We are thrilled to announce that the 2024 Avenza Map Contest has officially wrapped up! This year, cartographers from around the world submitted their finest work, showcasing remarkable creativity and skilled cartographic design. Our entrants demonstrated how they harness the capabilities of Avenza software to create impactful and visually appealing cartographic products. With the judging, discussion, and review process now concluded, the Avenza team proudly congratulates this year’s prize winners!
In the coming months, stayed tuned for our Map Spotlight blog series, where we’ll highlight the winning entries and some honourable mentions of the 2024 Avenza Map Contest. Each article will dive deeper into how the winning maps were crafted, featuring insights from their creators, and an exploration of the tools and techniques behind their award-winning designs.
Grand Prize Winner
Heavens: Majesty of the Night Sky Matthew Chwastyk National Geographic
Connect with Matt on X (Twitter) @mapchwastyk. Additional contributors to the map are Patricia Healy, Heidi Schultz, Eve Conant, Caroline Braun, Scott Zillmer, and Sandi Owatverot-Nuzzo.
Runner-Up Prize Winner
South Shetland Islands and the Northern Antarctic Peninsula Tom Patterson US National Park Service (Retired)
Learn more about this map and check out Tom’s other maps on his website. You can also download it from the Avenza Map Store for free! connect with Tom on X (Twitter) @mtnmapper.
Second Runner-Up Prize Winner
The Roman Empire Craig Molyneux CartDeco
This map can be purchased as a 1600 x 1100 mm print on the CartDeco website.
With over 20 years of GIS experience, Marikka Williams is well-versed in spatial data and the mapping technologies used to visualize it. Last summer, she applied these skills while exploring Canoe Lake in Algonquin Provincial Park on a stand up paddle board (SUP), using the Avenza Maps app to track her offline adventure. Later, she imported her data into MAPublisher to create a custom memory map of her excursion. She shared her process at this year’s Avenza User Conference.
In her presentation, Marikka walked us through each step of her map-making process. She began by collecting points of interest during her journey, adding placemarks along her route using the Avenza Maps app. Afterward, she exported the data as a KML file, then imported it into MAPublisher for further enhancement. Marikka showcased various MAPublisher tools, such as the MAP View Editor, Stylesheet Themes, and the MAPublisher LabelPro add-on, which she used to bring her map to life. She further enriched her work with Geographic Imager, using recent Landsat imagery to add depth and accuracy to her map, verifying her vector data against real-world details. At the end of her presentation, Marikka shared her final cartographic product with us!
The Avenza User Conference is an opportunity to discover exciting new developments with Avenza’s GIS and cartographic solutions and to connect with peers and Avenza team members. Avenza users and staffers from around the globe meet virtually each May to learn what’s new with Avenza Maps, MAPublisher, Geographic Imager, and the Avenza Map Store, and see how they are being used to map our world.
The Avenza User Conference is an free annual event that grows each year with incredible speakers and participants. Get inspired by mapping and industry professionals by joining us for #AvenzaUC2025. Find more information here about next year’s conference taking place on May 8th, 2025.
In this Map Spotlight, we are showcasing an honourable mention of the 2021 Avenza Map Contest: Yedoma Permafrost Coverage by Sebastian Laboor, Jens Strauss, and Guido Grosse of the Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI). This map shows the extents of the world’s most ice-rich and climate-sensitive type of permafrost: Yedoma permafrost. This permafrost has been permanently frozen since the last Ice Age, when mammoths still roamed the Arctic tundra, and covers parts of Siberia, Alaska, and Yukon. The team at AWI worked with an international research team from various countries to determine the distribution of Yedoma permafrost, which resulted in this map—the first-ever Arctic-wide Yedoma map.
Creating this map was a tremendous journey, bringing together more than 25 researchers and their decades of permafrost expertise. It is an important step towards understanding how Yedoma permafrost and the massive organic content it has preserved since the last ice age may contribute to future greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere once the area begins to thaw. This map is importantly filling a critical research gap, being used as an important input dataset for new climate models that predict the trajectory of permafrost carbon and its future environmental impacts.
This map and the geospatial dataset are open access and freely available to the public.
Select the images below to see a detailed look at their map
Making the Map
To create the Yedoma permafrost dataset used for this map, Sebastian utilized Adobe Illustrator and MAPublisher as a manual vectorization and attribution tool. Scanned and georeferenced Russian Quaternary geology maps were vectorized using native Illustrator tools, such as the pen and pathfinder tools, and then the MAP Attributes panel was used to assign attributes to these features, and also edit them as necessary later.
The Import tool was essential in allowing them to bring in their supplementary geospatial data to build out the rest of the map. The MAP Views panel and the MAP View Editor were important tools for defining projections, scales, and positions of their map layers. The point data for field sites was added to the map using the MAP Point Plotter tool.
