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Creating QuickMaps

Use the QuickMap feature to simplify the process of creating a map product in ENVI. You can quickly add grid lines, scale bars, titles, north arrows, declination diagrams, and logos to your image to make a quick output map. When you have set all of your parameters, you can save the settings as a QuickMap template that you can use on other images. After the output map is created, you can make additional changes with the interactive overlay capabilities (e.g., annotation) found in the Image window menu bar and you can output the map to Postscript or to a standard printer.

The following figure show an example QuickMap display.

Figure 4-13: A QuickMap Image

Figure 4-13: A QuickMap Image


Note
Extremely small images may result in QuickMap displays too small to accommodate multiple annotation objects.

  1. From the Available Bands List, display a georeferenced image.

    2.  


    Note
    To use the QuickMap feature, you must have a georeferenced image displayed.

     

  2. From the Image window menu bar, select File  QuickMap  New QuickMap.

    3.  

  3. When the QuickMap Default Layout dialog appears, enter the page size, select Portrait or Landscape page orientation, and enter your desired output map scale.

    4.  


    Note
    To change the map scale, enter a new value in the Scale text box, or use the arrow increment buttons.

     

  4. Click OK. The QuickMap Image Selection window appears.

    5.  

  5. Select from the following options to select the image subset to use in the QuickMap:
    • Resize and move the red box outline (drag from a corner to resize, click and drag the middle of the box to move).

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    • Enter x and y sizes, in inches, in the Image Size text boxes, or use the arrow increment buttons to select dimensions.

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    • Click Spatial Subset. For subsetting details, see Selecting a Spatial Subset.

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      Note
      You cannot enlarge the red box to a size that causes the output image size to be larger than what fits on the selected page size at the selected map scale.

     

  6. Click OK.

The QuickMap Parameters dialog appears.

Setting QuickMap Parameters

  1. When the QuickMap Parameters dialog appears, select from the following options:
    • To add a title to the top of the map, type the text in the Main Title text box.

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    • To add text to the lower left or lower right corners of the map, type the text into the corresponding text boxes.

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    • To automatically load the map projection information from the ENVI header into either the Lower Left or Lower Right text boxes, right-click in the text box and select Load Projection Info.

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    • To change the font used for any title, select a new font from the corresponding drop-down button and enter or select the point size. For more information on fonts, see Using Other TrueType Fonts with ENVI.

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    • To set the justification for any title, select from the corresponding drop-down button. Center is the default.

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    • To change the grid line parameters (thickness, style, color, etc.), click Additional Properties.

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    • To add scale bars and grid lines, leave the corresponding check boxes selected and edit the parameters as needed.

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    • To add a logo and adjust its placement, click Edit Logo Files and Placements. Locate the file containing the logo (the file must contain three bands of byte data: red, green, and blue). Use the QuickMap Logo File Parameters dialog to change the logo size and position. Click OK to return to the QuickMap Parameters dialog.

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    • To add a North arrow, leave the corresponding check box selected and select an arrow type from the North Arrow Type drop-down button.

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    • To add a declination diagram, click Declination Values. In the Declination Diagram Values dialog, enter the values and click OK.

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    • To return to the QuickMap Image Selection window and edit the image subset or map scale, click Change Mapping Parameters.

     

  2. In the QuickMap Parameters dialog, click Apply. ENVI automatically adds a virtual border to your QuickMap image, places your selected titles and annotation onto your image, and produces a map, which displays as a new standard ENVI Display Group. The QuickMap Parameters dialog remains open.

    3.  


    Note
    If you added a logo, it appears as a red box with an RGB label on the map, but appears correctly when printed.

     

  3. Use the QuickMap Parameters dialog to edit the map. Click Apply to view the changes.

    4.  


    Note
    To edit the borders, add more annotation or overlay elements, or edit the existing map elements, use standard ENVI interactive display functions as described in this chapter.

Printing QuickMaps

To print QuickMaps, in the QuickMap Image window, select File  Print, choose Output QuickMap to Printer or Standard Printing, and click OK.

The Output QuickMap printing scales the output correctly for the parameters that you entered at the start of QuickMap. Standard printing does not take into consideration the page size and map scale you entered when you created the QuickMap.


Note
If you selected a large page size during QuickMap setup, you might first test the output on a small scale by using the standard printing option, then use the QuickMap printing option to print to a larger page.

Additional QuickMap Output Options

To output the map directly to an image or Postscript file, select the corresponding command from the File menu in the map Image window as described later in this chapter.

QuickMap Templates

After creating a QuickMap, you can save the parameters in a template file to use on other georeferenced images of the same dimension and pixel size.

In the QuickMap Parameters dialog, click Save Template, enter a filename (ENVI adds a .qm extension), and click OK.


Note
Use QuickMap templates only on images of the same dimension and pixel size of the image from which the template was created.

To open and apply an existing map template, from the georeferenced image, select File  QuickMap  from Previous Template or click Restore Template in the QuickMap Parameters dialog, then click Apply to apply the QuickMap to the image.

To edit template parameters, see Setting QuickMap Parameters.

  ENVI Online Help (August 12, 2005)