importing street map information

[cubswinn]

i use xara extreme pro to draw street maps. when I try to import maps from PDF files the resulting lines are all "scanned" east to west and are not contiguous. the north south streets are completely broken up. is there any way to get a more more coherent set of street lines from a PDF file?
thanks,
cubswinn

[Egg Bramhill]

Welcome cubswinn,

Could you post an example .xar file that you're having trouble with?

[cubswinn]

as i select street lines on the map there is no organization about which are linked, but they tend to run linear across the page. the "filled" dark blue objects are more 2-dimentional.
thanks again,
john

[handrawn]

Not by any means an expert in pdf - but I use it a lot to transfer between programs

What shapes you get when you import is dependent on how it was made in the first place, over which presumably you have no control?

[steve.ledger]

Yep - that's how the PDF's have been put together.

http://www.citruscountyfl.org/maps_cc/maps.htm

[Egg Bramhill]

cubswin,

That sure is one messed up vector map. It looks as if the roads have been created using a GPS tracker. To use Xtreme and the shape editor tool to join them up would take forever.

What I have been able to do, using named colours is to isolate various parts of the map. By selecting one or more of the V Zone object and giving it a named colour fill (best if it's distinct from any other used colour - you can change it later), you can eventually have them all filled as a named colour.

Now use can use the name gallery to select just this named colour. Ctrl+X to cut, Create a new layer, Ctrl+Shift+V to paste into the new layer in exactly the same position. Make this layer non Editable and non Viewable.

Return to the first layer and with a new named colour, select all the Flood Zone areas little by little giving them them the new fill colour (Ctrl + Shift + A, paste attributes helps here). Once completed, do the same as before; use the Name Gallery to select all of that colour and cut and paste it to it's own layer. make it non Viewable non Editable

Next, return to the original layer, select all the remaining non road objects i.e. border. scale bar compass rose, side panel and cut and paste theses to their own layer and make it non Viewable non Editable.

Back in the original layer you are only be left with the multitude of broken lines /roads.

In the Layers Gallery click Copy to create a copy of this layer (This ensures you still have a copy of the original lines should something go wrong in the future. Make the original layer non Viewable non Editable.

Now in the Copy of the roads layer (and with no other layer editable) Ctrl+A (Select All) If I remember correctly it had about 188 objects (They're not all lines because some of the lines had been closed to create shapes). Set the line width to suit.

Now Arrange / Convert lines to shapes.

And Arrange / Add shapes (This will take a little time)

You now have all your roads as one shape. Not great but the majority of these roads are minor roads.

Now al you need to do is draw in the main and major roads by hand.

[raynerj1]

Have you tried add shapes, break shapes and see what you get?

Personally... I would just create a layer over top of this layer and start drawing myself... http://www.blackhillsmaps.biz/

[cubswinn]

I guess I was looking for some sort of silver bullet of that would make sense out of this whole thing. But I guess it's just as helpful to know that there isn't one. I agree that isolating the minor streets on one layer and with one name probably solves 95% of the problem since generally there is no reason to move streets. I guess the only problem that arises is with end caps if I decide to create double lined minor streets. breaking shapes on the entire minor street level looks like it will be very helpful also as it eliminates the need to cut the shapes apart across the page. The resulting segments can then be added together north to south and east to west giving a pretty coherent result.
Thanks again for all your help,
cubswinn

[Egg Bramhill]

cubswinn,

Attached is a xar file with just the lines.

I guess the only problem that arises is with end caps if I decide to create double lined minor streets.

The lines all have rounded end caps and the roads are double lined.

The biggest problem is the original source. It has very dirty lines made up of numerous nodes (That's why I thought it might have been created via a GPS plotter)

As John says, to get the best results you'd need to draw it yourself using the map as a reference point. However this would take several hours, whilst this method takes no longer than it took me to type this reply.

[Daniel]

The PDF's properties (CTRL+D when viewing it with Adobe Reader) says the original filename was floodzonetifnarrow.mxd and a Google search on MXD file formats leads to http://www.esri.com/software/arcgis/...features2.html - the likely origin software. It can export to EPS among others - perhaps ask the people supplying the PDF for a different format file: it's likely only the PDF export that makes the roads in such a strange way. GIS software wouldn't record roads like that in its original format surely.