Mapublisher generate line12/22/2023 ![]() The speed improvements stem from the fundamental differences between the vector drawing technologies used by Adobe Illustrator and GIS software. ![]() The speed advantages of Adobe Illustrator over ArcGIS are clearest when digitising 'non-regular' graphic features, such as coastlines, waterways, topographic contours, buildings and excavation trenches. But, to repeat, we were not using MAPublisher to compete directly with ArcGIS, but rather as a useful tool for getting complex, difficult to digitise, plans into ArcGIS. MAPublisher is widely used in cartography, but when compared to standard GIS or CAD software, its GIS functions are limited. It enables the users to import, edit and export GIS data, as well as several other useful cartographic functions. Essentially, MAPublisher is a 'plug-in', or software extension, for Adobe Illustrator and Macromedia Freehand. The key technology that transformed Adobe Illustrator into a digitisation environment is Avenza MAPublisher. Less well known is the role Adobe Illustrator can play in providing a low-cost, high-productivity, environment for 'head-up' digitisation. We are not partisan users of Adobe Illustrator - other popular ' vector graphics' applications, such as Macromedia Freehand for example, are just as capable. It will not come as news to most archaeologists that Adobe Illustrator is widely used for archaeological illustration. We chose this methodology because the digitisation process was quicker and easier than using ArcGIS in 'head-up' digitisation mode. Instead we used Adobe Illustrator and Avenza MAPublisher (a software 'plug-in' adding GIS functions to Adobe Illustrator) to redraw the plans and then convert them into GIS data formats for ArcGIS. With these limitations in mind, we decided not to digitise the Roman military site plans using standard GIS software and techniques. Even when all goes well, manually digitising maps and plans is time consuming and error prone. Similar considerations apply to 'head-up' digitisation. There are a number of considerations that need to be taken into account in order to produce useful results in 'head-down' digitisation mode: accuracy and precision of the digitising table size of the digitising table and operator competence. In 'head-up' digitisation, the map is scanned and imported into the GIS software where the operator redraws the map features using the tools provided by the software. In 'head-down' digitisation, the operator uses a hand-held digitiser device, or puck, to capture the locations of geographic features by converting their position on a map to XY Cartesian coordinates that are stored as computer files for processing and analysis by GIS software. It typically involves redrawing the original map detail, either on a digitising table (referred to as 'head-down' digitisation), or on a computer screen ( 'head-up' digitisation). The exercise of creating GIS data from printed maps or plans is a technically demanding task.
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