Cartographic Output via GMT

Overview
The production of high quality, printable maps is an important component of most geographic analy- sis. While GRASS has not traditionally been suited for the production of printed materials, commands like ps.map and more recently a helpful wrapper G-ps.map, make it possible to output high quality Postscript maps. However, the rather limited syntax and capabilities of the ps.map approach often result in a map that must be finalized in a DTP (desktop publishing) application such as Inkscape, Scribus, or The Gimp. The map composer functionality found in QGIS may be a good alternative for map production in the near future, but the current version is lacking in terms of flexibility, stability, and the ability to ex- port data in formats such as EPS or PDF. With such limited options for the production of high quality printed materials when using an entirely open source workflow, numerous people have cobbled together the necessary glue required to interface GRASS to the various programs included with the Generic Mapping Tools package.

Links

• OSGEO Journal 1:29-35
• An example on this website