{"id":74301,"date":"2016-11-30T01:01:06","date_gmt":"2016-11-30T01:01:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/product\/uncategorized\/how-to-fake-plastic-maps\/"},"modified":"2018-03-26T21:11:03","modified_gmt":"2018-03-26T21:11:03","slug":"how-to-fake-plastic-maps","status":"publish","type":"blog","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/imagery\/imagery\/how-to-fake-plastic-maps","title":{"rendered":"How To: Fake Plastic Maps"},"author":6971,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_searchwp_excluded":""},"categories":[22931,22941],"tags":[24111,23201,26451,24131,24141,32321,32331,40161,27911],"industry":[],"product":[36581,36561],"class_list":["post-74301","blog","type-blog","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-imagery","category-mapping","tag-aspect","tag-cartographic-design","tag-cartography","tag-dem","tag-elevation","tag-hillshade","tag-how-to","tag-living-atlas-of-the-world","tag-tutorial","product-arcgis-living-atlas","product-arcgis-pro"],"acf":{"short_description":"Existential Introduction\nThis post will show you how to make realistic-looking fake maps by faking realism over something real, in order ...","flexible_content":[{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"<p style=\"text-align: center\"><strong>Existential Introduction<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>This post will show you how to make <em>realistic-looking fake maps by faking realism over something real, in order to make it look realistically fake<\/em>. Got it? Let&#8217;s do this!<\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;m a big fan of using transparency-laden color gradients on hillshade layers to get a subtle realistic textured look without the junk mid-tones. You can while away five to ten minutes of your allotted time on this Earth <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.esri.com\/esri\/arcgis\/2016\/11\/14\/bump-ified-imagery\/\" target=\"_blank\">reading about how to do it<\/a>\u00a0in ArcGIS Pro.<\/p>\n<p>But who wants to be subtle and realistic all the time? Life is too short not to make the occasional absurd map.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><strong>Big Plaster Museum Relief Maps<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Have you been to a museum or visitor center and beheld the sweet sweet massive physical raised relief maps they invariably have in a diorama or mounted onto a wall? Big, heavy, 3D, and awesome.\u00a0So, let&#8217;s take that hillshade color gradient <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.esri.com\/esri\/arcgis\/2016\/11\/14\/bump-ified-imagery\/\" target=\"_blank\">trick<\/a>, and turn the highlights\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=4xgx4k83zzc\" target=\"_blank\">up to eleven<\/a>\u00a0to turn unsuspecting aerial imagery into those plastic\/plaster raised-relief maps that we all wish we could touch without getting barked at by security.<\/p>\n<p>Here&#8217;s a photograph of the Cope Map of the Gettysburg battlefield. Emmor B. Cope, a park engineer, created it over 100 years ago.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_70480\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-70480\" style=\"width: 640px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/markerhunter.wordpress.com\/2012\/02\/25\/the-cope-map-gettysburg\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-70480 noIMGBackground\" src=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2016\/11\/CopesGettysburgMap.jpg\" alt=\"The Cope Map, a raised relief installation at the Gettysburg visitor center.\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-70480\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Cope Map of Gettysburg. Photo courtesy Craig Swain.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>But it wasn&#8217;t until I saw <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/armymapguy\" target=\"_blank\">Tom Smedley<\/a>&#8216;s tweet of this map that I thought, &#8220;There is no good reason to replicate this in a GIS. <em>Time to give it a shot<\/em>.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/armymapguy\/status\/790601437894078464\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-70482 noIMGBackground\" src=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2016\/11\/TomsPicture.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"579\" height=\"470\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><strong>How To Fake Them<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Bold Shadows<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Fire up <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ArcGISPro\" target=\"_blank\">ArcGIS Pro<\/a> and choose the &#8220;Imagery with Labels&#8221; basemap. Here is a snapshot showing the Gettysburg area.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2016\/11\/PlasticMapOriginalSatellite.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-70617\" src=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2016\/11\/PlasticMapOriginalSatellite.