The data is supplied as a download and is updated and released annually in January. It is supplied as the whole of Great Britain, with Orkney and the Shetland Islands shown in their correct positions. Some European coastline is supplied to give context.
MiniScale is supplied in the following formats (file sizes are approximate):
Adobe Illustrator CC 2019 or higher; file size 30 Mb
Editable Encapsulated PostScript (EPS); file size 95 Mb
TIFF LZW compression; file size 15–40 Mb
The Illustrator file contains the layers and styles required to customise the product. This file also contains additional layers, such as sea depths, height colouring and other information that does not appear on the default style for MiniScale. Some of the ways that MiniScale can be customised are shown in the raster examples provided.
The Illustrator file requires the font ‘Source Sans Pro’, which is supplied in the download. This is a free open source font created by Adobe. It is available from Adobe and Font Squirrel: https://www.fontsquirrel.com/fonts/source-sans-pro.
MiniScale has been created as a vector data graphic map that is favourable for use within desktop graphic applications. MiniScale’s use within GIS will be limited to backdrop mapping when using the TIFF only.
MiniScale is supplied as a single download with a variety of industry-standard formats. The Illustrator vector data is held in layers, with styled objects for easy customisation of map images. These can be easily converted to web images using appropriate software (not supplied).
Graphic styles and Illustrator symbols are used in MiniScale to achieve the final look of the map and to aid in restyling the vector data. Some finishes are achieved using layer effects provided by Illustrator. For example, the boundaries layer setting applies an overall ‘multiply’ effect; if each of the boundary line paths were individually set to multiply, the result would not work. Illustrator users should be aware that the layer effect is lost if the contents of such layers are copied to a new document. In the table below, the * symbol indicates layers that have a layer effect applied.
| Layer description | Style and content notes |
|---|
| Layer description | Style and content notes |
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| Layer description | Style and content notes |
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| Layer description | Style and content notes |
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| Layer description | Style and content notes |
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| Layer description | Style and content notes |
|---|
| Layer description | Style and content notes |
|---|
National | For example, England, Wales and Scotland |
County | For example, Devon, Hampshire and so on |
Unitary | Names shown in pale grey CAPS |
Urban Primary | Primary destination towns with a large urban extent |
Primary Town | Primary destination towns |
Other Town | Other towns |
Minor Town | Selected towns and villages useful to MiniScale |
Bridge/Airport | Named when name is different from that of the associated town, for example, Heathrow |
Islands | Selected names, for example, Isle of Skye |
Physical | Selected names, for example, Land’s End, Pennines, and so on |
Parks & Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) | For example, Cotswold, Gower, and so on |
Coastal Water | Selected names, for example, Poole Bay |
Inland Water | Selected names, for example, Loch Lomond |
Rd Numbers – Motorway | Numbered where space permits |
Rd Numbers – Primary | Numbered where space permits |
Rd Numbers – Other A-Rd | Numbered where space permits |
Rd Numbers – Junctions | Access shown by colour (full=black / limited=pink) |
National Bdys* | Purple line |
County/Unitary Bdys* | Light grey line |
Symbols – Mountains | Selected, for example, Ben Nevis |
Symbols – Airports | Symbol (with or without customs). Large Airports named when name is different from that of the associated town. |
Symbols – Urban Primary | Primary destination towns with a large urban extent |
Symbols – Primary | Large-sized yellow dot with black ring |
Symbols – Other Town | Medium-sized yellow dot with black ring |
Symbols – Minor Town | Small-sized yellow dot with black ring |
Symbols – Services | 24 hr services |
Symbols – Junctions | Blue ringed white circle |
Ferry – Routes | Time of crossing shown where space permits |
Rail – Channel Tunnel | Black pecked line |
Rail – Main Network | Passenger routes only (main and other). Solid black line. |
Rail – Main Network HO* | Pale black |
Roads – Motorway* | Solid blue line with white centre line |
Roads – Primary A-Rd* | Green lines. Sublayers for single and dual carriageways. |
Roads – Other A-Rd | Pink line (dense urban areas may show only a selection) |
Roads – Under Construction | Only significant projects shown |
Water – Holdouts | Pale blue |
Water – Coastline | High water mark only |
Water – Lakes/Locks | Selection of major ones only |
Water – Main Rivers | Selection of major ones only, for example, Thames, Severn, Trent, Dee, and so on |
Area – Urban | Pale purple tint |
Area – Forest Parks | Green fill and named, for example, New Forest |
Area – National Parks | Beige fill and named, for example, Dartmoor |
Area – AONB & NSA | Green fill and named, for example, Gower |
Land – England | White (polygons are named in their attributes) |
Land – Scotland | White (polygons are named in their attributes) |
Land – Wales | White (polygons are named in their attributes) |
Land – Isle of Man | White |
Land – International | White |
Sea | Light blue fill |
Grid – 100k Squares | 100 km grid and reference letters |
Grid – 10k | 10 km grid and reference letters/numbers |
Grid – Long & Lat | Great Britain |
Names – Alternative Spelling | Welsh and Gaelic alternative spellings of names |
Bdy Lines – London | London boroughs |
Contours | Height tint (with layers for 75, 200, 400 |
TIFF data volumes are influenced by the level of data compression. Approximate storage volumes: 16–80 Mb using LZW compression.
