Beyond "press Ctrl-P" in web map printing Jan De Moerloose– co-creator of Geomajas FOSS4G 2009, Sydney

2 The company: Geosparc commercially supports Geomajas, the Open Source GIS application framework, coupling the innovation of Open Source with the reliability of a true enterprise-class platform.

3 The product: Open Source GIS application framework It is downloadable at – Integrated client-server architecture – Geometry editing + validation – Custom attribute definitions – Advanced querying capabilities

4 Are printed maps still relevant ? (they used to…)

5 The world’s first map ?

6 Soleto map or hoax ?

7 Artistic world map

8 Reprint of the historical atlas Ferraris Weighs 12.5 kg copies sold All of them to male individuals !

9 Map printing hall of shame (1)

10 Map printing hall of shame (2)

11 Map printing hall of shame (3)

12 What’s wrong with these ?

13 Problems Use of Ctrl-P : the nature of HTML Several other problems fixed page size/orientation fixed component arrangements fixed component sizes fixed resolution no storage or reuse These are inherent limitations of the form- based approach !

14 Form-based approach Title MapLegend size (A0, A1, …) left/right

15 Form-based approach What ? small set of parameters in an HTML form send to the server for interpretation Result very limited impact on the outcome fixed template fixed component placement no storage or reuse

16 Can we do better ?

17 Component-based approach Title MapLegend Title Map Legend View port

18 Component-based approach What ? client-side representation of the printed map using SVG/VML (true vector graphics) component model is sent to the server Advantages possibility to drag/resize individual parts/components of the map possibility to add components customizable templates/layouts limitless storage/reuse and so much more…

19 Component zoölogy Map component Legend component Vector layer component Raster layer component Scalebar component Label component Image component View port component

20 Component layout LeftRight Top Bottom marginX marginY Parent Child

21 Component Layout North arrow Legend Title map scalebar viewport

22 User freedom: editing components Dragging Resizing

23 User freedom: panning modes Pan the map Pan the print

24 User freedom: view ports Zooms into interesting part of the map Combination of 2 rectangular boxes: View port Map region Resizing view port changes the zoom scale Resizing map region changes the aspect ratio

25 View port result

26 User freedom: persistence and reuse Simple XML format Based on annotated Java objects Persisted in a PostGIS database

27 Rendering technology: PDF with iText Why PDF ? Html is not printable most portable format that supports raster and vector representations ! Why iText ? easy to use and performant low-level pdf access PdfGraphics component with great drawing support

28 Real world project: Westtoer Tourism organisation (Flanders/Belgium) Management of bicycle networks/hiking trails System of voluntary maintainers Need to produce printed maps for a large number of routes on a weekly basis based on the latest route information

29 What’s next ? Better usability Editing colors, fonts and layout properties in the browser Uploading images Batch processing Multipage maps Multilayer pdfs

30 Conclusion Printed maps matter ! Component-based approach offers Power to the end user Persistence and reuse Desktop-like stuff: view ports better prints !

31 Thank you !