Avenza Releases Geographic Imager 6.7 for Adobe Photoshop

September 27, 2023

Toronto, ON, September 27, 2023 – Avenza Systems Inc., producers of the Avenza Maps^® app for mobile devices and geospatial extensions for Adobe Creative Cloud^®, including MAPublisher^® for Adobe Illustrator^®, is pleased to announce the release of Geographic Imager^® version 6.7 for Adobe Photoshop^®. This version offers full compatibility with Adobe Photoshop 2024 (version 25), and also includes some performance improvements and bug fixes.

Geographic Imager for Adobe Photoshop delivers an all-encompassing solution to import, edit, and export geospatial images such as aerial and satellite imagery. Work with digital elevation models, GeoTIFFs, and other popular GIS image formats, using Adobe Photoshop features such as transparencies, filters, cropping, and image adjustments, while maintaining georeferencing and support for hundreds of coordinate systems and projections.

Users require a valid Adobe Creative Cloud subscription and a compatible operating system to utilize the improvements and enhancements offered in Geographic Imager v6.7. For questions and information on how compatibility requirements may affect your organization, please contact our Support Centre.

Geographic Imager v6.7 is immediately available and is free of charge to all current Geographic Imager Maintenance Program members and starts at US$379 for non-maintenance upgrades. New fixed licenses start at US$809. Geographic Imager Basic Edition licenses start at US$119. Academic, floating, and volume license pricing is also available. Visit www.avenza.com/geographic-imager for more information.

More about Avenza Systems Inc.

Avenza Systems Inc. is an award-winning, privately held corporation that provides cartographers and GIS professionals with powerful software tools to make better maps. Avenza also offers the mobile Avenza Maps app to sell, purchase, distribute, and use maps on iOS and Android devices.
For further information contact: +1 416-487-5116 – info@avenza.com – www.avenza.com

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Map Spotlight: Serengeti in Motion by Riley Champine

In the Map Spotlight this time, we are highlighting a submission from the 2021 Avenza Map Contest. Serengeti in Motion by Riley Champine was a supplement to the December 2021 issue of National Geographic magazine, which featured several stories about the Serengeti and its wildlife. The map depicts the annual great migration of wildebeests, one of Earth’s last remaining large-mammal migrations. It also depicts the natural features of the landscape as well as the boundaries of several protected areas in the Serengeti region.

Each year over one million wildebeest (and other mammals such as gazelles and zebras) participate in a circular migration which starts in the southern Serengeti in Tanzania, loops through Serengeti National Park, and advances north toward the Masai Mara National Reserve in Kenya. Seasonal rains drive migration patterns as the wildebeest search for more grass to graze on. On this map, the migration has been illustrated using 340,000 points collected by an ongoing 20+ year biological study that uses GPS collars worn by wildebeest to track their location. The map also details the path of a single female wildebeest as she crossed multiple habitats, several rivers, and an international boundary (twice!) over the course of one year.

Select the images below to see a detailed look at Zain’s map

Making the Map

To create the terrain of the map, Riley used Geographic Imager to reproject and then mosaic aerial imagery of the Serengeti region. This terrain imagery could then be saved and imported into MAPublisher to constitute the background for the map. Some of the data was prepared in other programs such as Microsoft Excel, QGIS and Natural Scene Designer, and then easily imported into MAPublisher.

Riley used the MAP Selections tool to select location points by their date attribute, and group them into three main categories: rainy season (January to April), dry season (July to October), and migration periods (May to June and November to December). He also employed the use of MAP Stylesheet Themes to symbolize these points as well as other data on the map.

The MAP Point Plotter came in handy for Riley while creating the path travelled by the single female wildebeest on the map. The Simplify Art tool was also helpful in decreasing the detail in some line and area features, which helps in software performance when dealing with a large amount of data in one document.

Riley added the finishing touches to his map using his Stylesheet Themes to create legends as well as using the LabelPro add-on to easily place labels by attribute.

Learn more about the Avenza Map Contest and submit your entry here, and check out our other Map Spotlight blogs here!

Announcing the Winner of the 2023 Avenza Student Map Competition

We’re excited to announce that the 2023 Avenza Student Map Contest has now concluded. Submissions for the contest were accepted from December 1st, 2022 to April 30th, 2023. Over the last month we have selected the winner. As such, congratulations are in order for the grand prize winner!

Grand Prize Winner

The Impact that Created the Nickel City
Justin Jeff
Fleming College

From the creator: “My map displays the terrain and geology around the Sudbury Basin that was created by a meteorite impact. Furthermore, it shows the active mines around the Sudbury Basin using a proportional dot technique based on the mines production. Also it shows a timeline of the mining history in the Sudbury area. It will be used to gain insight and understand the significance of the Sudbury Basin.”

