gis\/using-maps-and-map-data-in-adobe-photoshop-and-illustrator\/","title":{"rendered":"Using maps and map data in Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator"},"content":{"rendered":"

In this post we\u2019ll look at how you can bring basemaps and map data into Photoshop and Illustrator and manipulate the data presentation to your heart\u2019s content.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

An intro to Photoshop and Illustrator<\/span><\/h4>\n

Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator are the industry standard tools in the graphic design world. Adobe is to graphic design what Esri is for GIS \u2013 and both companies have complete dominance over their markets.<\/span><\/p>\n

Photoshop is a tool that is often used with raster data (that sounds familiar!), particularly photos \u2013 photos are, after all, made of lots of pixels. Illustrator tends to be used to work with vector data (another familiar concept!).<\/span><\/p>\n

Great, we have raster and vector data! However, the words raster and vector have a slightly different take here. Raster data is still made of grid cells, and vector data of points, lines and polygons \u2013 so that\u2019s good! But raster often means pixel (or point) based data, while vector means scalable data. You can scale vector data up or down as much as you want, and it will still look sharp \u2013 a vector map of New Zealand will look as good printed on A4 as on a billboard. Raster data is made of pixels and has an intrinsic physical size to it (resolution). If you try to print a raster document that was made for A4 on a billboard you\u2019ll get an image that looks very blocky, with very large pixels.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/span><\/p>\n

An example of vector versus raster images. Vector lines always look sharp, no matter how much you zoom in. Raster date will start to look pixelated if you zoom past its original resolution.<\/span><\/p>\n

(As an aside, if you\u2019re wondering what\u2019s the right [or minimum] resolution you should use for printing, the answer is 300dpi \u2013 dpi standing for Dots Per Inch, i.e. the number of printed dots in one square inch of an image printed by a printer).<\/span><\/p>\n

Why do it?<\/span><\/h4>\n

So, why bother bringing basemaps and map data into Photoshop or Illustrator? I can think of at least three reasons:<\/span><\/p>\n