In this age of satellite imagery, you no longer need to be a professional cartographer to draw an accurate map. The following instructions are for creating standard Wikitravel maps using Inkscape (a free image-creating program available for most operating systems). The process using other drawing tools is very similar.
Overview
The process is fairly straightforward. You start by tracing the contours of the place, the courses of the streets, etc. as "vectors". These are shapes that can be zoomed in and out without them getting pixelated, and they are saved in a file format called SVG: Scalable Vector Graphics. When the geography and street plan are drawn, you add labels to identify what's what, colored symbols that correspond to the listings in the article, and a key that identifies which is which. When it's finished, the file is converted from SVG to PNG (Portable Network Graphics) a bitmapped file format that all web browsers can display. Then both versions are uploaded: one for future editors to update (SVG), and the other to include in the article (PNG).
Map making tools
You will need some tools in order to build maps. The most critical is a '''vector-based drawing tool''' capable of producing SVG-format files:
Inkscape [http://inkscape.org], an open-source (free) tool, for Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux. Please use the most current version, to avoid compatibility issues.
Adobe Illustrator [http://adobe.com/products/illustrator/], a professional-grade commercial product, for Windows and Mac OS X.
CorelDRAW [http://corel.com], a long-standing commercial product, for Windows.
If you already have another vector-based image program such as Sodipodi or Freehand, those will work well also.
A '''bitmap image editing tool''' is not necessary, but is handy for any post processing work you want to do on the PNG-format version after your map is generated, such as resizing it or adjusting the color depth:
The GIMP [http://www.gimp.org], the open-source (free) GNU Image Manipulation Program, for Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux.
Adobe Photoshop [http://adobe.com/products/photoshop/], a professional-grade commercial product, for Windows and Mac OS X.
Corel Paint Shop Pro [http://corel.com], a less expensive commercial product, for Windows.
Again, various other bitmap-based image programs will work also.
In addition, there's a '''font''' you should have installed:
'''DejaVu Sans Condensed''' is the font that should be used in Wikitravel maps. It can be found [http://dejavu.sourceforge.net/wiki/index.php/Download here].
Get the map template
An easy 'palette' of tools for creating Wikitravel-style maps can be found at Wikitravel-map-template-PD.svg ('''recommended'''), just import a copy into your own map and copy and paste from there.
If you want to use the Wikitravel logo on your map, you may use Wikitravel-map-template.svg. But please note that your map ''must'' be licensed as '''CC-BY-SA-1.0''', as it contains the Wikitravel logo and some symbols created by others which are all CC-BY-SA-1.0. And you also must credit ''everyone'' who created the logo and symbols.
This template includes
A basic map layout
* Backgrounds
* Annotation box
* ( Wikitravel logo )
A number of layers
* Greyback - Grey background for maps surrounded land
* Blueback(Ocean) - Blue background for maps surrounded by water (''islands, peninsulas, continents'')
* Temp Backdrop - a layer you will use to import existing map/image that you can trace from
* Main Area - where you will draw the main outline of your new map
* various other layers that you will use to separate different objects and information that you will add
* Annotation - containing the basic annotation box and Wikitravel logo
* Symbols - containing Common map symbols that you can copy and paste onto your new map
All the current Common map symbols.
Do not be daunted by the number of layers, your map may not require them all, use only what you need.
You will also notice that all annotation layers contain a (en) suffix. Should you want to translate your map to a different language, simply create new annotation layers above the existing (en) layers and place your translated text there. Changing visibility on the different language layers will then allow you to export the map in any of the languages that is included in the map.
You can also download an example map, :Image:Wikitravel-map-example01.svg, to practice your map making skills.
Depending on the scale of your map, you might need to resize the annotation symbols provided in the template. For a large area map like :Image:Map-USA-Zion_National_Park-area01.png, you will probably need to increase the annotation symbol size, while a detailed city map such as :Image:Wikitravel-map-example01.png may require that you reduce the symbol size. (''You will note that the symbol size in the example map have not yet been resized and looks disproportionately big in relation to the rest of the map layout''). To resize the annotation symbols in Inkscape, select the ''Symbols'' layer, select the symbols objects (''select multiple objects at once by pressing F1 and drawing a selection rectangle around them''). Then use menu option Object→Transform→Scale and scale it to a size that will work on your map. The same might be required for the provided annotation box.
