We are excited to announce the release of MAPublisher 12 for Adobe Illustrator, the latest update to our geospatial extension for Adobe Creative Cloud.
MAPublisher 12 is our most automation-focused release to date, introducing a powerful new Atlas Creation toolset alongside several enhancements to data management, geographic verification, and attribute workflows.
Here’s what you can expect with MAPublisher 12:
Atlas Creation Workflows
The headline feature of this release is a new suite of Atlas Creation tools, designed as modular, composable utilities rather than a locked-in wizard. While tools like Data Driven Pages or the QGIS Atlas Tool work well for standard layouts, they can feel limiting on the complex, bespoke projects many of our users tackle daily.
MAPublisher 12 replaces the one-size-fits-all approach with a flexible system that lets you adjust variables at any stage without restarting your workflow. All new utilities are accessible from a dedicated Utilities section on the artboard, organized into two panels:
- Layer Utilities — Spatial operations on map layers, including a new tool to convert Grids and Graticules output into area polygons that define the bounds of each atlas page.
- Document Utilities — Multi-document operations covering four stages of the atlas production pipeline: cropping data to individual page files, generating a unified place-name index across all pages, and batch exporting to Geospatial PDF or GeoTIFF/image formats.
The Export Documents to Image action also supports a reusable settings file, so you no longer need to re-enter export parameters each time. This settings file can additionally be referenced in the MAPublisher Automation dialog, which now supports image export alongside PDF.
Active Data Links
A new concept of active data links has been introduced. Active data links can now be updated directly from the MAP Views panel, reducing the steps required to refresh linked data sources.
GeoPackage Improvements
GeoPackage is now treated as a database format rather than a simple file format. This means you can query a GeoPackage for specific layers and data without importing the entire file. Spatial indexes can also be created at export time to accelerate subsequent queries.
MAP Validate Location Tool
A new Validate tool enables rapid geographic verification without leaving Illustrator. Click any location on the artboard with the tool active, and a Google Web Map opens at that position — eliminating the manual copy-paste workflow previously required.
MAP Attribute Table Enhancements
All right-click context menu options previously available only in All Features Mode are now accessible in Selected Features Mode as well, including the ability to delete selected features directly from the attributes table. Text wrapping support has also been added and can be toggled per column, making it easier to work with attribute fields containing longer text values.
Multiple Image Import
The Multiple Data Import dialog now includes a dedicated button for importing multiple images in a single operation, simplifying the process of incorporating raster data into a project.
MAPublisher 12 is available now!
If you want to learn more about MAPublisher 12’s new features or have any questions, please check out the documentation in our Support Centre.
MAPublisher 12 is immediately available today. It is free to all current MAPublisher users with active maintenance subscriptions and available as an upgrade for non-maintenance users.
We hope that MAPublisher 12 continues to deliver the tools you need to bridge the gap between geospatial precision and creative design!