1.

Garmin BaseCamp: Clean Up Data

 Before editing anything, export your raw data to a backup location!
o BaseCamp auto-saves when you quit, but is unstable and prone to
crashing
 Remember that BaseCamp manages data by a database and list system,
not a folder-subfolder system like Windows and MacOS!
o If you delete something, it’s deleted only from that list
o But if you edit something, it will be edited in all lists!
o To avoid problems with this, use the “Duplicate” function when needed
to create new versions of items to work with
 If your waypoint numbers overlap with existing ones, make sure to duplicate.
It’s best to rename everything (according to the follow process) so that you
won’t encounter this issue
 Clean up GPX tracks
o Take out unneeded detours, “noise” from sitting in place, etc.
o Re-combine tracks into the desired configuration, by stages, regions,
sub-tracks, etc.
o Label everything by a system that will organize itself neatly in the lists
of your data. API format:
 For waypoints, e.g.: AP-Jen.01: 0.5km
 For tracks, e.g.: AP-Jen.01: Rumana to Burqin (17.8km)
 Name location points as appropriate. Include details
o e.g., “Al-Salam Restaurant, Burqin,” rather than just “Restaurant”
 Group all tracks and waypoints together into lists as needed
 Use “Export” to save whichever lists you need to use for map production

2. JOSM: Fill in map data

 This is the fundamental part of the process. The basis of the maps comes
from OSM; everything is just graphic design. Accordingly, this will take the
greatest amount of time at first.
o Once an area is filled in, you can produce maps of it relatively quickly
if there are changes to the trail or you want a new map format
 Load any relevant GPX tracks. Referring to them and their waypoints (and
corresponding notes) can give good clues as to what’s on the ground, when
satellite imagery is unclear
o Important: Go through the notes corresponding to your GPS track to
make sure the on-the-ground route descriptions match up to the map
data, especially in regards to the intersections of tracks, edges of
towns or forests, and so on. If these things do not match up, the map
will be misleading and confusing
 Determine which areas need to be filled in for region-level detail and for each
day stage, using the loaded GPX tracks
o It may be helpful to draw quadrangles to remind you of the bounds of
each area; don’t tag these, and remember to delete them when you’re
done drawing
 o Allow areas somewhat larger than the actual stage maps will be, in
case map design might change in the future or be more zoomed-out
than anticipated
 For the entire region, only broader detail is needed:
o Highways tertiary and higher
 See http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Key:highway for highway
definitions
o Town boundaries should have the tag “Land use->Residential”. Also
tag commercial and industrial land use where needed; it appears the
same as residential on API maps to show built-up areas
o Forests (use tag “wood” not “forest” unless it is known to be an area
managed for timber, which is rare)
o Major waterways - rivers and large wadis

 For stage maps, draw in:

o All of the above
o Smaller highways
 Unclassified (smaller roads; may link towns, but could also be
dead ends
 Service (access roads into certain areas; not long-distance
routes)
 Residential (streets in towns, which aren’t part of a longer route
running through the town and connecting to others
 Tracks (unpaved roads and 4x4 tracks
 When possible, paths - smaller ways which might not be visible
in satellite imagery. Trace from GPX data when present,
satellite when possible

o Other features:
 Quarries
 Bodies of water
 Orchards/gardens if they are small, isolated and relevant to
navigation (mainly in Mt. Sinai area)
 Not wadis, unless this is really desired (and worth the time) as
an OSM contribution - or if there are very few wadis. Otherwise
they can be generated using QGIS, saving time
 Optionally, sites like summits, historical sites, wells, and
anything else can be good contributions to OSM’s database,
but it’s not necessary to add them as they will require their own
design work in Illustrator/Inkscape anyway

 Things to be careful of:

o Pay attention to road designations for the country you’re working in;
see the relevant country pages on the OSM wiki. If none are official,
make a guess based on the description of each highway tag
(http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Key:highway)
 o Make sure each level of road forms a complete network, so that if
lower levels are hidden, there won’t be “orphaned” strips of highway
disconnected from anything else.
 This is often a pre-existing issue in OSM, where secondary or
tertiary roads run to the edges of a village, but everything inside
the village is residential, so that the roads will show up as
vanishing in villages if using the regional (tertiary roads and
above) ruleset
o It can often be surprisingly hard to tell a dirt road from a paved road. If
it’s not clear, look further away on the satellite imagery for clues like an
inconsistent width, abrupt change of surface type, or roads fading out
into paths

3. Maperitive: Render OSM data with topographical data as a graphic design

file
 Use correct ruleset:
o For API maps, we use “APIRegion.mrules” for less-detailed region-
level maps (showing only larger roads, towns, and the like), and
detailed “APIStage.mrules” for the day-by-day stage maps.
o To load a ruleset and apply it an alias, use the command:
 “use-ruleset location=Rules\APIstage.mrules as-alias APIstage”
o Use command “apply ruleset” to apply it to output; this should be
reflected in the appearance of map data in the main viewing window of
Maperitive
o See http://maperitive.net/docs/Rulesets.html for more information on
assigning rulesets (and aliases)

