Last time, you learned how to import GIS shapefiles into Adobe Illustrator. Today, you’re going to use those imported shapefiles to create a custom map in Adobe Illustrator.

Where We Left Off Last Time: Importing GIS Shapefiles into Adobe Illustrator

In the previous tutorial, we began the process of creating custom maps in Adobe Illustrator. That tutorial focused on importing GIS shapefiles into Adobe Illustrator, which consisted of several steps.

1. Load several shapefiles into QGIS to create vector outlines
2. Export those vector outlines from QGIS into SVG Format
3. Import the SVG Map into Adobe Illustrator
4. Scale and Position the Map to Fill our Illustrator workspace

What We’re Going to Learn Today: Finishing Your Custom Map in Adobe Illustrator

Today, we’re going to finish the process of creating a custom map in Adobe Illustrator. In this tutorial, you’ll learn how to do the following:

• Extract parts of the vector and sort them into layers
• Add titles, labels, and the background imagery
• Set up your map for animation

At the end of the day, you’ll wind up with a beautiful final map product that looks like this:

1. Extract Your Custom Map Features from the SVG File in Adobe Illustrator

To make it easier to manage your custom map assets in Adobe Illustrator, put each feature (or group of features) into their own layers. We covered this briefly in the previous tutorial, but I want to go over it in much more detail. First, let’s recall where we left off. We had just imported the SVG (vector image) file into Adobe Illustrator using File > Place.

Before we do anything in Illustrator, make a list of the features you will be extracting from the SVG file. For the Utah National Parks, we want to extract the following:

• The Utah State Boundary
• Zion National Park Outline
• Bryce Canyon National Park Outline
• Capitol Reef National Park Outline
• Canyonlands National Park Outline
• Arches National Park Outline

If it helps, you can also make a list of everything you want to exclude from the final map. For our map of the Utah National Parks, we only need to exclude the rectangle that bounds the SVG image, which is outlined in blue in the above screenshot. Don’t worry about colors at this point. We’ll address them shortly.

Scale and Position Your Custom Map in Adobe Illustrator Before Extracting Any Features

Before you extract any features from the imported SVG file, I highly recommend that you scale your custom map and move it into its final position on the Adobe Illustrator artboard. You can always make minor to its position and scale as you go. However, it’s much easier to do any major moving and scaling while it’s still just a single entity.

To scale the SVG file in Illustrator, simply grab any of the anchor points on the corner or side of the SVG file and drag it to its desired size. To prevent image distortion, hold the Shift key down as you scale it, which maintains the original aspect ratio.

The green rectangles in Illustrator mark the boundaries of your artboard, so scale it to fill as much of the artboard as possible. If you need to scale the SVG beyond the boundaries of the Adobe Illustrator, that’s perfectly fine. Illustrator will crop everything to fit the artboard when you go to export it.

Additionally, make sure that you leave room for any titles, subtitles, and labels you’ll be adding to the map later. You should also center the map horizontally in the frame. Your scaled and centered custom map of Utah should look something like this in Adobe Illustrator.

Extract Each Feature of Your Custom Map into Its Own Layer in Adobe Illustrator

On the initial extraction, you should put each feature into its own layer in Illustrator. We do this for two reasons.

1. It best sets the map up for animation
2. It’s much easier to merge multiple layers into one than it is to separate one layer in several.

To begin your feature extraction, first open the Layers panel. Click on the carat to reveal the components of the SVG layer.

Despite there being so many components, the features you want to extract are only going to be in a small subset of those components. The easiest way to find your map features is to click on the eyeball next to each component in the layers panel. If your feature disappears from the map, that’s the component you need to extract.

To extract the component you’ve identified, create a new layer to put it in. Don’t worry about the order of layers for now. The new layer button is in the bottom right corner of the main Adobe Illustrator window. Give it an easily identifiable name, such as “Zion Boundary” or “Canyonlands Outline”.

Click and drag the component from the original SVG file to the layer you just created. You should see the feature now listed under the new layer. Do note that your feature may be divided into several components in the SVG layer. In that case, drag each component of your feature to your new layer.

To confirm everything copied correctly, click the eyeball to show and hide your new layer. Your feature should disappear from and reappear on the map.

