I would like a wall map roughly centred in southern Burma, west as far as western Nepal, north to just north of Lhasa, east to coastline of Viet Nam and south to Thai/Malay border. I have visited a map shop with the hopes of piecing different maps together if necessary, but because of the varying scales would not work. I am now considering trying to get the free one week trial of google earth pro with the hopes of being able to download what i need and having printed.

Any (reasonable) comments or suggestions most appreciated.

What size do you intend the printout to be?

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Maestro

What size do you intend the printout to be?

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Maestro

The width of the map would be 1.2-1.5 meters, depending on what sizes can be printed. (first time i have tried something like this)

The width of the map would be 1.2-1.5 meters, depending on what sizes can be printed. (first time i have tried something like this)

Would you like to pay a small fee for it?

Our company is installing and testing 3 large format printers. The can print over 3 meter width on canvas material.

But the map file you have to provide.

Helmut

I don’t know what resolution – dots per inch – you would need for a poster print of this kind but I doubt you can find an image with a reasonably high resolution on the internet. A high-resolution scan of a map from National Geographic map might work, perhaps even from an atlas.I don’t know what resolution – dots per inch – you would need for a poster print of this kind but I doubt you can find an image with a reasonably high resolution on the internet. A high-resolution scan of a map from National Geographic map might work, perhaps even from an atlas.

Prepress, how many dpi do think would be needed for this print? I guess it also depends at what distance people will generally look at it.

Lets say you want your poster 1.5 m wide, printed at 300 dpi, and you can get an original scanned at 3,000 dpi. If I calculated this correctly, the original would only have to be 15 cm wide, but I guess it would have to printed in very high resolution.

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Maestro

Like Maestro mentioned: National Geographic:

NG Maps Print Collection: http://maps.nationalgeographic.com/maps/pr...a-map-1933.html

You can chose your own map and order it.

Map Machine: http://maps.nationalgeographic.com/maps/ma...6250001&z=4

PS: didn't study enough to discover the available sizes.

LaoPo

The width of the map would be 1.2-1.5 meters, depending on what sizes can be printed. (first time i have tried something like this)

Would you like to pay a small fee for it?

Our company is installing and testing 3 large format printers. The can print over 3 meter width on canvas material.

But the map file you have to provide.

Helmut

Thank you. If I can fine the map I will contact you.

Like Maestro mentioned: National Geographic:

NG Maps Print Collection: http://maps.nationalgeographic.com/maps/pr...a-map-1933.html

You can chose your own map and order it.

Map Machine: http://maps.nationalgeographic.com/maps/ma...6250001&z=4

PS: didn't study enough to discover the available sizes.

LaoPo

Thank you for your help so far. I can not see how to "cut out" the portion of the map(s) that i am looking for on the Nat. Geo site. Seems like a simple enough task, but maybe too technically difficult for them to bother with. Will soon try google earth pro and see if can do.

Prepress, how many dpi do think would be needed for this print? I guess it also depends at what distance people will generally look at it.

Lets say you want your poster 1.5 m wide, printed at 300 dpi, and you can get an original scanned at 3,000 dpi. If I calculated this correctly, the original would only have to be 15 cm wide, but I guess it would have to printed in very high resolution.

The output file should have minimum 100 dpi. Higher is better. But higher res will give you larger file.

100 dpi will look good from up to 1 meter. But if it contains small type (below 12 point) they will be broken in pixel.

All scanner do automaticly calculate the scan resolution. Just enter scale and output resolution. But some scanner are limited to 1200 dpi. (for example) If 3000 dpi is needed - they will be interpolated.

Your example above is correct. The original (15 cm wide) has to be enlarged 1000%. But this will scale up all dirt spots, paper bends and ....means retouching

For scanning - select a map printed on good quality paper.

Or get a vector map. Vector graphics can be scaled in any size without loss of quality. (no need to scan)

Btw: I can also help you with scanning. We have high resolution scanner. Working for a prepress house....

prepress

Prepress, how many dpi do think would be needed for this print? I guess it also depends at what distance people will generally look at it.

Lets say you want your poster 1.5 m wide, printed at 300 dpi, and you can get an original scanned at 3,000 dpi. If I calculated this correctly, the original would only have to be 15 cm wide, but I guess it would have to printed in very high resolution.

The output file should have minimum 100 dpi. Higher is better. But higher res will give you larger file.

100 dpi will look good from up to 1 meter. But if it contains small type (below 12 point) they will be broken in pixel.

All scanner do automaticly calculate the scan resolution. Just enter scale and output resolution. But some scanner are limited to 1200 dpi. (for example) If 3000 dpi is needed - they will be interpolated.

Your example above is correct. The original (15 cm wide) has to be enlarged 1000%. But this will scale up all dirt spots, paper bends and ....means retouching

For scanning - select a map printed on good quality paper.

Or get a vector map. Vector graphics can be scaled in any size without loss of quality. (no need to scan)

Btw: I can also help you with scanning. We have high resolution scanner. Working for a prepress house....

prepress

Thanks for that. I had never thought of scanning a map as i don't know much about scanners. Trying to find a map to scan may not so easy in Phuket, but i have time. I looked at vector maps online, but they seem to only show country borders and i am looking for a map with major roads on it.

www.mapresources.com has a scalable map in the EPS format here:

http://www.mapresources.com/preview.asp?Image=ASIAXX-072893

It does not have much detail but it has major towns, roads and rivers. Not cheap, though, at $149.95. I did not mention it in may last post because I don’t know how this EPS works and I thought the names of towns are printed too large, but see if it might suit your purpose.

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Maestro

www.mapresources.com has a scalable map in the EPS format here:

http://www.mapresources.com/preview.asp?Image=ASIAXX-072893

It does not have much detail but it has major towns, roads and rivers. Not cheap, though, at $149.95. I did not mention it in may last post because I don't know how this EPS works and I thought the names of towns are printed too large, but see if it might suit your purpose.

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Maestro

Thank you. A quick look at that and print fonts for the city names are much too large. May be able to change that, but quite a risk to take. I am thinking that a high resolution scan of the Nat Geo Asia map will be the way to go for first try.

if you dont need a lot of details, like street-level coverage, why not try extracts from cloudmade.com?

its free, then you can crop whatever areas you need with quantum gis (www.qgis.org) desktop gis application (freeware, too)

then produce static image with whatever dpi you want (possible, since gis data is in vector format); then print it out ;-)

if you dont need a lot of details, like street-level coverage, why not try extracts from cloudmade.com?

its free, then you can crop whatever areas you need with quantum gis (www.qgis.org) desktop gis application (freeware, too)

then produce static image with whatever dpi you want (possible, since gis data is in vector format); then print it out ;-)

Thanks for that. i had a look at cloudmade, but is not the map i am looking for. Will try scanning the Nat Geo Asia map.