Editing Cartography (section)

===Map purpose and audience===
A map has a purpose and an audience. Its purpose may be as broad as teaching the major physical and political features of the entire world, or as narrow as convincing a neighbor to move a fence. The audience may be as broad as the general public or as narrow as a single person. Mapmakers use design principles to guide them in constructing a map that is effective for its purpose and audience.

====Cartographic process====
[[File:The Cartographic Process.png|thumb|The cartographic process]]

The cartographic process spans many stages, starting from conceiving the need for a map and extending all the way through its consumption by an audience. Conception begins with a real or imagined environment. As the cartographer gathers information about the subject, they consider how that information is structured and how that structure should inform the map's design. Next, the cartographers experiment with [[Cartographic generalization|generalization]], [[symbol]]ization, [[typography]], and other map elements to find ways to portray the information so that the map reader can interpret the map as intended. Guided by these experiments, the cartographer settles on a design and creates the map, whether in physical or electronic form. Once finished, the map is delivered to its audience. The map reader interprets the symbols and patterns on the map to draw conclusions and perhaps to take action. By the spatial perspectives they provide, maps help shape how we view the world.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.e-education.psu.edu/geog160/node/1882 |title=3.1 The Cartographic Process {{!}} GEOG 160: Mapping our Changing World |website=www.e-education.psu.edu |access-date=2019-12-14 |archive-date=2019-12-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191214193705/https://www.e-education.psu.edu/geog160/node/1882 |url-status=live}}</ref>