Sebastian used the MAP Vector Crop tool to crop many different layers at once to the map’s extent, allowing for a clean and organized workspace. He also used the MAP Selections and MAP Themes panels to create classes for the data.
The initial positioning of labels was conducted using the MAPublisher LabelPro add-on, with manual adjustments made as needed. Finally, Sebastian added a grid and graticule as well as a North Arrow to complete the finishing touches to the map.
Colour plays a fundamental role in cartography, helping convey both quantitative and qualitative information, differentiating features, and guiding users through visual hierarchies. However, for individuals with colour blindness, interpreting maps can be challenging if they are not designed with accessibility in mind. By understanding how colour blindness interacts with cartography, we are able to leverage the tools available in MAPublisher and Adobe Illustrator to create more inclusive, colour blind-friendly maps.
Understanding Colour Blindness
Colour blindness, or colour vision deficiency, affects an estimated 8% of men and 0.5% of women globally. Most colour blind people are affected by congenital red-green colour blindness, which means they have decreased colour discrimination ability on the red-green axis. There are two main types of red-green colour blindness:
Protanopia: a lack of red cones, affecting the ability to perceive red light
Deuteranopia: a lack of green cones, affecting the ability to perceive green light
These types of colour blindness vary in severity, but both affect the user’s ability to distinguish between red and green hues. Fortunately, Adobe Illustrator offers soft colour proofing features that simulate these conditions, helping us design maps that work for everyone.
Using Colour Proofing in Adobe Illustrator
Adobe Illustrator’s “Proof setup” feature, also known as colour proofing, is a valuable tool for designing colour blind-friendly maps. This feature allows you to simulate how your maps will appear in different viewing conditions, including for people who are affected by red-green colour blindness. Proof setup has options for previewing your artwork in protanopia and deuteranopia modes.
Enabling colour proofing in Illustrator is very simple:
Open your map file in Adobe Illustrator.
Navigate to View > Proof Setup > Color Blindness.
Here you can select between protanopia-type and deuteranopia-type proofing.
Toggle the “Proof Colors” option below “Proof Setup” to switch the simulation on and off as required.
Simulating what colour vision-deficient users see enables you to adjust your maps to ensure they are understandable and effective for all users. These adjustments may take the form of simply changing the colour of particular objects or using other indicators such as labels or varying patterns, textures, and line types to differentiate between features.
Designing Accessible Maps
When designing maps for accessibility, consider these three colour attributes:
Hue, often used interchangeably with colour, refers to the actual colour wavelengths one perceives (problematic for colour blind individuals).
Value refers to how dark or light a colour is, with a lower value being closer to black and a higher value being closer to white.
Saturation refers to the intensity or purity of a colour, with a higher saturation being very intense and a lower saturation being duller, or closer to grey.
Since hue can be challenging for those with colour blindness, we can leverage value and saturation to help provide better differentiation. Here are a few colour-related tips to consider when creating a map for users with red-green colour blindness:
Use orange-red instead of pure red, as it’s easier to identify.
Opt for bluish-green over yellowish-green.
Keep in mind that grey may be confused with pale or emerald gree, and lighter shades of pink.
Avoid using the following combinations to differentiate features wherever possible:
red and green
yellow and bright green
light blue and pink
dark blue and violet
The image above makes it easy to envision why it is not advised to use red and green as differentiating colours on a map. However, if we take the darkest red and green of each side and use some of our tips above to adjust them, we can already see an improvement:
Even with the slight adjustments of adding orange to the red and blue to the green, a greater difference can be observed. These can be enhanced even more by changing the value or saturation of the colours as well.
ColorBrewer, created by Cynthia Brewer, is a great resource for selecting colour swatches pre-designed for colour blind users. Here, you can toggle the option to view only colour blind-safe palettes. All of the ColorBrewer swatches are available in MAPublisher through the Swatches panel by selecting Open Swatch Library > MAP Swatches > ColorBrewer.
The image above shows the 9-colour Red Blue ColorBrewer swatch, which is just one of its several options for symbolizing your data in a colour blind-friendly way.
Differentiation Beyond Colour
When colour isn’t enough, here are some other methods you can try to make a map more accessible:
Patterns and textures: Utilize different patterns or hatching to distinguish features, even when they are the same colour.
Labels and annotations: Clear, legible labels or annotations can ensure that users do not solely rely on colour to understand map features.
Alternative formats: Offer grayscale or high-contrast versions of your map where possible.
Practical Example
On the above map, the greens, browns, and yellows representing different land use types might be difficult for someone with red-green colour blindness to discern. We can adjust some of the greens to be more bluish to make them more differentiable from each other and the brown background of the map. I can also use different patterns to tell them apart if necessary. For example, adding a grainy pattern and making the pale yellow colour used here to depict sand a little more orangey helped it stand out more on the map when proofing for colour blindness.
