How to make a map overlay tutorial

[thingfishs]

This tutorial is for people trying to replicate a RL region. Use it to get a gridded reference for the layout of major roads etc in your region.

For example this is my home region of McLaren Vale (also by dobdriver) with the major roads marked in using this method. Much respect to Dobs who put this together for a private request; but which should be seen by all those who might benefit from it. Any queries pm dobdriver or me, good replicating




How to make a map overlay tutorial by Dobdriver.


One only wants to add major roads and highways, as trying to add minor roads and streets could become a nightmare to fit.

Things you need.

1.Internet.
2.Photo editor that supports layers, a magic wand and some sort of transform.


How I do it


Collect materials

1. Open SC4Mapper and open either the greyscale image or the .SC4M file of the map you wish to produce.

2. Save the SC4mapper png image to your hdd. Close SC4mapper.

3. Start your image editor and open the png image of your map.

4. Start your web browser, do not run in full screen mode as you need to click between the two. Stretch it to almost the full screen leaving just a strip along one edge to see under.

5. Open google maps to the area of interest. Zoom to 500m or the imperial equivilent.

6. Start with google at the top of your map where ever a major road is, it doesn't matter where, and allow a little overhang. just enough to ensure you will collect the roads right up to the edge of your map.'

7. Once you're happy, press your print screen button on your keyboard, then click into your image editor. Use 'file-->new' or if it has a shortcut like 'ctrl n' and paste with 'ctrl v'into the canvas.

8. Don't worry about saving just yet as you may have a few to do, just click into the browser and drag the map along for the next image ensuring this time you also overhang the previous image.

9. Hit print screen again and then into the editor ctrl n, ctrl v. Then back to the browser, continue with this process until either you have collected all of the appropriate maps from google (and I might add, only collect where there are roads you want. Not much point collecting oodles of maps with nothing on. Also do not be afraid to resize your browser smaller and larger as the roads dictate.) or your computer starts to slow and doggy because your running out of ram.

10. If it is the former you can close your browser, if the latter leave it open while doing the next job

11. In your image editor cut your maps out of each image and save, preferably as a tiff but definately not as a jpg. if you were having ram problems save them all and close them, don't worry about naming as the default will do as later you will probably delete them anyhow. you may also have to shutdown your image editor to free ram up and then re-open it.

12.If you stopped because of ram issues, re-commense your map gathering from google, do not forget when opening the first new image it will restart numbering from 1, change this to the next after your last batch. The reason I said do not shut google is because google does not always get its overlays the same between uses and sometimes maps gathered one day do not properly align with maps gathered on another.

That's all your materials collected. Now to make your supermap.


1. Open your image editor and open a new image, this time enter some sizes. This will vary according to how many maps you have, it may only need to be 5000 x 5000 or it may need to be 10000 x 7000 or even 20000 x 20000. Whatever it takes to get all your map joined.

2. Start along the top and highlight the first map needed, use 'select all' or a shortcut like 'ctrl a' if available, 'ctrl c' copy. Then highlight the new supermap and 'ctrl v' or paste into this.

3. Now you need a transform command or a shortcut like 'ctrl t' to move this to its relative position be it a corner or some other place along the top of the canvas. When happy accept the transform.

4. Find the next map that joins to the first, 'ctrl a', 'ctrl c'. Click the super map 'ctrl v', transform or 'ctrl t'. Move the image close to the previous, then cut the opacity to 50-60% and zoom up to 100%. You can still click and drag with your mouse but once it is very close use the arrow keys. At 100% every tap on the arrows is 1 pixel. When you are happy with the alignment slide the opacity back to 100% and accept the transform.

5. to check the alignment, toggle that layer on and off. even if only out by one pixel you can see the image jump.

6. Continue on copying, pasting, transforming and checking until you have all your map complete.

7. now you can flatten your supermap and crop all the unused portion.


Now for a road map.


1. Choose the magic wand and set the tolerance to one or two, also to save having to hold shift or whatever to add to selection click the 'add to selection' button just above the tool palette.

2. start clicking in the orange roads, your selection will only go along the roads until a place holder cuts it, that may be a road name or number etc. These will need to be joined with the lassoo, again selecting the 'add to' button will save holding the shift key. If you try for minor roads you will end up selecting half of your map, if you really want some particular minor roads you will have to draw these with the lassoo.

3. Once you have finished clicking and drawing and what not, go to the layers palette and make a new layer, you will be automatically working on this layer so then in the colour palette mix up an appropriate colour for your roads and with the paint bucket, fill your selection with colour.


Your roadmap is done. All that's left is to overlay on your map.


1. Open your png map. and check out the dimensions in pixels

2. if you have roads reaching all four sides resize your supermap including the roadmap to the same, if you have roads reaching 2 opposite sides ensure you have constrain proportions ticked and enter that dimension. if you have no other roads leading from your map you will have to make an estimate. When you resize the image it will ask to flatten or merge it,choose don't.

3. Now highlight your roadmap and select it all 'ctrl a' then 'ctrl c' to copy it, the highlight your map and 'ctrl v' paste and 'ctrl t' or transform.

4. Open google maps to your area of interest and choose the terrain button this will help to guide you where the roadmap should be placed. this is because the fit is not exact and you will have to stretch and shrink, warp and twist, pull and push to place the map is the approximate place.

That's all I think
cheers