MiniScale Technical Specification
This technical specification provides detailed technical information about MiniScale. It is targeted at technical users and software developers.
Last updated
This technical specification provides detailed technical information about MiniScale. It is targeted at technical users and software developers.
Last updated
Ordnance Survey’s MiniScale is a small-scale product designed for use within desktop graphic applications. It provides geographic context for the whole of Great Britain by showing the major boundaries, lines of communication, settlements and physical features.
MiniScale is a vector graphic that has been created using desktop publishing software so that it can be customised and converted into a wide variety of graphic formats. Alternatively, the raster examples can also be used for web applications or within a geographical information system (GIS) as a backdrop.
MiniScale is aimed at any customer who requires a high-quality, visually appealing map for their documents and/or publications, whether that be a magazine, brochure or website.
An extract of MiniScale, with default layers and styles, is shown below.
The following sections and subsections include information about MiniScale file compression, symbology, georeferencing and formats.
MiniScale is a redrawn and simplified product designed to meet the needs of the desktop graphics industry. Historically, it is based on a variety of Ordnance Survey digital datasets; however, the graphic output is now updated with changes identified in the 1:250 000 vector data base.
Great Britain
1:1 000 000 (1 mm = 1 km)
MiniScale is designed to be used at viewing scales of between 1:700 000 and 1:2 000 000.
Physical size (at scale above)
Great Britain = 700 mm wide by 1 300 mm high (with the Shetland Islands in position). Orkney and Shetland can be inset to reduce the height to about 1 000 mm.
Resolution
Postscript = resolution of output device Raster = 254 dpi
Download
Desktop vector graphic (Illustrator and EPS vectors), CMYK colour space
Raster LZW data is RGB colour
Great Britain data revised annually
British National Grid (OSGB36)
Transfer formats: Editable EPS, Illustrator CC 2019
Storage volumes (approximate): Editable 95 Mb, illustrator 30 Mb
Layers and styles: see features layers and styles
Transfer formats: TIFF LZW compressed 254 dpi
Storage volumes (approximate): TIFF 15 – 40 Mb (choice of four example styles)
Layers and styles: TIFF LZW – none
The Illustrator file requires the font ‘Source Sans Pro’. This is a free open source font created by Adobe. It is available from Adobe and Font Squirrel:
http://www.fontsquirrel.com/fonts/source-sans-pro.
The default colours for MiniScale vectors are four-colour process (CMYK). MiniScale raster examples are supplied as TIFF LZW (RGB).
MiniScale requires Illustrator CC 2019 or higher running on a PC or Apple Macintosh platform. Other EPS‑compatible software can also be used by importing the EPS files. Ordnance Survey does not specify hardware requirements as these are dependent on the software and applications within which the data will be used. Customers should contact their system or software supplier for advice.