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1246\" height=\"804\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Pull in a <a href=\"http:\/\/doc.arcgis.com\/en\/living-atlas\/item\/?itemId=c3587bd89d474dff8d306fefdc295083\" target=\"_blank\">hillshade layer from the Living Atlas<\/a>, and re-color it so that only the shadows have opacity. Set to transparent all other parts of the hillshade gradient (including highlights an mid-tones). This replicates the exaggerated bumpiness of a museum relief map hanging on a dimly-lit wall.<\/p>\n<p>This is what the hillshade layer looks like by default, before changing the symbology&#8217;s gradient:<a href=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2016\/11\/PlasticMapHillshadeOriginal.jpg\"><br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-70618 noIMGBackground\" src=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2016\/11\/PlasticMapHillshadeOriginal.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1246\" height=\"804\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>But we want to get rid of all the gray mid-tones and white highlights and really crank up the shading. So open up the hillshade layer&#8217;s Color Scheme Editor dialog and tweak the gradient with the luscious magic enabled by transparency support in ArcGIS Pro.<\/p>\n<p>How do you get to that dialog? Within the hillshade layer&#8217;s\u00a0<em>Symbology<\/em> menu, expand the <em>Color scheme<\/em> droplist, then choose <em>Format color scheme<\/em>. And put on your mad scientist goggles.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2016\/11\/ProColorScheme.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-70621 noIMGBackground\" src=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2016\/11\/ProColorScheme.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"937\" height=\"867\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Here&#8217;s a close-up of the shadow-y color scheme I cooked up:<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2016\/11\/HillshadeColors.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-70622 noIMGBackground\" src=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2016\/11\/HillshadeColors.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"909\" height=\"72\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Here are the specifics, if you want to re-create it:<\/p>\n<pre>Color\u00a0| Transparency | Position\n#000000\u00a0| 10%\u00a0 | 0%\n#000000\u00a0| 10%\u00a0 | 10%\n#000000\u00a0| 30%\u00a0 | 65%\n#000000\u00a0| 100%\u00a0| 75%\n#000000\u00a0| 100% | 100%<\/pre>\n<p>And here&#8217;s how it looks on top of the imagery after the gradient magic:<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2016\/11\/PlasticMapHillshade.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2016\/11\/PlasticMapHillshade.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1246\" height=\"804\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Garish Lighting<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Probably the most tactile quality of these raised relief maps is their reflective surface within stark <em>visitor&#8217;s center<\/em> lighting conditions.\u00a0So\u00a0I searched the\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/doc.arcgis.com\/en\/living-atlas\/#s=0&amp;subCat=0&amp;type=All&amp;area=All&amp;q=terrain%20aspect\" target=\"_blank\">Living Atlas<\/a>\u00a0for an aspect layer and added it to my project. Aspect is an image overlay derived, like hillshade, from a Digital Elevation Model. It colors pixels by what geographic direction the surface happens to be facing. Pretty cool, right? GIS frequently blows my mind.<\/p>\n<p>The default symbology of this aspect layer uses very bold hues:<a href=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2016\/11\/PlasticMapAspectOriginal.jpg\"><br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-70625 noIMGBackground\" src=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2016\/11\/PlasticMapAspectOriginal.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1246\" height=\"804\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Using the Color Scheme Editor once more, paint Northwest-facing sides white, and fade to fully transparent in the other directions.<\/p>\n<p>Here is a close-up of my color gradient:<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2016\/11\/AspectColors.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-70626 noIMGBackground\" src=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2016\/11\/AspectColors.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"909\" height=\"72\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Hard to tell what&#8217;s going on from that image. So here are the specifics, if you want a head-start on making your own reflection effect:<\/p>\n<pre>Color\u00a0| Transparency | Position\n#FFFFFF\u00a0| 100% | 0%\n#FFFFFF\u00a0| 100% | 70%\n#FFFFFF\u00a0| 80%\u00a0 | 80%\n#FFFFFF\u00a0| 60%\u00a0 | 84%\n#FFFFFF\u00a0| 60%  | 86%\n#FFFFFF | 80%  | 90%\n#FFFFFF | 100% | 100%<\/pre>\n<p>Check it out! Now that rainbow aspect layer has been hijacked to look like a spotlight illuminating a confoundingly realistic-looking raised relief map. Pow!