When an image is compressed, duplicated data that has no value is removed or saved in a shorter form, reducing the file’s size. For example, if large areas of water are the same tone, only the value for one pixel needs to be saved, together with the locations of the other pixels with the same colour. When the image is edited or displayed, the compression process is reversed. When a raster is compressed, not only are the data volumes reduced, but the user can download, display, edit and transfer images more quickly.
There are two forms of compression: lossless and lossy.
As its name suggests, lossless compression does not lose information within an image. A lossless compression retains the original quality of an image when it is uncompressed. This process does not provide much compression, so file sizes remain large. Lossless compression is used mainly where detail is important, such as when users are planning to make large prints.
This process degrades images to some degree, meaning that the decompressed image is not quite the same as the original. The more an image is compressed, the more degraded it becomes. In many situations, such as posting images on the Internet or printing small- to medium-sized prints, the image degradation is not so obvious. If a lossy compressed image is over enlarged, the degradation will become apparent.
TIFF is one of the most commonly used lossless image formats. TIFF is primarily designed for raster data interchange and is supported by numerous image-processing applications. This permits much more efficient access to very large files that have been compressed.
To be able to view each tile in correct geographic relation to the National Grid and to each other, the tiles must be georeferenced. GIS typically provide georeferencing as part of their functionality, but for each set of tiles it is necessary to provide the information on how the tiles should be ordered. MiniScale TIFF tiles are in COG (Cloud Optimised GeoTIFF) format, which enables georeferencing information to be embedded within a TIFF file itself.
The Adobe Illustrator file is georeferenced using Avenza MapPublisher. This plugin provides GIS tools for Illustrator and unlocks additional attributes embedded in the MiniScale vector file. It is not a requirement for using the vector file for graphic output, but it does open up new ways of using MiniScale for those that do have the plugin.
This document contains additional theoretical information related to MiniScale. All users will find the Product Information document useful and informative.
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 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.
Typical ways in which MiniScale could be used include:
Creating location maps for websites or promotional material, for example, showing the locations of head offices or the distribution of assets across Great Britain.
Facilitating high-level route planning along major roads and railways.
Producing overview or entry screen maps within an Intranet or Internet web mapping service.
The smaller scale of MiniScale also lends itself to applications that need to show information at a regional or county/unitary level, where a larger-scale map would be too detailed or cluttered.
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.
Great Britain.
MiniScale is a generalised hand drawn map, with updates derived from the 1:250 000 scale topographical digital database.
The following legend is for the default standard look supplied in the Illustrator vector file.
MiniScale is a hand drawn map. This enables us to achieve the extreme simplification, generalisation and ‘look’ of MiniScale. The data is updated using the latest available version of Ordnance Survey’s 1:250 000 scale topographical digital database as a guide.
The MiniScale master dataset is updated and released annually in January.
MiniScale shows three classes of roads: A-Road with primary/non-primary styles and Motorway.
The primary (green) roads are the recommended through routes that complement the motorway system. Where there are significant lengths of dual carriageway, they have been shown with a dual carriageway style. The primary roads link primary route destination towns, which appear on green road signs. In congested urban areas, some roads have been omitted for clarity.
MiniScale settlements are shown in three levels: Primary route destination towns (large dot), other towns useful to the map (medium dot) and minor settlements (small dot).
Urban names have been given a range of point sizes and weights to visually differentiate them. No statistical relevance, such as size or population, should be inferred from this. Primary route destination names are all the same regardless of their physical size: thus, the hamlet of Scotch Corner appears the same on the map as a major town like Andover as these two settlements are both primary route destinations. Due to space issues, many suburban localities will be missing around major cities. The choice of which minor names we have space to show are weighted in favour of those that give context to the road network.
At the scale used for MiniScale it is impractical to show all the Welsh names with dual spellings (English and Welsh). However, the Illustrator file contains an extra layer of Welsh names that can be used to replace the English ones; this requires manual intervention since the Welsh names are in the same position as the English names.
Raster examples of MiniScale with shaded relief are provided to show what can be achieved with the Illustrator files. The relief file is embedded with individual 100 km shaded relief images fitted to the National Grid. These can be added to the main MiniScale map by using Illustrator’s ‘Paste in front’ option. Use the ‘multiply’ setting to control the transparency and strength of the shaded relief.
The resolution of the master vector Illustrator file is only limited by the output device.
The example raster files are at a resolution of 10 dots per mm (dpmm) or 254 dots per inch (dpi), and a pixel equates to 100 metres on the ground. This resolution maintains the necessary clarity of text for on screen use but is not considered suitable for high-quality printing.
