Architosh Staff (info@architosh.com)

18 Aug 00

MacGIS News: MAPublisher 4 for Adobe Illustrator

Architosh was contacted recently by Avenza Software and its new MAPublisher 4.0. This product is a powerful solution for GIS/Mapping professionals, such as cartographers, urban planners, and surveyors.

According to its website: MAPublisher 4.0 is a suite of plug-ins for Adobe Illustrator 8.01/9.0 that bridges Geographic Information System (GIs) technology with high-end graphics software for high resolution printing and electronic publishing of maps. Cartographic quality map production is now faster, easier and better.

New in Version 4

• Automatic map index creation. MAPublisher 4.0 makes the tedious process of map index creation easy, with it's new index creation tools. After labeling your map simply create a grid and select Generate Index Labels (ie. A,B,C...1,2,3..). Then use the new Make Index Tool to automatically generate a text file counting each labeled attribute and its corresponding cell location. This text file can easily be imported into Illustrator or any desktop publishing program.

• Import ArcInfo export (e00) format. With MAPublisher 4.0 you now have direct access to one of the most popular GIs file formats, ArcInfo e00. Our new importer supports many of the most common projections used in e00 files. We've even included a special decompression utility program, as many of the e00 files come in compressed format.

• Import DXF format (r14) now with colours, fills & strokes. Autocad and Microstation users will enjoy our new DXF importer as it now supports R14 version files and colours, line weights, stoke patterns and text.

• Import multiple files at once (including mixed formats). MAPublisher 4.0's multi-file import capabilities reduces the time needed to create complex multi-layer maps. The new importer will examine all the selected files (even if they're different file types) and automatically size the total area to your page.

• Import GIs data to existing Illustrator layers. In previous version of MAPublisher you had to have multiple layers containing the same type information if the originating information was in separate files. The import to same layer function allows you to merge layers of similar attributes making your map easier to label and transform.

¥ Import ASCII point files. GPS data (typically in ASCII text format) can now be imported directly into MAPublisher without the need for processing by costly GIs/GPs file conversion packages.

• And many additional new features. For more information click here.

Other Macintosh Mapping Products

MAPublisher LT

MAPublisher 3.5

MAP Data USA

pdfPLUS

Additionally: Other MacGIS Products

MFworks 2.6 - Spatial Analysis Engine by ThinkSpace Inc. is another partner product with MAPublisher.