MapInfo Pro

Happy #MapInfoMonday, from not Peter (he asked me to stand in this week).
Last week, Peter was looking at the types of Thematic Map options available. We recently had a support call about multiple thematics in a PDF - which I thought followed on quite nicely with this topic.
We find that not many users are aware of the PDF option of "Layered PDFs" when you get to the stage of producing some output form MapInfo.


On selecting the PDF button you get the PDF options


The Layers that you have in your MapInfo Map will be replicated in a Layered PDF, which allows you to switch layers on and off, just as you would in MapInfo. Layered PDFs have been around for many years (since 2003) but you will need to use the MapInfo PDF Printer supplied.
This is really handy when you want to distribute your thematic analysis to non-geo staff or outside agencies. You can also embed the Legends in the Map with v2021 and as you switch on and off a layer in the PDF, the associated Thematic Legend also switches on and off. A good tip is to give your layers and legends friendly names when considering who your audience is.


The resultant PDF gives you the layers and the tick boxes to turn layers on and off but, obviously, not all the other MapInfo functionality. I haven't used any base mapping in my example to avoid any copyright issues. Copyright is an important consideration here, especially if you are using licensed map data. Indeed, if this is being distributed to "public" users, then you should not use the Layered PDF option at all - essentially it gives the user the ability to turn off all of your overlays and be left with a "raw" base map.


P.S. the support call in question showed that you need to apply the styles using the attributes rather than the colour option for multiple thematics to work through to the PDF.

I hope you found that useful.



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John Ievers
CDR Group
Hope Valley, United Kingdom
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Thanks for standing in, John, while I took a week off. I really appreciate it.

If you would like to write a #MapInfoMonday post with a tip of your own, do let me know.​

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Peter Horsbøll Møller
Principal Presales Consultant | Distinguished Engineer
Precisely | Trust in Data
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