[Xastir] Making better looking maps

[Brad Douglas]

On Thu, 2007-08-09 at 13:20 -0400, Stephen - K1LNX wrote:
> I downloaded the Tiger 2006 data from
> ftp://aprs.tamu.edu/pub/TIGER_2006_SE/for Tennesse to start with. I
> got it to display just fine, but still leaves
> me with one question, how to make it look better? I know I can adjust the
> fonts, background color etc, but what I am really after is to have a color
> scheme ala Google maps with colored roads etc.

Which google maps?  Colored roads based on road type or colored based on
traffic?

> Easy? Hard? Impossible? Nuts?

Coloring and styling roads by type is possible with dbfawk, but you
won't get the clear, crisp outlines ala Google.  Using dbfawk can be a
real performance killer at times, so be careful.  Road coloring based on
traffic is beyond the scope of Xastir, IMO.

> I don't have a degree in GIS/Computer Science but I'm not afraid of either
> so go lightly on me :P

None really needed unless you're coding.

PS -
At this weekend's Linux Picnic[1], I'll be releasing some new maps to
the public.  I've created TOPOs with 500' contours and shaded relief
(and colored by elevation) pesudo-DEMs to go under the TOPOs to make
them highly visible.  The data is broken down by county and covers the
entire state of CA.  Data for NV is in production.

I'll cc: the group with the final URL.

[1] http://linuxpicnic.org


-- 
Brad Douglas <rez touchofmadness com>                    KB8UYR/6
Address: 37.493,-121.924 / WGS84    National Map Corps #TNMC-3785
GRASS GIS Project Steering