[SoC] QGIS & GRASS + Inkscape (cartography)

[Benjamin Ducke]

In general, I think that this would be a _very_ worthwhile
project. No GIS has layout capabilities that are as
flexible as Inkscape's (and no GIS should strive to have
them). And it has been my personal experience that
people working in desktop publishing seem unhappy
about the default output of any GIS and spend considerable
time re-working and tuning it. So why not do the map
layout straight in Inkscape, leveraging all of the
power and flexibility it provides?

However, I would argue that a GIS-agnostic approach
would be more useful in this case. Why not build
on GDAL/OGR as data providers? This way, all users of
FOSS GIS would benefit equally from the results.

Also, it seems to me that this would mean having to
implement quite a number of tools on the Inkscape side:
viewports (with map projections!) for Shapefiles and
GeoTIFFs (at least), map legends and decorations,
scale bars, ...

Is one GSoC enough to create all of this?

Best,

Ben


On 03/19/2012 06:56 PM, Brylie Oxley wrote:
> On Mon, 19 Mar 2012 11:44:05 -0600, Michael Barton wrote:
>> GRASS already has the ability to read and write SVG files. How do you
>> propose to enhance this capability?
>
> Thanks for your quick response Michael. I propose to provide tighter
> integration with Inkscape in regards to GRASS SVG support. In other
> words, Inkscape would provide a robust user interface (which is
> important for usability and widespread adoption) for creating
> cartographic output based on GRASS data sets.
>
> The project will produce functionality in GRASS that would launch
> Inkscape, if installed, and serve data to an Inkscape project on demand
> (i.e. it could refresh as needed). It seems that this can, given proper
> mentorship, be abstracted to support MapServer, Quantum GIS, and other
> OSGeo projects.
>
> This project will save developer time as Inkscape is already an
> excellent SVG editor with support for JavaScript/web standards. Working
> with Inkscape will have a gestalt effect, putting our Libre geospatial
> cartographic abilities on par with aspects ArcMap. I am basically
> advocating cross-project collaboration among the premiere of libre
> software tools.
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-- 
Benjamin Ducke
{*} Geospatial Consultant
{*} GIS Developer

   benducke at fastmail.fm