Introduction

The advent of high-quality, large-format print engines has enabled graphics of many different formats to be printed by other than conventional lithographic means. Large-format printers, integrated with today’s workstations (or PC’s), plus system and application software, can be used to print a wide variety of graphics. This technology can also be extended to print maps on demand with sufficient quality to augment existing lithographic printing methods.

A map-on-demand system has been designed by 3M and is currently being used by the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD). This system is a commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) configuration (using only items that are commercialized and readily available) that has been well proven for DoD applications. The lessons learned from designing and implementing this system formed the basis for this CRADA, which had the goal of producing a low-cost, low-maintenance, distributed map printing system.

This report will examine the technology used to implement a map-on-demand system, user feedback on the initial 3M map products supplied to the USGS, and some of the considerations that are crucial to implementing a successful system.

First posted 1999