Editing Cartography (section)

===Modern period===
{{More citations needed section|date=March 2024}}
[[File:Fernão Vaz Dourado 1571-1.jpg|thumb|right|A pre-Mercator nautical chart of 1571, from Portuguese cartographer [[Fernão Vaz Dourado]] ({{Circa|1520|1580}}). It belongs to the so-called ''plane chart'' model, where observed latitudes and magnetic directions are plotted directly into the plane, with a constant scale, as if the Earth were a plane (Portuguese National Archives of Torre do Tombo, Lisbon).]]

[[File:Structureforet.jpg|thumb|right|Mapping can be done with [[GPS]] and [[laser rangefinder]] directly in the field. Image shows mapping of forest structure (position of trees, dead wood and canopy).]]
[[File:Renaissance-styled-map-MAX-4K.jpg|thumb|A stylized map inspired by Renaissance cartographic traditions, created using GIS technology and complemented by a hand-crafted linocut<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Juśkiewicz |first=Włodzimierz |last2=Jaszewski |first2=Jakub |last3=Brykała |first3=Dariusz |last4=Piotrowski |first4=Robert |last5=Alexander |first5=K. M. |last6=Juśkiewicz |first6=Kacper B. |date=2025-12-31 |title=A new and extensive geographical description of supernatural phenomena in Polish and German Pomerania (POMERANIÆ POLONICÆ ET GERMANICÆ PHÆNOMENA SUPERNATURALIA NOVA ET EMPLA DESCRIPTIO GEOGRAPHICA), 1:720,000 |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/suppl/10.1080/17445647.2024.2434015 |journal=Journal of Maps |language=EN |doi=10.1080/17445647.2024.2434015 |via=Taylor & Francis|doi-access=free }}</ref>.]]
In cartography, technology has continually changed in order to meet the demands of new generations of mapmakers and map users. The first maps were produced manually, with brushes and parchment; so they varied in quality and were limited in distribution. The advent of magnetic devices, such as the [[compass]] and much later, [[magnetic storage]] devices, allowed for the creation of far more accurate maps and the ability to [[Computer cartography|store and manipulate them digitally]].

Advances in mechanical devices such as the [[printing press]], [[quadrant (instrument)|quadrant]], and [[vernier scale|vernier]] allowed the mass production of maps and the creation of accurate reproductions from more accurate data. [[Hartmann Schedel]] was one of the first cartographers to use the printing press to make maps more widely available. Optical technology, such as the [[telescope]], [[sextant]], and other devices that use telescopes, allowed accurate land surveys and allowed mapmakers and navigators to find their [[latitude]] by measuring angles to the [[North Star]] at night or the Sun at noon.

Advances in photochemical technology, such as the [[lithography|lithographic]] and [[photography|photochemical processes]], make possible maps with fine details, which do not distort in shape and which resist moisture and wear. This also eliminated the need for engraving, which further speeded up map production.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Lopes |first=David |last2=Machado |first2=Graciela |date=2023-01-13 |title=The use of 19th - century Cartography Printing Processes in Contemporary Printmaking |url=https://impact-journal-cfpr.uwe.ac.uk/index.php/impact/article/view/84 |journal=IMPACT Printmaking Journal |language=en |pages=24–24 |doi=10.54632/22.7.IMPJ2 |issn=2732-5490|doi-access=free }}</ref>

In the 20th century, [[aerial photography]], [[satellite imagery]], and [[remote sensing]] provided efficient, precise methods for mapping physical features, such as coastlines, roads, buildings, watersheds, and topography. The United States Geological Survey has devised multiple new map projections, notably the Space Oblique Mercator for interpreting satellite [[ground track]]s for mapping the surface. The use of satellites and space telescopes now allows researchers to map other planets and moons in outer space.<ref name=":3">{{Cite journal |url=https://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/pp1395 |title=Map projections: A Working Manual |last=Snyder |first=John |date=1987 |website=[[United States Geological Survey]] |series=Professional Paper |doi=10.3133/pp1395 |doi-access=free |access-date=2018-07-27 |archive-date=2011-05-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110517082057/http://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/pp1395 |url-status=live |hdl=2027/mdp.39015034659410 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> Advances in electronic technology ushered in another revolution in cartography: ready availability of [[Computer hardware|computers and peripherals]] such as monitors, plotters, printers, scanners (remote and document) and analytic stereo plotters, along with computer programs for visualization, image processing, spatial analysis, and database management, have democratized and greatly expanded the making of maps. The ability to superimpose spatially located variables onto existing maps has created new uses for maps and new industries to explore and exploit these potentials. See also [[digital raster graphic]].

