Block-Print Maps Part IV: Wild With Styles

• Part I: Pixels to Grain
• Part II: Pro-ification
• Part III: Custom Fonts
• Part IV: Wild With Styles

Wood block printing was the earliest form of repeating a design or text or MAP so it could be duplicated indefinitely. A style in ArcGIS Pro enables that same thing, just digitally. So, if my calculations are correct, and I’m pretty sure they are, the recursive nature of a style file of a block print should have sufficient meta-gravity so as to collapse in on itself and form a tiny superdense black hole, sucking all nearby maps into it until all is the vacuum of cold darkness. Absolute meta.

Ready to try?

In previous posts, Heather Smith waked you through the remarkable creation of her Annapolis River woodcut block print map, I described the process of replicating it in ArcGIS Pro, she followed up with how to create and apply luxurious custom fonts, and finally we’ll dive into using the under-sung but glorious stylx file to apply the digital incarnation of her woodcut aesthetic to other parts of the world. The Annapolis River, while uniquely beautiful, is also gracious (as Canadians tend to be, in my experience) in allowing the aesthetic to by applied elsewhere.

Here is a replication of the map, using an ArcGIS Pro style…

Step 1

Download the Annapolis.stylx syle file and add it to your project. Now, in the symbology panel’s gallery you’ll see some options (depending on if your features are points, lines, or polygons)…

You’ll notice there are polygon fills named by geographic direction. This is so you can paint in the aspect polygons with a carved texture that runs the right way (described in pt II). You also might notice there are some fills for text. Well guess what, you can apply these styles to fonts (also the marginalia, like scalebars and north arrows, etc.)! In particular, the font Heather made to replicate the carved letters of her original map (direct download). For what it’s worth, this is just a great font for all sorts of maps, not just this one so I recommend you add it to your collection regardless of your woodcutting intentions.

Step 2

Use it! Here are a couple other locations, using the Annapolis style…

And that’s the end of that chapter!

Thanks for following along. Heather and I hope you explore the riches of styles in ArcGIS Pro (here are some more) and make the sorts of maps you want to make, then share out the styles to the community! Making maps is fun, but sharing in the making is even funner.

Happy Styling! John

Take it away, Bob…