Choose a map type
The instructions below cover two slightly different types of maps:
''Standalone'': A single map for destinations that use the Small city or Big city templates, this map covers the whole area and is not divided into smaller chunks.
* Example: Carbondale
''District'': A map for Huge city destination, this covers a large area (too big to fit on a single screen) and is divided into multiple districts for display.
* Example: Paris
''National Park'': Similar to a ''Standalone'' map, but we will use different colors.
* Example: Yosemite National Park
Acquire a base image you can work from
In order to trace a new map, you will need something to trace it from. There are a number of possible sources:
Satellite imagery
* All [http://worldwind.arc.nasa.gov/download.html NASA WorldWind] satellite images in the The Landsat Global Mosaic (except for i-3 visible layer), Blue Marble, and the USGS layers are in the public domain and are therefore fully compatible with our copyleft—they do not even require attribution. Unfortunately, however, there will usually not be high-enough resolution images in the public domain available for locations outside of the United States of America.
An existing map that is in the public domain or has a Creative Commons license
* [http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:SVG_maps_of_the_world Wikimedia Commons] is a good place to start looking for existing SVG maps
* [http://openstreetmap.org OpenStreetMap.org] is a great place to look for maps, or even create your own with a GPS. If you're in the mood for a little hacking, you can even use [http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/index.php/Osmarender Osmarender] to export rendered OSM data into SVG files.
This base image should be imported into the ''Temp Backdrop'' layer of your map.
Importing satellite imagery
The first step is to obtain satellite imagery or an existing map of your chosen location. Navigate to the section you would like to turn into a map, at an eye altitude of approximately 1500 feet, and enter a placemark at the center. Save the image. Use your cursor keys to navigate north, south, west and east, recording new placemarks and images after each imageful of movement.
Next, import the satellite images into the ''Temp Backdrop'' layer of your drawing program and align them together. You can make sure the image scales are identical by right-clicking on each image and entering the size under Image properties.
Select the background
Depending on where your map is located, make one of the ''Greyback'' or ''Blueback(Ocean)'' layers visible, switch the other one to invisible.
Main map area
Working on the ''Main Area'' layer, lay out the area of your map using the Bezier pen tool.
Once that is done, change the properties to reflect the correct colors:
For ''Standalone'' maps, use
* Fill: c0c0c0ff
* Stroke: d0d0d0ff (7fb5b5ff if you are using ''Blueback(Ocean)'')
* Stroke width: 1mm
For ''National Park'' maps, use
* Fill: 89c736ff
* Stroke: 003857ff
* Stroke width: 1mm
You should now see your completed map area. It will however obscure your view of the base map.
While we are still working on the map, we will change our main area to be somewhat transparent. Go back and change the Fill attribute to c0c0c088 or 89c73688; you should now be able to see your main map area as well as the base map behind it.
Building your street grid
Working on the ''Major Roads'' layer, layout the major avenues based on the base image.
Use the Bezier pen tool, with the stroke color set to "ffffffff", and no fill color. Set the unit of measurement for the stroke width to millimeters and set the width to 1.60mm for major avenues, which can be adjusted up or down later. You may find the Bezier tool a little unwieldly if you don't have graphics program experience, but experiment for a while and you'll soon be able to lay out beautiful curves; the "Edit path nodes" tool (F2) can be used to delete or tweak points in the curve.
The next step is to layout the rest of the streets of the given area. Select the appropriate ''Road'' layer and using the Bezier pen, with no fill color, stroke color of "ffffffff" and usually a width of 1.20mm. Pedestrian streets, including major pathways through parks, should use the stroke color "d0cb75ff" instead. Vary the width as necessary for the size of the street. This work is best done completely by eye; the main technique being to try to match the shapes of the negative spaces between the streets according to several maps. Where the maps disagree, refer back to satellite imagery to verify.
Major roads
* Fill: none
* Stroke: ffffffff
* Stroke width: 1.6mm
Minor roads
* Fill: none
* Stroke: ffffffff
* Stroke width: 1.2mm
Small paths
* Fill: none
* Stroke: d0cb75ff
* Stroke width: 0.8mm
Fill out the details
On the ''Main Area'' layer, lay out the green spaces, again using the Bezier pen, this time with fill color "89c736ff", stroke color "003857ff", and stroke width of 0.05mm. Zoom in as close as necessary to get this right. If the green area fills up an entire city block between streets, you can set stroke off, draw the area so it overlaps the streets, and then just push the layer down.
