Research And Application On Map Decoration Technique

The map is a media to transfer geographic information. GIS is used as a map production tool, however, it is important to make each map as informative as possible. Cartographic symbols, Legend, scale-bar and other visual elements are used to design map. The map user will accurately translate the geographic information from the map, if appropriate symbols and other visual elements are selected to design map. In this paper, the symbol design method and visual element management method are presented. The cartographer can design any kind of line style to decorate thematic map with symbol design tools. The symbols used by one cartographer can be saved and moved between different PC, then different cartographers may use the same symbols to design map and get the same map result. How to quickly design a map is discussed finally. Symbolizing the geographic information is the key problem in the mapping process, which is the most important factor to affect the efficiency of the mapping. In order to improve the mapping efficiency, the concept of template is cited in this paper to help the cartographer to design the map.