Any views expressed within media held on this service are those of the contributors, should not be taken as approved or endorsed by the University, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the University in respect of any particular issue.
Digimap is an online map and data delivery service, available by subscription to UK Higher and Further Education establishments. Operated by EDINA at the University of Edinburgh, Digimap offers a number of data collections, including Ordnance Survey, historical, geological, aerial photography, LiDAR, marine maps, land cover mapping, global mapping and census data. For more information about Digimap go to our website: https://digimap.edina.ac.uk Background image Contains OS data (c) Crown Copyright and database right 2022
Productivity Suite 2.0 – Unlocking the Full Potential of Ordnance Survey Data
It is being held on Wednesday 4 November 2009, 10:00 – 11:00 am
If you are using Ordnance Survey data from Digimap and your institution has a licence to use ArcGIS, you might find this a useful event to attend. Licensing ArcGIS via Chest includes the Productivity Suite, an additional software application providing data conversion tools. Productivity Suite does not cost extra, but should be requested specifically when the Chest licence is purchased.
Note: you will need the Generic Colour Postscript PPD file linked in the document if you want to print A3 or larger. You can download the PDD file from the above website.
Load the PDF into Acrobat and then go to File ->Print. Select CutePDF Writer (or another Postscript printer you have installed). Click on Properties and then the Advanced… button.
There is a section called Postscript Options; expand this to find the PostScript Output Option and change this from ‘Optimize for Speed’ to ‘Encapsulated Postscript (EPS)’.
When you print you will now be asked to save a file which you should add the extension .eps to your file. You should be able to open this file in Ghostview as a vector EPS.
Since Digimap ceased to generate EPS files we have had a number of enquiries about suitable alternatives. Currently, Digimap’s mapping facilities will only produce PDF files. However, there are a number of options for those who prefer to use other formats. The following notes may help.
Note that EDINA does not endorse or recommend any of the products or services detailed here or guarantee their quality or performance.
PDF files generated from Digimap can be converted to various other formats including PNG, SVG, and PS/EPS using free software called Inkscape (http://www.inkscape.org/). The only down side to this that we have found is that it seems to blur the PS/EPS because of the ‘Digimap’ watermark.
You can also edit the vectors in Inkscape. If you want to put the map (or a bit of it) into a Word document there is a nifty little command in Acrobat under Tools –> Select & Zoom–> Snapshot Tool which allows you to define an area and then paste it into Word (or another programme) – note this is lower resolution than you can create with Inkscape.
The PDFs themselves can be opened in CS3 Adobe Illustrator as editable vector graphics and then exported to various formats. The PDFs can also be opened and converted to EPS in GhostView but this seems to treat them as images rather than vectors.
There are various software packages that will convert from vector PDF to DXF (e.g. http://www.trixsystems.com/pdfFLY.html) but we have not found any which are free of charge.
If DXF/DWG is required for OS MasterMap, the best option is to download GML and use Dotted Eyes’ InterpOSe software to convert from GML to DXF/DWG.
Today, Monday 5 October, a new mapping tool is available to all registered users, through Digimap’s Ordnance Survey Collection.
Roam, the new mapping facility, is available as a BETA service and will therefore be subject to various improvements over the next few months. Planned changes include:
– additional print formats as alternatives to PDF
– inclusion of scalebar on printed maps
– provision of scale and extent indication on screen maps
– adding a “My Maps” function for bookmarking maps
Roam offers “click and drag” functions to locate your map, 12 map views at different scales, printing in PDF at both A3 and A4 sizes, search by place name, postcode or grid reference, seamless scrolling through the fixed scale maps and 5 customisable map views. You can access Roam from the icon above Classic in Digimap’s Ordnance Survey Collection home page.
We hope you will use the new facility and let us know what you think of it. There is a link within Roam for you to report any feedback you have (positive and negative). You can also email us on edina@ed.ac.uk or telephone us on 0131 650 3302.
Roam will replace the current Classic facility in January 2010.
Booking is now open for several Digimap training courses and online workshops to be run in 2009-10. These events are open to staff members in UK higher and further education institutions.
