All posts tagged: tips

Tips on Researching and Mapping Historical Rail Lines Using the Internet

May 3, 2020
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In between writing this blog, designing my own maps, and digitally restoring vintage maps, I also like to map out old, forgotten streetcar and electric interurban networks in Google Maps. I mainly do it because I want to compile information from various sources into one place and build my own coherent understanding of the networks that once existed. So far, I’ve done the streetcars and interurbans of Portland, Oregon in 1920; the interurbans of Spokane, […]

Tutorial: Drawing Complex Highway Interchanges in Illustrator

October 18, 2014
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This is kind of a tangent to my normal tutorials, but I had a surprising number of requests for this after I published my McKinney Avenue Trolley map, so here goes! The first thing to note is that this is not a 100-percent accurate representation of the interchange: this trolley map is not intended to be a road map or to be used to navigate freeways. I want to communicate the idea of an interchange […]

New Adobe Illustrator “Join Tool” Aids Transit Map Design!

October 17, 2014
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When Adobe Illustrator finally introduced “Live Corners” in January of this year, I was overjoyed. They’d taken one of the most time-consuming and tedious tasks in transit mapping – generating properly nested sets of rounded corners where route lines changed direction – and turned it into something intuitive, quick and 100-percent accurate every time. However, it didn’t solve every problem. Joining two separate paths into one (so that Live Corners could be applied to the […]

Tutorial: Working with a Grid in Adobe Illustrator

June 22, 2014
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Got a message in my inbox from ssjmaz, who says: I’m new to working with Illustrator. While working with 45 degree angles and Snap to Grid on I have a hard time getting my lines (routes) to align properly, there is always a part of them that intersects with the neighbouring line. Back when I first started making transit maps, I had this exact same problem. I’d make my grid, turn on Snap to Grid […]

Submission – Tutorial: Changing the Background Colour of a Text Box

February 12, 2014
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Graphic Fix: Change Background Color of Text Box in Illustrator Problem: My Kentucky Ave label overlaps with objects below it, resulting in a cluttered appearance. Turns out, there is a super easy fix for something like this! Create the Area Text (text box). Select the Area Text with the Direct Selection Tool (white arrow).  In the Appearance panel select desired background fill color and adjust Transparency to your heart’s content.  Your labels should now look […]

Tutorial: Harnessing the Power of Illustrator’s “Symbols” Feature in Transit Map Design

December 31, 2013
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Imagine this scenario: you’ve been working for months on a complex transit map – lots of interchanges and routes – for a big-city transit agency and you’re presenting it to their management team for approval. They love it, except they’d like the circular interchange markers you’ve used to be square with rounded edges instead. And they’d like to see the revised version in an hour. If you’ve used standard Illustrator artwork for each of your […]

Tutorial: Creating Multiple Parallel Route Lines using Art Brushes

December 24, 2013
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Last week’s tip about using the Offset Path command in Illustrator to create multiple parallel paths was very well received, but reader Leah left a comment saying that she finds using Art Brushes quicker and easier. If nothing else, it’s good to be reminded that there are always different ways to achieve the same result!  Setting up an Art Brush for what we want to do is actually pretty simple. Simply create a short section […]

Tutorial: Creating Multiple Parallel Route Lines

December 17, 2013
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Today’s tutorial comes from an anonymous question that I received in my inbox, which asked: I design a bus transit map using a street layer. But how can i align correctly multiple lines on a street without overlap? This is a great question. You’d be amazed how often I see people attempting to draw multiple parallel route lines manually, which is absolutely the most difficult way of doing things. You might be able to get away with it on […]

Tutorial: Station Labels Using the “Core Type Area” – Part 4: Intersecting Route Lines

December 10, 2013
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Here’s the last of my tutorials regarding station label placement – what to do when route lines intersect each other. There are three standard ways that orthogonal route lines can cross each other, each illustrated below. Horizontal and Vertical Lines: The simplest intersection to deal with. Simply keep the same distance from the side and top/bottom of your label for consistent results. Vertical Line Intersecting an Angled Line (or a Horizontal Line/Angled Line): This one’s […]

Tutorial: Station Labels Using the “Core Type Area” – Part 3: Angled Labels

December 3, 2013
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While it’s true that I don’t really like the use of station labels that are angled – being very much in the Erik Spiekermann camp that believes horizontal labels aid comprehension and create a cleaner looking map – I do realise that there are times when their use is necessary. If you do use angled labels, then I strongly advise that you keep the number of angles used to the absolute minimum required – type […]