 Use correct data source: “set-dem-source SRTMV3R3”

 Set Geometry/Printing Bounds.

o Geometry bounds define the area for which Maperitive will download
OSM and topography data; printing bounds are the area which it will
output as a graphic design file. Generally, you’ll want them to be the
same. If outputting a region map and a series of stage maps at once,
you might set a large area for geometry bounds and define several
stage-size areas at once for printing bounds

 Load GPX tracks

o Remember to load adjacent stages/regions as well
o Add GPX files for wadis, which is generated using a separate process
in QGIS

 Add contour lines topography data:

o Generate-contours interval=10
o Your ruleset must also define the level of contours which will be
rendered
o Add hillshading (igor)
o Add hypsometric tinting
  Download OSM data (Overpass API)

 Hide web map layers

 Export using the command:

o export-svg compatibility=illustrator zoom=14
 Exported files will appear Maperitive\output
o Copy “output.svg” and its attached PNG files (one for hillshading, one
for hypsometric tinting) into a specific folder labelled as what the
map is
o After copying the output files into their new location, clear everything
from the Output folder.
 Otherwise there will soon be a confusing mess of files; output
files overwrite each other, while PNGs will become difficult to
link to the correct .svg file. This can be avoided by immediately
removing the files from the Output folder and properly
organizing them

3. Adobe Illustrator: Final map design

 In general, keep your layers well-organized; this makes it easier for you and
other people to work with the file in the future
o Separate elements like the Mini Legend, watermark, etc. as groups
(select all parts of item, right-click and pick “Group”)
o It works well to keep icons in a separate layer and organized by type -
road labels vs. other icons vs. wadi labels vs. place-name labels, for
example
o Before beginning to format roads, you can drag all roads of each type
(and their corresponding borders) into single layers, to speed up all
future formatting work

 Open “output.svg” file in Illustrator

o Immediately Save As the file in .ai format
o For API stage maps, save as [region name]-[stage number in format
0x].ai
 e.g. Nem-02.ai

 Correct for pixelated relief shading: open both PNG files in Photoshop
o In the top menu, select Image->Image Size
 Change value to: 300%
 Make sure “resampling” is checked
o If needed, use Spot Healing Brush tool to fix any DEM voids (white
spots in hypsometric tinting)
o Save file (not “Save As”)

 Initial map setup:

o Set hypsometric tinting (“Bitmap in background”) to 60% opacity
o Hide latitude/longitude lines
 o Set up and arrange artboard (usually A4 for AP maps); resize map
content if needed
o Move scale indicator into frame
 Text size 8pt, centered over indicator
 If map is an unusual size, may need to double or halve the size
of the scale indicator; change label to 2km or 500m respectively
o Add compass rose
o In general, compass rose should be in top right corner; scale indicator
in lower left; if design/layout considerations prevent this, use your
judgment

 Format Abraham Path trail: Color ff0000, Width 2, Dash 8/gap 5

o For connecting stages and spurs, set trail opacity to 40%
o City walk color: bc2cf2

 In Layers menu, move major and minor contour lines to just above “bitmap in
foreground”
o Make sure they are behind everything except land-use polygons,
PNGs and Map Background
o Water polygons should be moved above contour lines, but others
should remain behind them
o Format contour widths: major contours .5 stroke; minor contours .25
stroke
 Both of these can be varied if a particular map demands it; use
your judgment. Maps with dramatic topography (many contour
lines close together) may need an extra look

 Hide all polygons except:

o Residential
o Commercial
o Industrial
o Water
o Forest
o Military
o Quarry
o Orchard (in particular cases, such as Mt. Sinai area)

 Format polygons: Residential, industrial and commercial should all have

same color
o Quarries should be set 50% opacity, forest and military at 75%

 Format Boundary Country lines:

o 3.5 pt weight, 4pt dash, 8pt gap, color 9e1a99
o Make sure only country boundaries are showing; hide others

 Make sure all roads are formatted correctly for their size and clean up any
oddities
o After map scaling, road sizes should be
  Motorway 7
 Trunk 5
 Primary 4
 Secondary 3
 Tertiary 3
 Unclassified, residential, living street and service 2
 Borders should be 10% of the road’s value: 5.5 for trunk, 4.4 for
primary, etc.
o Add road labels - take these from template. In Israel/Area C West
Bank, refer to maps; otherwise use OSM designations for any relevant
roads to decide icon size, and try to find map data for road numbers

 Format paths, tracks

o Tracks stroke 1, dash 3/gap 3, color 999999
o Paths stroke 0.6, dash 1/gap 2, color 6f7c6d
o Footways the same as paths