Finally, repeat the process for each feature you will be putting on your final map. Once everything is extracted into their own layers, you can hide or delete the original SVG layer. We will not be using it anymore.

A Note on Dealing with Complex Features

If you have a complex feature you are trying to extract or if two features you want on your map are combined into a single component of the SVG file, you can still extract them. Use Illustrator’s Eraser tool to delete any unwanted parts of the SVG components. You can separate multiple features from a single SVG component with Illustrator’s Direct Selection Tool. Please consult the Adobe Illustrator documentation for more details.

2. Add a Background Image

Next up, we’ll add the background image. In our Utah National Parks map, the background image is of the hoodoos at Bryce Canyon from my trip in 2017. Your background image should be a high enough resolution to fill the artboard of your Adobe Illustrator project. Remember that while Illustrator is a vector editing program, your images still consist of pixels. If you scale them up beyond their full resolution, they will become pixelated and grainy.

Before you add your background image, though, you will need to do a couple things. These are both optional, but I highly recommend doing them.

1. Crop your image to match the aspect ratio of your artboard in Adobe Illustrator. For videos, that aspect ratio is 16:9. I do this mainly for my own sanity so I don’t accidentally put features outside of the artboard boundaries that will get clipped off.
2. If you plan to use a background overlay that’s any color other than black or white, make your image black and white. Colored overlays can do wonky things to the colors of your image, often with undesirable results. If you’re using your own branding, black and white images help ensure that the map stays the recognizable colors of your brand.

Use Illustrator’s File > Place function to embed your background image into Illustrator. The features you imported in the previous step may disappear from view, but don’t worry. They’re just underneath the image. We’ll correct that shortly. Then, drag each corner of the image to the corners of your artboard to fill it.

3. Add a Background Overlay

A background overlay is a solid color, semi-transparent overlay that goes on top of your background image. Its primary purpose is to make the content of your map easier to read. Not only does it increase the contrast, but it also makes the background image much more subtle. Remember, you want your viewers’ eyes to be drawn to the content, not to the background image.

Use the slider below to see the difference between having a background overlay vs having nothing. The difference in readability is night and day.

Background Overlay Setup in Adobe Illustrator

You should put the background overlay either in the same layer as your background image or in its own layer. The easiest way to add the background overlay is with Illustrator’s Rectangle Tool.

After creating the rectangle in Illustrator, drag the corners so the rectangle fills the artboard.

Background Overlay Color and Opacity

Your background overlay should never be anything besides a single color. It will be too distracting otherwise. If you want to use a secondary color, make the text and content of your map that color. Remember, color can be very powerful for invoking emotions in your audience. Use it wisely.

So what color should you make your background overlay? I recommend one of three options.

1. Your Primary Brand Color
2. Black
3. White

Unless you want to put more emphasis on your background image, you should use your primary brand color for the background overlay. For example, Coca-Cola would use red, UPS would brown, and John Deere would use green.

Start with the opacity set at 75 to 85%, and adjust it as needed. You should be able to see your background image through the overlay and be able to immediately recognize what it is. However, you don’t want the background image to distract from the content on your map.

Interestingly, you may have a situation where you want to emphasize the background image a little more. It comes up more often than you’d think. I use it on the title screens of pretty much all of my videos.

In that case, you should use a black or white background overlay, and set the opacity to 30 to 50% to start. Like before, you’ll need to adjust it as necessary. I also recommend using a color background photo, because the black or white overlay won’t distort the colors of your image.

4. Add Any and All Map Titles, Subtitles, Labels, and Branding

The final elements to add are the title, labels, and branding. Like the background overlay, most of these should go either in the same layer as the background image and/or overlay, or in their own layer. However, there is one distinct exception. All feature labels should go in the same layer as the feature itself, or in their own layer. If you plan to animate the feature labels independently of the features themselves, each label must go in its own layer.

Use the text tool in Adobe Illustrator to add text to your custom map. Set the font to either match your brand fonts, which I highly recommend, or, to an easy-to-read font. The last thing you want is your viewers struggling to read the beautiful map you put such effort into.

