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Map Room Home page | |
written by Nigel
James
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MAPINFO How to... | |
No. 1: Create a basic topographic map | |
(References to tables, folders etc., are not applicable outside the Map Room, so if you are located elsewhere, you should substitute your own) | |
This explains how to use MapInfo to produce a simple topographic map of the Oxford area, print the map and save the map in a workspace. | |
1. Start MapInfo. 2. When you see the Quick Start dialog, select Open a Table and click Open… 3. When the Open Table dialog appears, click the arrow next to the Look in box and click drive D. Click the GB200K folder and click the Open button. 4. You will now see a list of files, each representing one layer of data. Scroll the list along until you can see a file called counties.tab. Click the file to select it, then click the Open button. The map will now appear in a window. 5. Maximise the window, then arrange the toolboxes so you can see them. The first step is to view the whole map, so click the right mouse button then click the pop-up menu option View entire layer. You only have one layer at the moment (counties) so select that and click OK. 6. Zoom in on Oxfordshire by clicking the Zoom in button (a magnifying glass with a +), then drag a box over Oxfordshire by holding down the left mouse button. The map will zoom when you release the button. If you make a mistake, click anywhere on the map with the right mouse button and click Previous view on the menu which appears. Click the pointer tool (top left tool on the Main toolbox) when you have finished to avoid further accidental zooming! If you are not sure which county is Oxfordshire, you can add labels by opening the Layer Control and clicking the autolabel checkbox for the counties layer. Click OK to display the names. 7. Open the tables folder and open towns_lge.tab. This will display Oxford as a yellow symbol. Open the table folder again, select A_rd.tab, then hold down the Control key and click Motorway.tab. Click Open to display them. (This technique allows you to open several tables at once. 8. Now you can add some more towns, so open the towns_med table and autolabel it. 9. The names are quite small, so let's make them bigger. Open the Layer control, click the Towns_lge layer and click the Label button. You will now see the Label Options dialog. 10. Click the button with Aa on it in the Styles group. This displays a font dialog. Change the size to 12 and click the Bold checkbox. In the Background group, click the Halo option to add a white halo to the text. This will make it clearer on the map. Click OK. 11. You will now be back at the Label Options dialog. Now move the label position to top right of the symbols by clicking the top right Anchor point in the Position group. Click OK, then click OK in the Layer control to redisplay the map. 12. If you wish, add further layers such as rivers_lge and rivers_med. If the map gets too crowded, open the Layer control, select a layer to remove and click the Remove button, then click OK to redisplay the map. 13. Now you can place the map on a page for printing. Click Window on the menu bar, then click New Layout Window. You are given three options. The map will have been selected automatically, so check that the first option is selected and click OK. 14. You will now see a preview of your printed map. If the orientation is wrong, click File on the menu bar and then click Page Setup. Change to the orientation you require and click OK. If your map would now spread across two pages, MapInfo will automatically show two pages with a dotted line separating them. To return to one page, click Layout on the menu bar, then Options. This displays the Layout Display Options dialog. In Layout size, change Width (or Height, as appropriate) to 1. Click OK. 15. If you have changed the orientation, you may have to resize your map. Only detail within the white page area will print. To resize the map, click the Pointer tool button if not already selected , then click the map once to select it and use the four corner handles to adjust the size. You can also click once on the map then hold down the left mouse button and drag the map to reposition it. 16. To add a title to the map, click the Text Style button (A with a ? ). Set the font to size 16 and click OK. Now click the Text button (A without a ? ), click once below the map and type Oxford Region. Press Enter. You can now move the text as required by clicking it once with the left mouse button and dragging it into position. If you have made a spelling mistake, or wish to change the style, double-click the text. You can then edit it. Click off the text when you have finished to deselect it. 17. Before printing the map, you should save your work in a workspace. To do this, click File on the menu bar and then Save workspace. In the Save in box select drive [D]. In the folders list click UsrFldrs and click Open. Create your own folder by clicking the New Folder button. Type your name as a folder name and click Open. In the Filename box delete the default name and type a name (e.g. oxford1). Click OK to save the workpace. MapInfo automatically adds the .wor extension. 18. Now you can print the map by opening the File menu and clicking Print. Click OK to print the map. 19. You can go back to the mapper window if you wish and add or remove layers, zoom in or out or make other changes. When you go back to the layout window the map in the layout will have updated automatically. 20. To work on your map in a further session, start MapInfo, then click File and then click Open workspace. Go to the UsrFldrs folder on drive C and find your folder. Click the workspace file and then Open. Your map (including the layout window) will be displayed just as you saved it. Don't forget to save it again (or save it under a new filename) when you finish, and ideally at intervals whilst you are working. |
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This is a brief and specific guide to this topic, for more general information, see: MapInfo - an easy guide for new users | |
Nigel
James
Bodleian Library 2001 |