 Format and label streams and wadis. Label color 0066ff

o Wadis: stroke 0.5, dash 3/gap 2, color 66a8f7
o Streams: stroke .75, solid line, opacity 75%
o Rivers: stroke 2, solid line
o Wadis should be labelled “Wadi [name]” Streams should be called
“[name] Stream” or “River” if applicable
 If there’s a standard/traditional English name, use that - e.g.
Jordan River, not Yarden or Urdun
o Use additional sources to check that the map correctly shows wadis,
streams and rivers:
 Wadi is an intermittent streambed that flows after rain or
seasonally
 Streams flow constantly, with few if any exceptions (even if
water level changes a lot)
 Rivers also flow constantly, but are wider than streams
 As of 2015, we don’t have any rivers around the path that are
wide enough for OSM to treat them as polygons rather than
lines, but that will involve some different formatting.
 There are a few cases where streams have been drawn
this way in OSM, such as in Gilboa map 2; I manually
drew in a stream and then hid the polygons

 Mark any local high points/peaks, size 8 regular, brown (5b4c37), with height
(size 5.5) if known
o Keep this mainly for significant peaks, or ones the trail goes over.
Often it’s hard to find agreement on a peak’s height between various
map sources, including our own GPS data (even Etrex 30 units do not
have an extremely accurate altimeter)

 Place labels for towns, sites, areas

 o Towns: Black (000000) semibold, size is based on size of town and
importance in the stage and can vary from 8-14 (or even beyond; use
your judgment)
 E.g. on Auja to Jericho, Auja is tiny and a stage end, it’s size
12; Jericho is large and a stage end; it’s 14. Other larger towns
not on the trail are text size 10, 9 or 8 according to size
o Sites: brown (5b4c37) regular, text size 8-10 according to
size/importance of site and space available on map
o Areas: gray (757575) italic, size 8-10 depending on size of area,
consider using extra spaces for larger areas like wide valleys or long
mountain ranges
o Accommodations, night camps, or other facilities dark blue (262262)
italic

 Mark junctions, bus stops and other landmarks

 Fill in marked hiking trails based on SPNI data (Israel/Area C Palestine only)
o Add blaze symbols and formatting to marked hiking trails if applicable
o Trail format: stroke 0.75, dash 3/gap 3
 Red trails color: ef1500
 Blue trails color: 1200e3
 Black trails color: 000000
 Green trails color: 21ad35
 Orange trails color: f99410
 Purple trails color: bb00bb
 Israel Trail should be 4 pt weight, no gap/dash, color: ff4e00,
transparency 30%
 May overlaid over other trails

 Remove extra waypoints

 Add distance indicators based on data book

o Do not add an indicator for every point; just for the more important
navigational points, evenly spaced (every 3-5 points should have a
number, in general)

 Add icons - water, accommodations, trail conditions, etc.

o These are largely based on your own notes rather than on OSM data,
though OSM may occasionally contain info on stores, restaurants,
campsites, hotels, etc.
o For bigger towns with plenty of amenities and everything available,
use the asterisk icon. Particular amenities/landmarks along the trail
may in some cases show up as individual icons on the map, but keep
the map from getting crowded.
 Example: Stage end in Jericho is the only bus station; this is a
good reason for a bus stop icon
o For smaller villages with only a few amenities, show amenities on map
as much as possible
 o For towns off-trail if there are important amenities, can use icons for
these. Use your judgment.
 Example: Meitar has a supermarket 1.5km off trail and it’s not
clear how to get to it through town; having the icon here helps

 To make sure you have placed all necessary icons, search the data book for
key terms that might indicate important points, like:
o Exposed
o Narrow/Flash flood
o Danger
o Shade
o Scramble/climb/ladder
o Drinkable/drinking/potable/water

 For maps where any of the icons below appear (generally desert maps),
place the Mini Legend in one corner/along one edge of the map (allow space
away from the artboard boundary)
o General Warning
o Flash Flood Risk
o Exposed Trail
o Scrambling
o Ladders
o Drinking Water (only if there are natural water sources)

 Format elevation notations - try to have them “lined up”

o Labels should be color 7f3300, opacity 50%
 Size 5 font italic
o Bottom of text=downhill.
o If overall map has a consistent slope to it, try to have them all aligned
that way
 E.g. in Jericho area, all notations would have their bottoms
facing to the right

 Once again, go over the map to make sure the written directions
corresponding to each waypoint match up to the map. If the directions
mention that you pass a dirt road heading to the left, that should appear on
the map!

 For Regional Maps

o Use APIRegional mrules file; only the necessary details will be
rendered by Maperitive
o Water fill and rivers use following color: 98c6f4
o No contour labels
o Stage start/end labels - 20 pt font, black circle (towns, villages,
junctions) or brown circle (sites, camps, any other type of point) to
mark point
o Towns/villages off route - 12 pt font, no circle
o Sites (stand alone, outside of cities) - 10 pt font, brown circle to mark
point
o Labels for only major roads - Trunk or Motorway
 This may not apply in areas with very few roads, e.g. the
southern Negev
o Create boxes to indicate stages - be sure they are proportional to A4
artboard - transparency 50%, black stroke, 1pt
o API Watermark in color in one corner
o Compass rose in top right corner, scale indicator in lower left corner (if
design allows)
o Include non-stage spurs, city walks and other detour gpx tracks at
40% opacity