5. Arrange the Layers in the Correct Order

Now that we’ve got all of the elements of our map in place, it’s time to put the layers into the correct order so you can see all of your features. If you’re not familiar with the concept of layers, it’s very similar to making a sandwich. For example, the layers of a ham sandwich, from top to bottom, would be something like this:

• Bread
• Mayo/Mustard
• Cheese
• Veggies
• Ham
• Mayo/Mustard
• Bread

Likewise, we can arrange the layers of our map in a similar order. From top to bottom, the layers of our map are as follows.

• Features and Feature Labels (unless they overlap, the order of each individual feature layer does not matter)
• Titles, Subtitles, Labels, and Branding
• Background Overlay
• Background Image

To rearrange the order of your custom map layers in Adobe Illustrator, open the Layers panel. Then, all you have to do is click and drag the layers into the correct order. Make sure you don’t accidentally put one layer into another. However, if you do, a Ctrl/Cmd-Z is all it takes to undo your mistake.

6. Set the Colors of Your Custom Map Features in Adobe Illustrator

All right, we’re almost there. All that’s left is to set the colors of our map features. And thankfully, that’s an easy, straightforward task. On the map, hold down the Shift key and click on all of the features you want to color to select them. To set the color, go to the properties tab and set the fill and stroke colors. You can also add opacity to each feature if you wish. On the Utah National Parks map, we left the opacity at 100% for all features.

Congratulations, you’re all done! You should have a final map that looks similar to the one below.

Conclusion

Creating a custom map in Adobe Illustrator is a fantastic way to increase brand awareness. And now, you’re completely ready to take the next big step into the world of map animation. You’ll learn all about that in the next installment of this series.

Additionally, custom maps are much easier to read and will put you leaps and bounds ahead of your competitors who are still using Google Maps. They’ll also make you look way more professional. Are you ready to get started with your own custom, branded maps? Get in touch with us today and get started with a free info session.

Top Photos: Hoodoos in the Late Afternoon Sun
Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah – May, 2017

The post How to Create a Custom Map in Adobe Illustrator appeared first on Matthew Gove Blog.

Which begs the question…why are so many people still using Google Maps screenshots in their videos, presentations, and other content? Yes, Google Maps is an incredible tool, but they were not designed to be used in videos and presentations. Worst of all, they tend to flash on the screen for such a short time that it’s next to impossible to tell where you are, where you’re going, or what you’re doing. In which of the following maps can you locate Utah’s “Big 5” National Parks faster?

Creating custom maps in Adobe Illustrator can fix all of that. Put your own branding and style on the map. Remove everything that’s not relevant to the story you’re trying to tell. Give it a breathtaking design. Make it uniquely you. It’s such an easy way to look very professional and really stand apart from everyone still using Google Maps.

Finally, and best of all, you don’t have to spend a fortune to achieve incredible results with your maps. In this tutorial, the only thing you’ll need to pay for is Adobe Illustrator. Everything else is available free of charge. Let’s go.

What is a Shapefile?

A shapefile is simply a geospatial vector data format. Vector data formats in GIS and mapping applications are incredibly fast and efficient because of their small file size. You can put an enormous amount of data into a pretty small file, which also makes vector data formats ideal for web-based applications.

ESRI originally created the shapefile for its ArcView GIS software back in the early 1990’s. Today, shapefiles are widely used and nearly universally supported throughout the GIS world. However, I do want to point out that despite their widespread use, they are still a proprietary format. As a result, if you prefer open source file formats, I recommend using either GeoJSON or CSV to store your data. Both can be used as vector formats and you can import them into Adobe Illustrator using the same method we’ll use for shapefiles below.

Shapefiles exist for just about every type of feature out there. You can store data as points, lines, or polygons. Indeed, I’ve used them for everything, including severe weather warnings, road trip routes, National Park boundaries, and much more. Because of their widespread availability, both ESRI and government entities (federal, state/province, and local) maintain extensive databases of shapefiles. If you can’t find what you’re looking for there, you should be able to find it with a quick Google search. While this tutorial only uses the geometry of the shapefiles, you can easily add your own data either directly into the shapefile or through region mapping.

Why Import Shapefiles into Adobe Illustrator?