Further details of course content and learning objectives can be found on our website, where you will also find booking forms: http://edina.ac.uk/events/
The first online workshop, Digimap Site Reps – Update for 09/10, is scheduled for 7 October 2009 at 12:00 noon. Emma Sutton will discuss the Variation Agreement to the Ordnance Survey Data sub-licence, which took effect in August 2009. The recent data update will also be covered.
Lunch and refreshments are provided for attendees. All EDINA training courses are free of charge. Regretfully, however, we will charge £25.00 per person for each day of absence of which EDINA is not given prior notice.
If you are uncertain about the relevance of a course for your needs, please get in touch with EDINA for advice at edina@ed.ac.uk.
Following an unscheduled outage over the past 24 hours, MasterMap Download is now available again.
However, Topographic Layer orders are limited to 25sq.km and all orders may take longer than the advertised 2 days to process. Please be patient and do not resubmit your order.
We aim to restore full service early next week. Further information will be posted here when available. Apologies for the inconvenience.
Following this afternoon’s diagnostics test, MasterMap Download is now available but running under reduced capacity. Orders for Topography Layer are limited to 5 x 5 km (25 sq. km) as a temporary measure.
Between 07.30 and 09.30 hrs on Thursday 24 September, MasterMap Download will be unavailable to allow a fix to be applied. Further information on its success will be available thereafter.
The MasterMap Download facility will be temporarily withdrawn at 14.00 hours today, Wednesday 23 September 2009.
Currently, significant software faults are causing most data orders to fail and the system is unstable. Withdrawing access will allow EDINA to undertake diagnostic work to identify a solution to the problem. External software suppliers are also involved.
As yet, we do not know how long the service will need to be unavailable, but futher information will be posted here and on the Digimap login page, as and when it is available.
Should you have an urgent data order, please contact the EDINA Helpdesk with details of the data you require. We cannot process orders immediately, but we may still have an opportunity to meet the advertised 2-day delivery schedule. This very much depends on the problem identified.
New data
On Thursday 17th September EDINA released all available updates for data provided through Digimap’s Ordnance Survey Collection. Details of the versions of all the data offered can be found on the EDINA website here. The Digimap licence also now offers MiniScale and the OS 1:250,000 scale colour raster data. These are currently available through ShareGeo and will be added to the Data Download as soon as possible.
Architectural Changes
As well as updating the data, other significant changes have been made to the underlying technologies supporting Digimap. In short, we have replaced the entire GIS architecture which produces the maps you see online.
The new software, from Cadcorp, offers a number of benefits to both EDINA and end users of Digimap. As well as enhanced quality maps and faster map generation online, the printed output gives crisp, clear maps as PDF files. EPS files are no longer available from any facility within Digimap’s OS Collection, including Carto, but EDINA is working on the provision of additional formats to PDF.
New mapping facility: Roam
With the arrival of the new GIS software, EDINA has also developed a new mapping facility, called Roam. Still in a development phase, Roam offers the usual search functions as well as “slippy maps”, the click-and-drag function used to position a map, familiar to users of other popular online mapping facilities. It is easier to locate your map, easier to zoom in and out, and now offers maps at 12 different fixed scales. An additional small scale Ordnance Survey mapping product, MiniScale, has been included, and other datasets (e.g. Strategi and OS MasterMap) are available at more than one fixed scale.
Currently Roam is available as a Beta facility to site representatives only until Monday 5th October, when it will become available to all registered users of Digimap’s Ordnance Survey Collection. Roam is available from the OS Collection Home page; you will find the new icon next to those for Classic and Carto. It will be greyed out if you don’t yet have access to it.
Roam will run in Beta alongside the current Classic facility until January 2010 when Classic will be withdrawn entirely. Regular updates will be made to Roam to add new functionality, such as MyMaps, prior to its release as a full service in January 2010.
If you have any questions about this email or about Digimap in general, please do not hesitate to contact the EDINA Helpdesk on edina@ed.ac.uk
