[ Ethnic, Religious, National Index
]
[ Location (Address) Index ]
[Map Room Index ]
[ Master IndexPage ]
[ FEEFHS FrontPage ]
[ Website Index ]
FEEFHS
EAST EUROPEAN MAP ROOM
Background Information on Our Maps
© copyright 1997 by FEEFHS; all rights
reserved
Latest Update: 18 August 1997
Why JPG (JPEG) Maps vs. GIF?
Our June 1995 on the web comparison between JPEG and GIF, using a
detailed Breslau (now Wroclaw, Poland) city map convinced us to
use compressed JPEG images for this project. JPEG showed
negligible loss in quality with a four-fold decrease in file
size. The smaller file sizes translate into faster loading times
for viewers and also a more affordable storage cost on our
server's hard drive.
JPG For Color, GIF for Black and White Mapas
Since this page was originally posted in late 1995, we have
gained some experience with map graphics commpression programs.
We have come to the conlusion that it is best to use JPG for
color maps. Howver better compression seems to occur by using
GIF for black and white graphics.
Eight maps from three sources were were scanned and posted here in late July and
early August 1995. In mid November 1995, we settled on a single atlas as our primary source of maps.
Published Sources:
- Fifty Nine (59) of these maps came from the
Comprehensive Atlas and
Geography of the World published in 1882 by Blackie &
Sons of Edinburgh, Scotland (noted as 1882 CA&GW).
- One (1) map of the ten Polish provinces of the Russian Empire
came from the Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
Atlas, a ten volume work in 1902 (noted as 1902
CD&CA). This is because that Blackie and Sons map was split
between two pages and had no provincial boundaries shown. Since
it is of a smaller area, he was able to save it at a bit less
than maximum compression, thus it is a bit clearer than the other
maps.
Scanning Procedure:
All maps were scanned at 200 dpi with a HPIIcx flatbed scanner into Adobe PhotoShop version 2.5 and saved
with maximum compression in the JPEG format.
Scale (Revised 5 January 1996)
The individual maps all have different scales, marked only by graphic scales (the graphic ratio is not
shown on the original maps). The following are the approximate scales:
- The Blackie and Sons maps are at the following approximate scales:
- Austro-Hungarian Empire is at 1:2,700,000 or 1 inch = approximately 42 miles.
- German Empire is at 1:1,800,000 or 1 inch = approximately 28 miles.
- Balkans is at 1:3,200,000 or 1 inch equals approximately 50
miles.
- Russian Empire is at 1:6,100,000 or 1 inch equals
approximately 96 miles.
- The Century Cyclopaedia Map is at 1:5,000,000 or one
centimeter (cm) = approximately 50 Km
Loading Size of Each Map Is Listed:
Please note we have listed the size (in kilobytes) of each map
file, so you can decide in
advance if you wish to view it online or wish to download it to
disk for later viewing on an
offline browser.
Viewing Trick
An old PI (photo-interpreter) trick is to squint at the name or
feature on a map that you seek
to see better. Squinting will greatly enhance the visual
appearance of such an image.
Summary Index of these Maps
0 - 0 - 0
[ Ethnic, Religious, National Index
]
[ Location (Address) Index ]
[Map Room Index ]
[ Master IndexPage ]
[ FEEFHS FrontPage ]
[ Website Index ]