If you’re just looking to plot data on a map, then by all means, a GIS program is the best way to go. However, GIS programs definitely have their limits. That’s where Adobe Illustrator comes in. When you import your shapefiles into Adobe Illustrator, you get much finer control over the final map design and look. The end result is a much more polished and professional-looking map, especially if you’re putting them into videos or presentations.

Furthermore, Adobe Illustrator provides the bridge to animating your maps. If you’re a content creator or giving a presentation, fully animated maps will put you in a class above your competition who are still using screenshots of Google Maps in their videos and presentations. Don’t believe me? Have a look at the maps below. Which one is easier to identify the “Big 5” National Parks in southern Utah?

While GIS software does support the bare basics for animation, you can make far more powerful animations even just using Illustrator itself. However, to unlock its full potential, you’ll need to use something like Adobe After Effects.

Unfortunately, animation is a topic for another day. We’ll cover that in a future tutorial. Let’s get back to learning how to import shapefiles into Adobe Illustrator.

1. Download and Install QGIS, a Free GIS Program

As a content creator myself, I know how critical it is to keep the cost of doing business to a minimum. And as a GIS specialist, I also know how expensive some proprietary GIS software can be. As a result, I’ve designed this tutorial so that the only piece of software you need to pay for is Adobe Illustrator.

If you’ve used ESRI’s ArcGIS before, you may be aware that Arc has an “Export to Illustrator” option built into it. That will export your shapefiles directly into a .ai Adobe Illustrator file. However, the desktop version of Arc also costs a bare minimum of $700 per year to use. Instead, we’ll use QGIS for this tutorial. QGIS is open source and, best of all, completely free. And unlike Arc, it runs on MacOS, Windows, and Linux. You can download QGIS here.

2. Prepare Your Shapefiles in QGIS

Before we can import our shapefiles into Adobe Illustrator, we first need to prepare them in QGIS. Using QGIS will ensure that each feature appears on your map in its proper location. You can try to eyeball the correct location once it’s all imported into Illustrator, but trust me, that never ends well.

Create a New Project in QGIS

First, you’ll need to create a new project in QGIS into which you’ll load your shapefiles. You’ll also need to change the default map projection, which will prevent your shapefiles from becoming distorted.

First, open QGIS and select Project > New Project. This will open a blank project. Then, in the bottom right, click on the text that says “EPSG:4326”. QGIS will open a window so you can select a new projection.

In the search bar, search for “Pseudo-Mercator”. You’ll likely see multiple results returned. Select the result labeled “EPSG:3857”.

Click OK to confirm your changes. The text in the bottom right should change from “EPSG:4326” to “EPSG:3857”.

Finally, if you want to include a basemap to confirm your features are both properly projected and in the correct location, double click on the OpenStreetMap option in the browser on the left-hand side of your QGIS dashboard. Please note that you should only use the basemap should a reference and never import it into Adobe Illustrator with the rest of your shapefiles.

Load Your Shapefiles into QGIS

When you prep your shapefiles in QGIS for import into Adobe Illustrator, you can include as many or as few as you want. When you export them to Adobe Illustrator, they’ll all get exported as a single-layer entity, so you don’t need to worry about keeping track of a ton of layers.

Adding shapefiles to your QGIS project is easy.

1. Select Layer > Add Layer > Add Vector Layer from the top menu. A window will open.
2. Under the “Source” section, you’ll see an input labeled “Vector Dataset(s)”. Click on the three dots to the right of the text input.
3. Navigate to the folder with your shapefiles and select all the shapefiles you wish to load into QGIS. You only need to select files with the .shp extension.
4. Click the “Add” button at the bottom of the window to add them to your QGIS project.
5. Repeat steps 2-5 until all of your shapefiles are loaded into QGIS.
6. Close the window.

Once everything is loaded into QGIS, make sure that all of the features in the shapefiles that you want to import into Adobe Illustrator are visible. You may need to re-arrange the layers in the Layers panel on the left hand side if you can’t see something.

Finally, hide any features or sublayers in the shapefiles that you do not want to import into Adobe Illustrator. Simply uncheck the feature in the Layers panel to hide it. If you need finer control for removing an individual item, you can easily do that once we import it into Illustrator.

