Automatic Production of the Frame Information for Offset Printing Purposes on the National Topograph

Since 1875, the Spanish Geographical Institute (IGN) has been working to meet society's need for accurate cartographic products. Our 1:50,000 scale map has been developed for more than a century, and now, thanks to FME, we are able to automate for every map sheet not only the production of the cartographic data, but also the grid and the various metadata that must be placed within the sheet’s frame. We have been able to create rectangular grids with the same cartographic rules that we have in our institution, while at the same time creating non-rectangular ones to meet the needs of our clients. The information placed around the canvas fits with the cartographic information of the map and part of this information has been imported from the same PostGIS databases, such as the list of the towns within the map. These list, is strictly positioned in the sheet bounds. Linked to this information, a map outline is drawn to help the customers locate the area that the map represents. At the same time, all marginal objects of the map are symbolized by means of FME, Adobe Illustrator Template and MAPublisher. Moreover, the geographical extent of the map covers several survey points that our institution maintains, and the list of them is also placed in the boundaries. These are few examples of the scope of our project. Certainly, the use of FME in this project was essential to achieve our goal. This workflow will be used for the rest of our maps at different scales, such as the 1:25,000 map or our 1:200,000 regional map.