A while ago I experimented a bit with different rescale-enlargements of the Greater Northshore and MEGAMAP bike maps. I posted some pics but they weren't consistently sized or distanced, so I fixed that. All of these are from my phone camera at a fixed distance away and are cropped down to the same physical size subset.
BTW, I dropped in a little slipstream update for the MEGAMAP just now - same version numbering on the map itself but I hadn't quite closed the gap on the Elliot Bay / Waterfront in the south. So now I have.
Maps Release: Greater Northshore Bike Connector, MEGAMAP 1.5.1
Greater Northshore Bike Connector Map 1.5.1 – 8 March 2025 – is now available on github, as is MEGAMAP 1.5.1.
Additions and changes since 1.5:
All permalinks continue to work.
If you enjoy these maps and feel like throwing some change at the tip jar, here’s my patreon. Patreon supports get things like pre-sliced printables of the Greater Northshore, and also the completely-uncompressed MEGAMAP, not that the .jpg has much compression in it because it doesn’t. If you have an iPhone, please use the website interface and not the app, because Apple takes 30% if you use the app. I’ll keep doing this regardless, but you know. Thank you! ^_^
RELEASE: Greater Northshore and MEGAMAP Bike Maps version 1.5.1 - 8 March 2025
Additions and changes this release:
* WATERFRONT TRAIL now open in Downtown Seattle. This is a small section opening, but it is an important connection
* HONEY DEW CREEK TRAIL in Newcastle/Renton. Turns out it's a popular paved shortcut
* Better road name markings a few places
* Warnings on 15th Avenue S bike lanes which are now _closed_ now 'til spring
https://github.com/solarbirdy/NorthshoreBikeMap/
Previous permalinks continue to work.
If you like these maps, maybe hit my Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/solarbird
Thanks!
BIKING
The trail along the downtown waterfront was 100% open today so since I took video of my last trip op the Viaduct's upper deck just before it closed, I figured I'd take video of my first trip on the Waterfront Trail before officially opens tomorrow. ^_^
I rode slowly on purpose because I was holding the camera with one hand, which meant _breaking_ with one hand, plus I wanted the camera to stay nice and steady. Unfortunately I was holding it at eye height and didn't think about how that would work with my _breathing_? So I took out the sound lol
Basically as someone who has been here since Before Times this is FUCKING AMAZING. You should do it. ^_^
@scottrossi it is very Seattle ^_^
megamap 1.5.0.b, not the sort of thing I normally post (and which is not enough to release, the difference is almost entirely some added road names near mountlake terrace
@ascentale @bikenite A1 continuance: Oh, and actually mostly from Kirkland (Washington State) today, where I was verifying roads construction status for the Greater Northshore and MEGAMAP bike maps.
SURE STILL IS CONSTRUCTION! But they look to be on schedule in general, so I think "spring 2025" is still legitimate for re-opening with new/better bike lanes.
Given that 600 dpi map files are FOUR TIMES the size of 300 dpi map files, is the additional clarity zoomed way further in than intended worthwhile?
(Again, a post with super-zoomed-in comparison: https://mastodon.murkworks.net/@moira/114078404151160654 )
Okay, so 22 people who answered the poll asking which was 600 dpi vs. 300 dpi, 1 or 2.
41% identified 2 correctly as 600 dpi.
50% thought it was 1, or couldn't tell.
https://mastodon.murkworks.net/@moira/114078297089030822
So the _next_ question becomes whether 600dpi is worthwhile for _digital_ use on _devices_.
Do people want to zoom in that far and is it work the extra storage?
Here's a comparison, viewed digitally side-by-side as screencaps. It's each to tell which is which, but left is 600dpi, and right is 300:
https://mastodon.murkworks.net/@moira/114078404151160654
...and poll is in reply.
Playing with 300 vs. 600 dpi exports
Which do you think is 600dpi?
POLL IN FIRST REPLY
If I did re-_renders_ at all these scales, then the full resolution of my text would be preserved, but the background tile text would _not_ be, and I'm pretty sure that would be a not great contrast. My foreground text is already sharper enough as it is. (KCGIS text, it's a... thing. A yikes thing. Like the used a dot matrix printer, but virtual.)
playing around with re-scaling my maps from the public drops
rescaling is just saying "j0, 300 DPI file, you have the same number of pixels but it's 200 DPI now" so 200 DPI is like 50% bigger and 150 DPI is 100% bigger when printed and...
...on a modern printer, 200 DPI is... fine? Like, actually fine? Not as good as actually rerendering but fine. 150's not too bad either.
100 DPI breaks it, but oddly, going all the way down to 72 DPI kind of brings it back around again, because yeah, the words are fuzzy but they're so big it doesn't matter.
So if you just wanted Bigger Map you could easily cut it to 200 DPI and print on a good printer and it would be _fine_. 150 DPI would be okay. Not amazing, but okay.
DOES THE MEGAMAP FOLD?
One of the panels rotated on me in this glue-up and it annoyed me enough that I decided to use it to find out.
YES!
And better than I expected but it's still kinda sloppy I think. And it's a lot bigger a fold.
That said... it won't fit in anybody's pocket but it'd be 100% fine in a backpack.
RELEASE: Greater Northshore and MEGAMAP Bike Maps version 1.5 - 21 February 2025
Additions and changes this release:
* ALL OF NEWCASTLE. Thanks to Kerry Sullivan for help with May Creek Park Drive construction data
* NORTHERN RENTON, including substantial upgrades to Lake Washington Loop markings
* Bike lanes around 100th Ave W. in Edmonds
* Upgrade to 15th Avenue S in the Seattle map – bike lanes now have physical separation.
https://github.com/solarbirdy/NorthshoreBikeMap/
Previous permalinks continue to work.
If you like these maps, maybe hit my Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/solarbird
Thanks!
Maps Release: Greater Northshore Bike Connector, MEGAMAP 1.5
Greater Northshore Bike Connector Map 1.5 – 21 February 2025 – is now available on github, as is MEGAMAP 1.5.
With this version, the Greater Northshore Map has adopted our MEGAMAP’s former Empty Quarter, previously a basically empty paste-in of King County Regional Trails. It is now a peer map section with Greater Northshore proper, City of Seattle, and 2 Line Eastside Bike Connector.
There may not be a lot down there, but what’s down there is now properly mapped and included.
Additions and changes since 1.4.6:
All permalinks continue to work.
If you enjoy these maps and feel like throwing some change at the tip jar, here’s my patreon. Patreon supports get things like pre-sliced printables of the Greater Northshore, and also the completely-uncompressed MEGAMAP, not that the .jpg has much compression in it because it doesn’t. If you have an iPhone, please use the website interface and not the app, because Apple takes 30% if you use the app. I’ll keep doing this regardless, but you know. Thank you! ^_^
@ascentale @thesquirrelfish @bikenite A5: I just talk about how much fun it is, holy shit.
That, and I keep building out my map. Next release - should be later this month - will have Newcastle filled in, by request!
oh yeah, forgot:
i went out on a couple of errands yesterday - on bike - and while i was out checked up on the newtype vertical flyers for the bike maps.
as hoped (and expected, honestly) they're holding up against water much better so far; none have had water intrusion yet, whereas by now one of the originals already showed water had reached printed paper. they're still pretty much entirely dry in their laminated sleeves.
it's not exactly a surprising result but it's still good to see it confirmed ^_^