Don’t Worry About Appearance in QGIS

Don’t worry about what the map looks like in QGIS. There’s no need to adjust colors, line thicknesses, or anything else. We’ll do that in Illustrator. Adobe Illustrator gives you much better and finer control over the look of the map than QGIS does. The one exception would be if two features are blocking each other and you need to remove the fill of one so you can see the other.

Finally, if you’ve used a basemap, uncheck it from the layers panel on the left to hide it. The basemap will create all kinds of headaches if you import it into Illustrator. Alternatively, if you’re having issues with white features on a white background in QGIS, just change the background color. You can easily delete that solid background once you get it into Illustrator.

To change the background color, follow these steps.

1. In the top menu, select Project > Properties. A window will open.
2. Click on the “General” tab in the upper-left.
3. In the fourth row down from the top, click on the white box to the right of “Background color” and select the background color you wish.

3. Create a Layout in QGIS to Easily Export Your Shapefiles into Adobe Illustrator

First, zoom and pan the map in your QGIS project to the exact level and position you want to display it in Illustrator. It doesn’t need to be exact, but you should include a little more than you intend to use. It’s easy to clip off the extra after importing the map into Illustrator.

Once your map is zoomed and positioned correctly, it’s time to create a layout so you can export it out of QGIS. In the top menu, select Project > New Print Layout. Follow the prompts to create your new layout. For best results, make sure the layout size is set to either US Letter or A4. Then click the “Add Map” button on the left-hand side.

Finally, click and drag your map so it fills the blank layout. You should see your map appear. If you didn’t get the entire page filled, simply click and drag each corner of the map out to the corners of the blank layout.

Congratulations, you’re ready to export your map out of QGIS. Don’t close the layout window just yet, because you’ll still need it in the next step.

4. Export Your QGIS Layout into SVG Format

Scalable Vector Graphics, or SVG, is an open-source XML-based framework for defining two-dimensional scalable vector images. It’s the most common type of vector image used in web-based applications today. The main advantage of vector images is that they can be scaled infinitely up or down without losing quality or becoming pixelated. As a result, you can cram a huge amount of data into a very small file. And best of all, Illustrator can automatically convert your .svg image into its default .ai format on import.

To export your shapefiles into .svg format, go back to your layout window. In the top window of the layout window (not the main QGIS dashboard), select File > Export Image as SVG. Follow the prompts to save the .svg file to your local hard drive.

One thing to be aware of is that QGIS may give you a warning about some SVG’s not being exported correctly. I have not had any issues with SVG exports, but if your SVG’s do not export correctly, simply export your shapefiles as a .pdf file instead. In the layout window, select File > Export Image as PDF. PDF files are also a vector format, and you follow the exact same steps to import everything into Illustrator, regardless of whether your file is an SVG or PDF.

5. Place Your Exported SVG File into Illustrator

All right, we’re almost there. All that’s left to do is to import our shapefiles (in SVG/PDF format) into Adobe Illustrator. Once that’s done, let your creative side take over and have some fun.

First, open Adobe Illustrator and create a new file. You can use any size artboard you want. However, because I create these maps for use in my travel videos, I’ll use a 4K (3840×2160) artboard.

Second, create a new layer that will hold only your SVG file. Putting the SVG file into its own layer allows us to filter, parse, and extract specific elements of the SVG file into our Illustrator project. Then, once we’ve extracted everything, all we have to do is delete or hide the SVG layer to remove all of the extras.

Linking vs. Embedding Images in Adobe Illustrator

When you import any kind of image into Adobe Illustrator, you can choose whether to embed the file in Illustrator or just link to it. Linking the image file means that Illustrator will reference it from wherever it is on your computer. If you move or delete the image, it will disappear from your Illustrator project. Embedding, on the other hand, copies the image into Illustrator and saves it as part of the .ai file. That way, if you move or delete the original image file, it will still be in your Illustrator project.

Because your exported shapefile vectors are so small, I highly recommend you embed the SVG into Illustrator. Embedding the SVG into Illustrator is easy and straightforward.