Justin used the MAPublisher import tools to import prepared data from other sources for the terrain and mine locations. The MAP Themes tool was used to create proportional dot symbols for the active mines and the MAP LabelPro add-on was used to label and style the active mines. Finally, Justin used the Layout tools to add and style the scale bar.

Congratulations again to Justin! Stayed tuned for the open version of the Avenza Map Contest starting soon…

Avenza Releases Geographic Imager 6.6 for Adobe Photoshop

December 12, 2022

Toronto, ON, December 12, 2022 – Avenza Systems Inc., producers of the Avenza Maps^® app for mobile devices and geospatial extensions for Adobe Creative Cloud^®, including MAPublisher^® for Adobe Illustrator^®, is pleased to announce the release of Geographic Imager^® version 6.6 for Adobe Photoshop^®.

This version comes with official support for all Apple Silicon processors as well as full compatibility with Adobe Photoshop 2023 (version 24) and macOS Ventura (version 13). Geographic Imager v6.6 also introduces a brand-new welcome screen design with increased discoverability for users and includes additional performance enhancements and bug fixes.

New features of Geographic Imager v6.6 for Adobe Photoshop include:

Apple Silicon processor support: Geographic Imager is now officially compatible with all Apple Silicon processors
Adobe Creative Cloud 2023 compatibility: Geographic Imager now supports Adobe Photoshop 2023 (version 24.0) on both Mac and Windows
macOS Ventura compatibility: Geographic Imager also officially supports the new macOS Ventura (version 13) update
New welcome screen design: Improved discoverability for users with more content to aid in getting started or inspired with Geographic Imager
Additional performance enhancements and bug fixes

Users require a valid Adobe Creative Cloud subscription and a compatible operating system to utilize the improvements and enhancements offered in Geographic Imager v6.6. For questions and information on how compatibility requirements may affect your organization, please contact our Support Centre.

Geographic Imager v6.6 is immediately available and is free of charge to all current Geographic Imager Maintenance Program members and starts at US$349 for non-maintenance upgrades. New fixed licenses start at US$749. Geographic Imager Basic Edition licenses start at US$99. Academic, floating, and volume license pricing is also available. Visit www.avenza.com/geographic-imager for more information.

More about Avenza Systems Inc.

What’s New in Geographic Imager 6.6?

We are very pleased to announce the release of Geographic Imager version 6.6, the latest version of our Geographic Imager^® extension for Adobe Photoshop^®.

With Geographic Imager v6.6, we are announcing official support for all Apple Silicon processors, compatibility with Adobe Photoshop 2023 (version 24) and macOS Ventura (version 13), a brand new welcome screen design, and several performance enhancements and bug fixes.

Here’s what you can expect with the latest Geographic Imager v6.6 release:

Apple Silicon Processor Support

Our team has worked to ensure that Geographic Imager v6.6 runs smoothly with computers using any Apple Silicon chip, and as such, we can declare that Geographic Imager is now joining MAPublisher in officially supporting these processors.

Compatibility Updates for Adobe Photoshop and macOS

We want our users to enjoy a truly seamless integration with the Adobe Photoshop workspace. We are therefore happy to announce that Geographic Imager v6.6 is fully compatible with the new Adobe Photoshop 2023 (version 24) update on both Mac and Windows.

Geographic Imager v6.6 is also fully compatible with the recently released macOS Ventura (version 13).

New Welcome Screen Design

Geographic Imager v6.6 introduces a brand new welcome screen that appears upon opening the application. This window is equipped with visually appealing refreshed graphics while maintaining easy access to the License Management window. It also features several new sections that increase discoverability, such as getting started, help and tutorials, and other Avenza news or event information. There is also a Get Inspired section to provide inspiration for you, which features articles from our blog that highlights the excellent stories and tips from some of our most proficient users.

If you would like to learn more about the new Geographic Imager 6.6 features or have any questions, please check out our Support Centre.

Geographic Imager v6.6 is immediately available today, free of charge to all current Geographic Imager users with active maintenance subscriptions and as an upgrade for non-maintenance users.

Creating Themed Maps Using Terrain Shader

Today we are shifting the spotlight to Geographic Imager, our plugin for Adobe Photoshop. This blog features the usage of the Terrain Shader tool, which was featured in our promotional video at the Adobe MAX conference last week!

Terrain Shader is great for adding dimension to your maps. It is commonly used to perform shaded relief, a method for representing topography on maps in a natural and intuitive way. The tool provides options to apply colourization schema and shaded relief to supported elevation data formats, such as DEM or SRTM files. Terrain Shader has several different settings that users can customize to create a shaded relief that best suits their needs.

In the spirit of Halloween, we’ve decided to show off the Terrain Shader tool by creating a fun shaded relief using a colourization schema that resembles candy corn!

I’m starting with a DEM file covering a portion of Jasper National Park in Alberta. DEMs are imported by default using a black-white gradient, with black representing the lowest elevation and white representing the highest.

Next, you can open the Geographic Imager panel and select the Terrain Shader button.

