Ortelius - Product Preview

Powerful Map Illustration Software - coming soon

Cartographers know how frustrating making maps can be using general-purpose programs such as Adobe Illustrator or Freehand. These programs don't know anything about geography, so building geographical images is slow and painstaking. Add-on packages to extend these programs with specialist cartographical tools are very expensive.

Cartographers also know that traditional GIS (geographic information systems) work great for managing data but often lack the graphics capability for production-quality maps.

Ortelius is different. It is a dedicated map-making illustration program that knows geography. Instead of building maps from lines and primitive shapes, you draw directly with roads, railways, boundaries, buildings, woods and streams. Generate contour lines from elevation points. Label items using a consistent style. Roads (for example) know how they connect to each other and junctions are drawn properly, fully automatically. If it needs moving, it will move all of its connected feeder roads with it, maintaining junctions as it goes. Want to insert a bridge? Highlight the road and insert a bridge - no need to fiddle about trying to build one from tiny bits of curves and lines.

Ortelius isn't a GIS. It's an illustration program that knows mapping. In a GIS, a database of geographical objects is used to generate plots. Ortelius works both ways – you can draw directly the objects you want, and it builds a database underneath, or you can use existing GIS data to layout your map – or both. You can import aerial photographs for tracing, and work with any coordinate system or grid you desire. Need to send directions to someone? Sketch a map, highlight the route like you would with a paper map using a highlighter pen. Send the PDF. All in a few minutes!

Ortelius works by defining a library of high-level symbols and styles that depict geographical entities. You can define your own symbols and styles or use the built-in libraries that are supplied. Ortelius then turns these styles and symbols into drawing tools that can be used directly - you don't draw a bezier path and imagine it's a road - you select the road tool with the desired style - "B- Road" for example, and draw the road. Junction? The road snaps to another road and the junction automatically forms. How about some woodland? Select the area shape tool with the "woodland' style and define the area. It's drawn directly using the desired style. As you draw you get direct feedback about the size and position of the object in terms of its real size on the ground. There are no cumbersome "rotate" tools - any object can be rotated simply and directly by dragging its rotation knob. Naturally, Ortelius supports unlimited hierarchical layers, so you can separate information any way you like - roads in one layer, buildings in another, contours in another, for example.

Import classic GIS “shapefiles” to construct your map. Or choose from pre-loaded GIS maps from the Ortelius Digital Atlas™. Use Ortelius’s Smart Select™ tools to create sub-sets of map features from buffers, overlays, and more. Quickly add labels and symbols to your map from existing GIS databases. Overlay grids and scales. Automatically generate a symbol key. Ortelius knows mapping.

Finally, print gorgeous quality maps using the full power of Quartz imaging. Everything is pin-sharp and anti-aliased.

We’ve heard from you and have expanded the capabilities being built into Ortelius. Ortelius is currently under development and version 1.0 will be available in early 2009. The intention is to release standard and “pro” versions with a starting price of $79. This represents a huge bargain compared with add-ons for non-dedicated packages such as Illustrator, etc. Ortelius will find a home in any amateur or professional cartographer's toolbox. For further information, feel free to mail us. We welcome any suggestions for features - what's on your wish list?

Ortelius is built on top of the powerful and general purpose DrawKit vector drawing library - for more information see this page.

Note: The screenshots here are of an early development version and do not necessarily represent the final user interface or feature set of the product.