A6 seems good…

Well just out of curiosity I thought I’d see if I could create some maps using ArcGIS’ PDF export ability to make maps for use on my Kindle.  

The ‘ease of use’ of the Kindle combined with the method of updating content (email to device) and availability of Kindle software on many devices might make it a good method of getting information to people…
I certainly think e-readers in general are a good method for distributing policy documents from governments (see previous post).   I would have loved to have my authority’s local plan on one of these…. (but then I am a geek)
  1. Step one was to figure out a reasonable template size for viewing as a PDF on the Kindle without having to zoom in.   Papersize A6 seems reasonable…
  2. Next step is to come up with a proper grey-scale palette…
You can Zoom in as its a standard PDF

It turns out its relatively easy to do, perhaps people could make suggestions as to the method of choosing a greyscale palette? (I’m looking at you @PetersonGIS)

Updated 26th October 2010: 

The Kindle 3s reported screen specification is as follows:

“Amazon’s 6″ diagonal electronic paper display, optimised with proprietary waveform and font technology, 600 x 800 pixel resolution at 167 ppi, 16-level grey scale.” Source: Amazon UK

2 Comments

  1. I'm a fan of greyscale maps and it seems you've managed to do it pretty effectively here and with a great quantity of information. I don't have a kindle so I don't know – but can you zoom in to see the map in more detail and does the greyscale still work well at that larger scale?

    There really aren't any resources that I know of for choosing grays for maps (though I could be wrong). That would be a good research project!

  2. Thanks Gretchen, thought you might be interested. You can zoom in as it's a PDF file I've added the zoomed in screenshot to the article.

    I guess the detail is as much as you can put on the page (I just used an A6 Page size here, but maybe that's next…).

Comments are closed.