Geographic Imager Toolbar showing Terrain Shader button

There are many different settings available in the Terrain Shader tool to customize your design. First, ensure the Colourization schema option is checked and set to “Apply colour map” which enables you to apply colour to your DEM. You can also choose the Method to stretch the colour map over a preset group of values or simply apply your colour ramp from the highest and lowest point on the DEM.

Next, you want to select any Gradient from the list and press the pencil icon to open the Colour Map editor window. From this window, you can set and adjust three different colour stops to represent the three candy corn colours you wish to apply to your map.

When you are finished, be sure to click Save and save it as a new colour map, titled appropriately (in my case, it was “Candy Corn”).

Finally, select Apply shaded relief and adjust the light source angle and intensity if desired. Shaded relief is what adds texture to your DEM to make it look like terrain.

Click OK, and you have successfully created your very own candy corn mountains! This is just one fun way to make use of the terrain shader to add a personal touch to your map. See the final result below, as well as a few other examples of colourization schemas that can be used to add a more realistic feel to your terrain.

Candy corn style DEM created using Geographic Imager Terrain Shader tool

For more information about the Terrain Shader tool, check out our related Support Centre articles and tutorial!

Adobe MAX 2022: Exciting Improvements for Avenza Mapping Plugins

October 18, 2022

Toronto, CA (October 18, 2022) – Avenza Systems Inc., producer of the Avenza Maps® app for mobile devices is pleased to announce the upcoming releases of MAPublisher® 11.1 for Adobe Illustrator® 2023 and Geographic Imager® 6.6 for Adobe Photoshop® 2023. These updates will provide a range of user interface improvements, feature enhancements, bug fixes, and performance upgrades, along with compatibility with the latest Adobe Creative Cloud applications.

Data-driven Map Design in Illustrator with MAPublisher

MAPublisher cartography software seamlessly integrates more than seventy GIS mapping tools into Adobe Illustrator to help you create beautiful maps from GIS data. Import industry-standard GIS data formats and make crisp, clean maps with all attributes and georeferencing intact using the Adobe Illustrator design environment.

Expected improvements for the MAPublisher 11.1 extension for Adobe Illustrator include maintenance fixes and Adobe Illustrator 2023 compatibility. Additional feature upgrades to be announced soon.

Powerful Imagery Editing in Photoshop with Geographic Imager

Geographic Imager for Adobe Photoshop delivers an all-encompassing solution to import, edit, and export geospatial images such as aerial and satellite imagery. Work with digital elevation models, GeoTIFFs, and other popular GIS image formats while using Adobe Photoshop features such as transparencies, filters, cropping, and image adjustments; all while maintaining georeferencing and support for hundreds of coordinate systems and projections

Expected improvements of the Geographic Imager 6.6 extension for Adobe Photoshop include official Apple Silicon support, a revamped discoverability screen, maintenance fixes, and Adobe Photoshop 2023 compatibility.

Upgrade or Purchase

MAPublisher 11.1 will be available free of charge to all current MAPublisher users with active maintenance and as an upgrade for non-maintenance users starting at US$649. New licenses are available from US$1499. MAPublisher FME Auto and MAPublisher LabelPro are also available as add-ons starting at US$499.

Geographic Imager 6.6 will be available and free of charge to all current Geographic Imager Maintenance Program members and starts at US$349 for non-maintenance upgrades. New fixed licenses start at US$749. Geographic Imager Basic Edition licenses start at US$99.

Academic, floating, and volume license pricing is also available for both extension suites.

More about Avenza Systems Inc.

For further information contact: 416-487-5116 – info@avenza.com – www.avenza.com

Map Gallery Spotlight: 4LAND

We are showcasing the Runner-Up of the 2021 Avenza Map Competition. This impressive topographic reference map of the Monte Rosa area was a collaborative effort between Remo Nardini, Founder and Chief Technical Officer, and the whole 4LAND team. The map is centered on two of the most renowned mountains of the Alps: Monte Rosa and Monte Cervino (commonly referred to as the Matterhorn). The map encompasses a massive and diverse area. From the glaciers and valleys crossed by the Alta Via n.1 highway in the Aosta valley to the panoramic snow-capped peaks that the Alps are known for. The high valleys of the Monte Rosa area emanate a particular charm, with its woods and pastures making it stand out among other areas in the Aosta Valley.

Remo and his team manually collected trail information and point-of-interest data directly in the field with the Avenza Maps App and combined this with carefully crafted shaded relief techniques to bring the mountainous terrain of this rugged area to life. The map itself is designed for print at 1:25000 scale and is meant to offer a high-quality, waterproof, and tearproof map for use on the trails. The map provides an abundance of useful information for hiking, camping, mountain biking, and a host of other summer and winter outdoor activities. Smart label placement means this map is not only impressive to look at but highly functional when out on the trails.

Select the images below to see a detailed look at 4LAND’s map