With just a few small changes, the map becomes much easier to read and more accessible to people with colour blindness.
Colour blindness presents unique challenges in cartography. Since our maps often convey essential (and sometimes even vital) information, we must ensure they are clear and accessible to anyone who relies on them. By practicing mindful design and using tools like Proof Setup, these challenges can easily be mitigated to create a map that everyone can understand.
Check out Adobe’s help article on colour proofing for accessibility in Illustrator for more help.
Tom Patterson continues to provide the Cartography community with valuable knowledge and data! This year at the Avenza User Conference 2024, Tom presented to us how he created the Blue Earth Bathymetry raster dataset with the help of Geographic Imager and Adobe Photoshop.
Blue Earth Bathymetry is an edited version of GEBCO (General Bathymetric Chart of the Oceans), a public domain dataset that combines ocean bottom and land elevation data of the entire world. Since GEBCO was derived from a mix of data sources, it contains noisy artifacts. Tom created Blue Earth as a cleaner alternative for making small-scale maps of the seafloor. Tom utilized an unorthodox editing procedure which is unique to Adobe Photoshop and Geographic Imager to remove artifacts and create smoother looking bathymetry. Blue Earth Bathymetry is available for free as a GeoTIFF DEM at 60-arc second resolution (21,600 x 10,800 pixels), as opposed to the original resolution of GEBCO which is 15-arc seconds. This dataset is great for small-scale mapping!
Watch the video of Tom’s full presentation at the Avenza UC 2024 and visit the Shaded Relief website to download and learn more about the Blue Earth Bathymetry dataset!
About Avenza UC
The Avenza User Conference is an opportunity to discover exciting new developments with Avenza’s GIS and cartographic solutions and to connect with peers and Avenza team members. Avenza users and staffers from around the globe meet virtually each May to learn what’s new with Avenza Maps, MAPublisher, Geographic Imager, and the Avenza Map Store, and see how they are being used to map our world.
The Avenza User Conference is an free annual event that grows each year with incredible speakers and participants. Get inspired by mapping and industry professionals by joining us for #AvenzaUC2025. Find more information here about next year’s conference taking place on May 8th, 2025.
On August 22, 2024, Avenza Systems was the primary sponsor at Map Industry Summit: Toronto. This event brought together leading experts, professionals, and public and private sector stakeholders to discuss the latest advancements, challenges, and opportunities in Canada’s unique map industry.
The all-day summit combined educational presentations and networking sessions to build knowledge and foster collaboration among attendees and IMIA member companies.
Thank you to everyone who attended this fantastic event!
For the September Map Spotlight, we are showcasing an honourable mention of the 2021 Avenza Map Contest by Enrico Casolari. This is one of seven maps created for Arcipelago Toscano National Park in Italy, with this map in particular focusing on Giglio Island. It illustrates forest roads and trekking paths that span the island, as well as topographic information to visualize its impressive terrain. Enrico used natural tones to create an eye-catching cartographic piece that serves as both a functional reference aid and a visually engaging artwork.
Select the images below to see a detailed look at Enrico’s map
Making the Map
Enrico employed both Geographic Imager and MAPublisher to create this map. He used Geographic Imager in Adobe Photoshop to create the shaded relief images for the land portion of the map. The Terrain Shader tool is a simple but effect method to create a shaded relief using a Digital Elevation Model (DEM) file. The Mosaic and GeoCrop tools were used to ensure the DEM only included the necessary area required for the map. The shaded relief image could then be imported into MAPublisher and used for the final map design.
Next, Enrico imported his vector data on top of the shaded relief image into MAPublisher. He used MAP Stylesheet Themes to visualize the vector data as desired, including roads, trails, and sea depth. The Label Features tool was used to automatically place labels at important locations on the map, with the option to modify them manually once placed. This tool serves as a great substitute for the LabelPro add-on if intensive labeling is not required.
Enrico then used the Create Knockouts tool to ensure that more important labels and features were not obscured or intersecting with contour lines. Finally, he used the North Arrow tool to easily add the finishing touches to his map, importing a custom symbol to use for his north arrow.
Learn more and enter the 2024 Avenza Map Contest here, and check out our other Map Spotlight blogs here!
As an avid disc golfer, Richard Rasch has been mapping disc golf courses since 2000, and with the help of MAPublisher since 2001. Richard uses LIDAR elevation in the creation of these large scale maps because of its high level of detail. Its for this reason that LIDAR data is considered revolutionary for many aspects of cartography.
