City-block style maps (sometimes referred to as "European-style") are characterized by their use of negative space. Shapes – in the form of city blocks – define the positive space, whereas the road areas are negative space. Ortelius excels at designing modern style road maps, with connectable tracks and built-in symbols, and it also has great tools for creating city-block style maps. Read more »

Existing symbols can provide a great starting point for refining and creating new symbols. When a symbol is originally created, it is assigned as a "master" symbol which can be placed unlimited times on your map. Read more »

Need a quick way to split existing objects (like states) into sections? You can do it with the Cookie Cutter operation. Find out how… Read more »

Coastal effects can add interest and texture to your map of land, water, and island areas. These effects help develop a visual hierarchy between land and water areas, an important cartographic principle providing clear separation and focus to the land areas. In addition, such effects lend to the overall style of your map design whether contemporary or historic in nature. Here’s how… Read more »

Ortelius has many subtle methods for fine-tuning your cartographic work. One of these niceties is the point of origin, or center point, around which objects and symbols rotate and snap. Adjusting an object’s point of origin is simple and direct. Here’s how… Read more »

Adding lists and tables to your map layout is easy-breezy in Ortelius. Simply copy and paste from other source documents or create lists and tables from scratch. Here’s how… Read more »

Ortelius has always had great tools to create smooth meandering rivers & streams. Now they can look even better with naturally tapering ends. We’ve added an expert Tapered Stroke component to the Style Inspector – you can use it to design your own creative map styles. Here’s how… Read more »