Summary

To design cartographic products you should have knowledge of different computer programs and their relevance for your work: when using GIS for creating maps, it is crucial that you understand how the different mapping techniques are achieved within the GIS, more particularly regarding the design elements and cartographic convention. GIS defaults are usually not the best choice when creating a map for communication purposes, that’s why it is your responsibility to be aware of the limitations of the software concerning cartographic output. Furthermore, the finest GIS cartographic packages have none of the capabilities of true high-end graphics packages as CAC software have. But the problem with such CAC packages is that they have no capacities for things like coordinate systems or of data attributes when importing geographical data.