In his presentation, Richard demonstrates how he incorporates LIDAR data into his workflow of making disc golf course maps and tee signs. He shows us how he uses QGIS with MAPublisher to create layers to achieve the correct view for multiple small-footprint course maps. Creating these maps often involves visiting the disc golf courses in person and collecting data for the locations of each tee and hole, as well as the distance and direction/path of each fairway. These types of maps are not always oriented with north at the top so adding base layers like hillshade involves a few extra steps.
The Avenza User Conference is an opportunity to discover exciting new developments with Avenza’s GIS and cartographic solutions and to connect with peers and Avenza team members. Avenza users and staffers from around the globe meet virtually each May to learn what’s new with Avenza Maps, MAPublisher, Geographic Imager, and the Avenza Map Store, and see how they are being used to map our world.
The Avenza User Conference is an free annual event that grows each year with incredible speakers and participants. Get inspired by mapping and industry professionals by joining us for #AvenzaUC2025. Find more information here about next year’s conference taking place on May 8th, 2025.
For our monthly Map Spotlight of July, we are displaying another superb honourable mention of the 2021 Avenza Map Contest: Russell Fjord Wilderness by Aaron Taveras of Cartografix. This outdoor recreation map was created to help visitors navigate the Russell Fjord Wilderness area and find the few trails that exist around the Yakutat region of Alaska. The map consists of two pages which illustrate the beautiful glaciers and rocky moraines, both of which make the area a popular destination for backcountry travel. Aaron combined essential topographic detail with recreational points of interest which resulted in a visually stunning yet useful cartographic product.
A fun fact: this map was selected to be used in the main software graphics for MAPublisher 11. It is available for purchase as a bundle digitally on the Avenza Maps Store.
Select the images below to see a detailed look at Aaron’s map
Making the Map
Aaron used both Geographic Imager and MAPublisher in the creation of this map. Geographic Imager was used in Adobe Photoshop to build the shaded relief images for the background of the map. The Terrain Shader makes it quick and easy to create a shaded relief by simply inputting a Digital Elevation Model (DEM). After this, the shaded relief image could be imported into MAPublisher and used as the background for the map.
Aaron imported his vector data and his shaded relief image into MAPublisher. MAP Stylesheet Themes were used to stylize the vector data such as the glaciers, land cover and water features. The Create Halo tool was used to create the thick and slightly transparent borders of the various parks and preserves in the region.
One of the standout features of Aaron’s map is the contour lines illustrating the terrain of the Russell Fjord Wilderness. The lines can be smoothed out using the Simplify Art tool to make them more visually appealing. The MAP Contour Tagger tool could then be used to manually create elevation labels for the contour lines, which allowed Aaron to select their exact placement in a visually appealing and uncrowded manner. Another important aspect of contour lines is that the text labels are readable, since they are usually obscured by the contour line itself. The Create Knockouts tool is perfect for ensuring that any text or features obscured by other features can be visible. Create Knockouts was used to create a gap in the contour lines where the contour labels (and other labels such as glacier names) exist.
The Grids & Graticules tool was essential in Aaron’s addition of such features to the map, with a UTM grid of 3000 meters being visible across the entirety of the map. Finally, Aaron used the Scale Bar and North Arrow features to easily ensure his finishing touches were placed correctly. Check out his north arrow that shows both true north and magnetic north and the difference between the two!
Learn more and enter the 2024 Avenza Map Contest here, and check out our other Map Spotlight blogs here!
Many cartographers have faced this dilemma: your map needs an extra bit of vector information, such as a missing road, but adding it would involve finding, importing, and sifting through huge datasets. Tom Patterson joined us at Avenza UC 2023 to present an easier solution to this problem with the help of QGIS. Tom showed us a simple way to add satellite images and/or raster reference maps, available as XYZ tiles, to our documents in MAPublisher. The imported images will register with your map regardless of which projection it uses. You can then use these images to manually digitize the missing data on your map in just a few minutes. With a little back and forth between MAPublisher and QGIS, from where the XYZ tiles are exported, you can fill in the gaps in your cartographic data in no time!
Tom demonstrates in his presentation how he would use satellite data from Google or Bing to complete a portion of the coastline of southwestern Tasmania. This method is also how he makes updates to the Natural Earth datasets he maintains on his website.
The Avenza User Conference is an opportunity to discover exciting new developments with Avenza’s GIS and cartographic solutions and to connect with peers and Avenza team members. Avenza users and staffers from around the globe meet virtually each May to learn what’s new with Avenza Maps, MAPublisher, Geographic Imager, and the Avenza Map Store, and see how they are being used to map our world.
The Avenza User Conference is an free annual event that grows each year with incredible speakers and participants. Get inspired by mapping and industry professionals by joining us for #AvenzaUC2025. Find more information here about next year’s conference taking place on May 8th, 2025.