1. In the top menu, select File > Place.
2. Navigate to the SVG File you exported from QGIS. Click “Add”.
3. Click anywhere in your Illustrator window to place the SVG.

You should now see the SVG file that you exported from QGIS. However, it’s probably not in the right place in the Illustrator window, nor is it scaled correctly.

A Note on Moving and Scaling Your SVG File in Adobe Illustrator

Adobe Illustrator automatically separates the features in your SVG file to mirror the original shapefile. That’s a good thing, as it makes incredibly easy to separate out each element in Illustrator. However, if you’re not careful, you can easily move or scale features of your map out of place. Thankfully, it doesn’t take much to prevent things from moving out of place.

The easiest way to move or scale the SVG as a whole is to lock all of the other layers first. Because the SVG is in its own layer, then all we have to do is just hit Control + A on Windows or Command + A on a Mac to select all. With the other layers being locked, you’ve selected your entire SVG file without bothering anything else in the Illustrator file.

Second, make sure you hold down the Shift key when scaling the SVG. Doing so maintains the aspect ratio of the SVG. Without it, your map will become distorted and misshapen.

Positioning Your Map in Adobe Illustrator

it’s best to center your map in your Illustrator project, filling as much of the artboard as possible. However, make sure you leave room, particularly at the top, for any titles, headers, labels, and legends you would like to include.

At this point, it’s still perfectly fine if parts of the map extend beyond the boundaries of the artboard. We’ll delete those parts in the next section. And remember, you’re working with vectors, so you can infinitely scale them up or down without losing quality or pixelating.

6. Organize the components of the SVG into Layers in Adobe Illustrator

Depending on what you’re using the Illustrator map for, this can be one layer or many. It’s entirely up to you. However, do note that if you’re animating the map, every individual item or group of items that you’ll be animating as a single unit needs to be in their own layer. In other words, you can’t animate pieces of a layer. You can only animate the whole layer.

Additionally, if you have roads or routes on your map, make sure that you join the pieces of each route together so the route can be a single entity on the map. Having a route in several pieces can be an absolute nightmare if you’re trying to animate it. But even if it’s just going to be static, it’s still much easier to manage a single route than several pieces of it. To join paths in Illustrator, select each element of the paths you want to join and go to Object > Path > Join.

How to Extract SVG Components into Adobe Illustrator Layers

1. Click the New Layer button on the bottom right of the Illustrator window to create a new layer.
2. Go through the components of the SVG layer and find the ones you want to extract. This may take some trial and error by showing and hiding each piece.
3. In the Layers panel in Illustrator, click and drag that component from the SVG layer to the new layer.
4. Adjust the line width, colors, fills, strokes, opacities, etc. to set the final look or design of the feature you just moved.
5. Add any features to the layer that were not in the SVG file. These are most often the feature labels you can add with Illustrator’s text tool.
6. Repeat steps 1 through 5 for each feature layer you wish to create.

When you finish extracting the SVG components you’re using in your Illustrator map, there will likely still be features left over in the SVG layer that you’re not using. Putting the SVG file in its own layer makes it very easy to clean up the leftovers. If you know you’re not going to be using anything else in the SVG layer, you can go ahead and delete the layer. On the other hand, if you know you’re going to be using the leftovers or are not sure, simply hide the SVG layer so you can access it later.

Conclusion

Being able to export ESRI shapefiles into Adobe Illustrator opens up a whole new set of opportunities for content creators, artists, and other creatives to use maps. Creating professional branded, elegant, and easy-to-read maps in Adobe Illustrator will put you leaps and bounds ahead of the masses that are still using screenshots of Google Maps in their videos and presentations.

In future tutorials, we’ll go over how to put the full Illustrator files together like you see in my travel videos. Then, learn how to animate your maps using both Adobe Illustrator and After Effects. In the meantime, we’d love to help you get started with your creative maps and animations. Please get in touch with us today to discuss your project and how we can bring your mapping visions to life.

Top Image: Warm Later Afternoon Light Provides a Dramatic Contrast Against Grey Winter Skies
Canyonlands National Park, Utah – December, 2021

The post How to Import Shapefiles into Adobe Illustrator appeared first on Matthew Gove Blog.