In the early years of the new millennium, three key technological advances transformed cartography:<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kent |first1=Alexander |title=A Profession Less Ordinary? Reflections on the Life, Death and Resurrection of Cartography |journal=The Bulletin of the Society of Cartographers |date=2014 |volume=48 |issue=1,2 |pages=7–16 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/282123268 |access-date=24 September 2015}}</ref> the removal of Selective Availability in the [[Global Positioning System]] (GPS) in May 2000, which improved locational accuracy for consumer-grade GPS receivers to within a few metres; the invention of [[OpenStreetMap]] in 2004, a global digital counter-map that allowed anyone to contribute and use new spatial data without complex licensing agreements; and the launch of [[Google Earth]] in 2005 as a development of the virtual globe EarthViewer 3D (2004), which revolutionised accessibility of accurate world maps, as well as access to satellite and aerial imagery. These advances brought more accuracy to geographical and location-based data and widened the range of applications for cartography, for example in the development of [[satnav]] devices.

Today most commercial-quality maps are made using [[software]] of three main types: [[Computer-aided design|CAD]], [[Geographic information system|GIS]] and specialized illustration [[software]]. Spatial information can be stored in a [[database]], from which it can be extracted on demand. These tools lead to increasingly dynamic, interactive maps that can be manipulated digitally.

On the other hand, we can observe a reverse trend. In contemporary times, there is a resurgence of interest in the most beautiful periods of cartography, with various maps being created using, for example, Renaissance-style aesthetics. We encounter imitators or continuators of Renaissance traditions that merge the realms of science and art. Among them are figures such as Luther Phillips (1891–1960) and Ruth Rhoads Lepper Gardner (1905–2011),<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Meader |first=Benjamin |date=2023-12-21 |title=Drawing Maine: The Pictorial Maps of the Phillips Brothers |url=https://cartographicperspectives.org/index.php/journal/article/view/1877 |journal=Cartographic Perspectives |language=en |issue=102 |pages=63–71 |doi=10.14714/CP102.1877 |issn=1048-9053|doi-access=free }}</ref> who still operated using traditional cartographic methods, as well as creators utilizing modern developments based on GIS solutions<ref>{{Cite web |last=Davison |first=Warren |date=2018-12-10 |title=ArcGIS Pro project containing all the resources you'll need to 'historify' and 'antiquify' your brand new maps |url=https://www.arcgis.com/home/item.html?id=228b671f0c964ede9b4a3edf7eaf8a7b |access-date=2025-01-03 |website=Historical Map Effects}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Buckley |first=Aileen |last2=Barnes |first2=David |last3=Richards |first3=Jaynya |date=2007-03-01 |title=Achieving Historical Map Effects with Modern GIS |url=https://cartographicperspectives.org/index.php/journal/article/view/cp56-buckley-et-al/pdf |journal=Cartographic Perspectives |language=en |issue=56 |pages=63–72 |doi=10.14714/CP56.312 |issn=1048-9053}}</ref> and those employing techniques that combine advanced GIS/CAD methods with traditional artistic forms.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Juśkiewicz |first=Włodzimierz |last2=Jaszewski |first2=Jakub |last3=Brykała |first3=Dariusz |last4=Piotrowski |first4=Robert |last5=Alexander |first5=K.M. |last6=Juśkiewicz |first6=Kacper B. |date=2025-12-31 |title=Supernatural beings of Pomerania: postmodern mapping of folkloristic sources |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17445647.2024.2434015 |journal=[[Journal of Maps]] |volume=21 |issue=1 |pages=1-15 |doi=10.1080/17445647.2024.2434015 |via=Taylor & Francis|doi-access=free }}</ref>

[[Rugged computer|Field-rugged computers]], [[GPS]], and [[laser rangefinder]]s make it possible to create maps directly from measurements made on site.