<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2016\/11\/PlasticMapAspect.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-70629 noIMGBackground\" src=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2016\/11\/PlasticMapAspect.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1246\" height=\"804\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s it. A silly way to make real imagery look fake, and therefore real, by making it look like fake imagery trying to look real. Yes.<\/p>\n<p>Couple tips: Render the hillshade and aspect layers <em>on top of<\/em> any label layers, so the labels look like they are painted onto the surface and also impacted by the lighting conditions. I also added a vignette, because that\u2019s what happens in real life when you take a picture of a surface like this in lighting conditions like this. You can create vignette effects for your maps by adding a rectangle over the layout and then playing with the fill settings.<\/p>\n<p>I leave you with this before\/after animation:<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/adventuresinmapping.files.wordpress.com\/2016\/10\/plasticmapanimation.gif\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone\" src=\"https:\/\/adventuresinmapping.files.wordpress.com\/2016\/10\/plasticmapanimation.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"413\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Happy\u00a0<em>reality through fakeness<\/em>\u00a0mapping!\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/John_M_Nelson\" target=\"_blank\">John<\/a><\/p>\n"}],"authors":[{"ID":6971,"user_firstname":"John","user_lastname":"Nelson","nickname":"John Nelson","user_nicename":"j_nelson","display_name":"John Nelson","user_email":"John_Nelson@esri.com","user_url":"http:\/\/www.adventuresinmapping.com","user_registered":"2018-03-02 00:19:05","user_description":"I have far too much fun looking for ways to understand and present data visually, hopefully driving product strategy and engaging users. I work in the ArcGIS Living Atlas team at Esri, pushing and pulling data in all sorts of absurd ways and then sharing the process. I also design user experiences for maps and apps.\r\nWhen I'm not doing those things, I'm chasing around toddlers and wrangling chickens, and generally getting into other ad-hoc adventures. Life is good.\r\nYou might also like these Styles for ArcGIS Pro: esriurl.com\/nelsonstyles","user_avatar":"<img data-del=\"avatar\" src='https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2018\/04\/Profile.jpg' class='avatar pp-user-avatar avatar-96 photo ' height='96' width='96'\/>"}]},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v25.9 (Yoast SEO v25.9) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>How To: Fake Plastic Maps<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/imagery\/imagery\/how-to-fake-plastic-maps\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How To: Fake Plastic Maps\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/imagery\/imagery\/how-to-fake-plastic-maps\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"ArcGIS Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/esrigis\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-03-26T21:11:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ESRI\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":[\"Article\",\"BlogPosting\"],\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/imagery\/imagery\/how-to-fake-plastic-maps#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/imagery\/imagery\/how-to-fake-plastic-maps\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"John Nelson\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/#\/schema\/person\/c7b930618049977e8eb11eef6b671468\"},\"headline\":\"How To: Fake Plastic Maps\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-11-30T01:01:06+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-03-26T21:11:03+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/imagery\/imagery\/how-to-fake-plastic-maps\"},\"wordCount\":5,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"aspect\",\"cartographic design\",\"cartography\",\"digital elevation model (DEM)\",\"elevation\",\"Hillshade\",\"How to?\",\"Living Atlas of the World\",\"Tutorial\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Imagery &amp; 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I work in the ArcGIS Living Atlas team at Esri, pushing and pulling data in all sorts of absurd ways and then sharing the process. I also design user experiences for maps and apps. When I'm not doing those things, I'm chasing around toddlers and wrangling chickens, and generally getting into other ad-hoc adventures. Life is good. 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