MiniScale Technical Specification

This technical specification provides detailed technical information about MiniScale. It is targeted at technical users and software developers.

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.

An extract of MiniScale showing default layers and styles.

Specification

The following sections and subsections include information about MiniScale file compression, symbology, georeferencing and formats.

Data source

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.

Availability

Great Britain

Scales

1:1 000 000 (1mm = 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 = 700mm wide by 1 300mm high (with the Shetland Islands in position). Orkney and Shetland can be inset to reduce the height to about 1 000mm.

Resolution

Postscript = resolution of output device Raster = 254 dpi

Supply media

Download

Data type

Desktop vector graphic (Illustrator and EPS vectors), CMYK colour space

Colour

Raster LZW data is RGB colour

Update interval

Great Britain data revised annually

Coordinate reference system

British National Grid (OSGB36)

Data structure and size

Postscript Vector

• Transfer formats: Editable EPS, Illustrator CC 2019

• Storage volumes (approximate): Editable 95 Mb, illustrator 30 Mb

• Layers and styles: see features layers and styles

Raster

• 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

Fonts

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.

Colours

The default colours for MiniScale vectors are four-colour process (CMYK). MiniScale raster examples are supplied as TIFF LZW (RGB).

Software Requirements

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.

Index

• National Grid

• Miniscale file management