Boundary "crop" tool

[nvkelso]

I would like an easier way to visually modify the boundaries of an existing map. Sometimes I want to make it smaller, sometimes enlarge over existing boundaries. I envision this like the "crop" tool in Photoshop in that I have a map selected and then I score over it using the tool. The new north-south-east-west extents for that map are then applied and the map is redrawn. There should be an option if the map stays the same dimensions (the nominal scale changes) or if the map gets larger (the nominal scale remains the same).

[daan]

Not surprisingly, this is one of our own desires as well. We realized, given Geocart’s ability to work both at very large and very small scales, that a single crop mechanism would not suffice. We implemented the small-scale cropping mechanism in the Boundaries dialog to handle projection exotica (such as the general perspective projection), but with the recognition that we would need an in-document mechanism for more normal mapping cases.

You write, "The new north-south-east-west extents for that map are then applied," but is that really what you want? Is it not a rectangle you want, regardless of the map’s orientation or the shapes of its graticule’s curves?

[nvkelso]

You have hit the nail on the head. I was describing a tool to set the boundaries in lat/lng space, which is important in and of itself to make sure I have the right total extent visible, but then there is a seperate type of cropping that is for the neatline page boundary crop to make it a nice, rectangular map again (and possibly over-ride the boundaries by including extra map content to fill in the edges). Like your other settings, it would be nice to be able to link (or not) proportionally the center of the raw lngLat boundaries with the center (or 9-point proxy) of the neatline so it changes along with change in parameters. So option to "fill in map with areas outside boundary" and option to use average of the boundary curve'd area, full extent (geocart 3.0 default), or custom.

[daan]

(and possibly over-ride the boundaries by including extra map content to fill in the edges)… eek! Now that would be some magic, given the vagaries of arbitrary projections and Geocart’s model for representing boundaries in projection space. In the general case it’s not possible. In the usual case, I suppose it’s more a matter of feasibility. I wouldn’t hold my breath on this one, unfortunately. Still, it sounds like an in-document rectangle cropping tool would go a long way.