It your map contains any building or major landmarks, create a layer above ''Main Area'' called ''Buildings'' and and add them there. For these the fill color is "bdb580ff", the stroke color is "000000ff" and the stroke width is again 0.05mm.
The last graphical elements are any water features, fountains etc, use the ''Water'' layer for these. Any water element should use the fill color "9ccec9ff", stroke color "7fb5b5ff" and a variable stroke width depending on the situation.
The final step is adding the street names, starting with major boulevards. The recommended font is the free version of [http://www.myfonts.com/fonts/typodermic/blue-highway-deluxe/ Blue Highway] by Ray Larabie.
Select the ''Major Road Annotation(en)'', ''Minor Road Annotation(en)'', ''Trail Annotation(en)'' layer as appropriate.
The street names are not black, but gray: the fill color setting is "585858ff". This sets the attraction names and plaza names off better. Try to use the biggest point size for each street name label which you can get away with, the biggest being about 6pts. The exact measurements will change based on the scale of your map of course.
Green spaces
* Fill: 89c736ff
* Stroke: 003857ff
* Stroke width: 0.05mm
Public buildings and landmarks
* Fill: bdb580ff
* Stroke: 7fb5b5ff
* Stroke width: variable, use whatever works best on your map
Water
* Fill: 9ccec9ff
* Stroke: 7fb5b5ff
* Stroke width: variable, use whatever works best on your map
Annotate the map
Your street map is now ready, now it's time to turn it into a travel guide.
Work on the the ''Annotation(en)'' layer, resize the existing box to fit your map.
Take all the entries of the Wikitravel article and start placing them in the map, you can copy and paste the required map symbols from the ''Spare Parts'' layer. Ideally, of course, you'll know exactly where everything goes already but an online address locator like [http://maps.google.com/ Google Maps] is very handy for refreshing your memory. As you place each entry in the map, also record the names and numbers into the entry listing box. If you use the standard icons from the template (and you should), you can change the numbers just by selecting the text tool, clicking on top of the icon and then editing the number; note that it's usually faster to lay out all the icons first and then number them as the final step.
To create an itinerary map, create a new layer and place it just above the Streets layer. Draw a Bezier curve showing the route, then set it to pure red ("ff0000ff"), thickness 0.4 mm, style dashed, beginning stroke marker "Dot_m", mid-marker "Arrow2Send", end marker "SquareM".
Finishing off
Change the properties of the main map area to remove the transparency, set the Fill attribute to c0c0c0ff or 89c736ff as appropriate.
Delete the ''Temp Backdrop'' layer and switch visibility of the ''Spare Parts'' layer off.
Export the finished map
As SVG cannot be handled as is by most browsers, you should export a copy to PNG. Select the light gray background, and then in the export window choose Selection and enter an appropriate width in pixels — 1000 pixels is usually reasonable, as it will give a good result when printed and is still viewable on a monitor. You'll put a smaller thumbnail of the map in the article itself.
Post processing
To optimize the resulting raw dump, load it up in an image editor and reduce the number of colors used. For example, using The GIMP, you would choose Image→Mode→Indexed Color dialog. Set the number of colors to 64, turn off dithering and save the image. Usually the image size is about 1/6th of what it was before reducing the color set, and the quality is barely changed.
Uploading your map
When uploading your map, please remember to upload both the raster (''.png'') and the vector (''.svg'') versions; that way others can add to your map at a later stage. Also add a <nowiki>==Source==</nowiki> section to the description of the raster version, stating the name of the vector version.
Tips and tricks
Use the ''edit path nodes'' tool (F2) for manipulating streets, since this keeps the stroke width constant.
To extend a street, select it with edit path nodes tool and then choose the Bezier tool. Any nodes you add will become a part of the same object.
Use ALT-cursor keys to 'nudge' objects into the right place.
Objects can be combined into layers, which can be made visible or invisible by clicking on the "eye" icon. The following layer stack makes it easy to 'peel part' various components of a map: background - satellite data - area highlight - street map - area annotations.
Locking layers that you are not actively working on can save you a lot of trouble by making it impossible to accidentally move or change objects on the locked layers.