In this post, we'll cover how simple it is to import a geodatabase feature class into Adobe Illustrator using MAPublisher import tools enabled with the Spatial Database add-on.

Spatial databases are optimized data repositories for spatial data storage and management. Many GIS environments use spatial databases to easily access and manage GIS data in a central location.

MAP Views are designed to provide an easy method of accessing settings for specifying and transforming coordinate systems, for editing scale and data placement on the page and for exporting to GIS formats. The MAP Views panel allows for merging Adobe Illustrator layers, georeferencing existing Adobe Illustrator artwork, changing multiple layer names, and reprojecting data on the fly.

On June 10th and 11th, 2010, Red Geographics will organise a training course on the subject of digital cartography with Adobe Illustrator and Avenza MAPublisher. The goal of the course is to teach participants how Illustrator and MAPublisher can be used jointly in the production of high quality maps.

We often get asked about the resolution of spatial images and the affects of scaling them in Adobe Illustrator CS4.

When scaling an image in Adobe Illustrator (using the Scale tool or the MAPublisher Register Image function) it will not resample the image (the image still has the same number of pixels). So effectively scaling down an image increases the image PPI (pixels per inch). In terms of geographic image resolution (size of a pixel in world unit), it does not change. The image resolution is dependent on the source of collection.

When working with map documents and large datasets, you may experience a slight decrease in performance in Adobe Illustrator. You may also experience large AI files after saving. This may be due to the number of layers and amount of spatial data being imported by MAPublisher. One possible solution to increase system performance is to buy more RAM, generally 2GB for average users and 4GB or more for power users.

However, there are several great (and free) options to try before buying another stick of RAM. These methods may sound obvious, but are often overlooked.