Tag Archives: Orienteering Map Specification

Base Colors: Color Management Made Easy

How base colors work

The Base Colors dialog can be opened in the Colors dialog.
There, base colors can be defined and edited. Base colors sets can also be loaded and/or exported.
Back in the Colors dialog, colors can be assigned to a base color or removed again. With the Assign colors to base colors function, OCAD attempts to assign colors automatically. In addition to the base color, a percentage value for the base color must also be defined (more on the end of the article).
If colors need to be adjusted based on a test printout, only the base colors need to be adjusted, and the colors assigned to that base color will change accordingly.

Why was this feature developed?

Depending on the printer and paper used, the CMYK values in the Colors dialog may need to be adjusted to achieve good print quality. This can be tedious, as there are over 50 colors defined in the standard symbol set for orienteering maps.

By defining base colors, only a few base colors need to be defined. When changing the CMYK values of the base colors, the derived colors change too.

In addition, you can export the base colors suitable for your printer as a new set. Next time you receive a map for printing, you can reload this color set.

Do all colors have to be assigned to a base color?

No, not all colors have to be assigned to a base color. For example, colors for logos can still be set using CMYK values.

Also, not all colors in the symbols sets are not assigned to a base color, as they would not meet the exact colors values defined by IOF.

Should I work with base colors or not?

For new maps, it is recommended to work with base colors. They are already correctly defined and assigned for the different colors in the current symbol sets.

For existing maps, some effort is required to add all colors correctly to the base colors. Also, it is still possible to adjust the color table e.g. by using the Color Swatch function.

It is up to you to decide whether or not to assign colors to the base color for old maps. Experience has shown that many older maps have an outdated symbol set and colors. Before you start to assign colors to base colors, it might be a good idea to use the Symbol Set Conversion function. This will update your map to the current symbol set defined by the IOF. Also, it will directly replace your color table. True to the motto: If you’re going to do it, do it right.

Best practices for printing orienteering maps

The colors on the screen can differ a lot from the colors on the printed map. It is not only the color settings in OCAD that are decisive, but also the paper used, the printer, the printer settings and the printer driver.

Therefore, it is important to always make a test print, check the printout using a reference sheet, and adjust the colors in OCAD (or adjust printer settings) if the result is unsatisfactory. Check also the Document IOF Printing and Colour Definitions A4 Revision 4 on the IOF Webite for more information.

Experience shows that dark colors are usually not a problem, but that the definition of light colors is crucial (e.g., Green 60%, Green 30%, Yellow 50%, etc.). It’s therefore good practice to first adjust the color values of the base colors. For fine tuning, the percentage values of the individual colors can be adjusted (e.g., make Green 30% a bit darker and set it to 38%).

ISSkiOM Update

Orienteering Symbol Sets Updated

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OCAD has updated its symbol sets for orienteering and sprint orienteering after a revision by the IOF.

The new symbol sets are valid from 1st February 2024 and mandatory for IOF events from 1st January 2025.

Update Orienteering Symbol Set due to ISOM 2017-2 Revision 6

The most important changes:

New symbol added for *Retained earth wall* | New symbol added for *Dangerous pit* | New symbol added *Continuing point after map exchange* | Renumbering of certain symbols | Certain symbols for minimum sizes removed

Update Sprint Orienteering Symbol Set due to ISSprOM 2019-2 Revision 6

The most important changes:

New symbol added for *Retained earth wall* | New symbol added *Continuing point after map exchange* | New symbol added *Area with obstacles* | New symbol added Area runnable at lower level (521) |Renumbering of certain symbols | Certain symbols for minimum sizes removed

How to update your maps to the new specifications?

In OCAD, you can update a map drawn with ISOM 2017-2 or ISSprOM 2019-2 to the latest symbol set by using the function Update Symbol Set.

For maps that are drawn with an older symbol set, use the function Symbol Set Conversion. Check the page Symbol Set Overview to find out which symbol set you are using.

Draw stairs

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In this article we present different ways of drawing stairs in OCAD and what to look out for.

If stairs are drawn too small or too narrow, this greatly impairs legibility and the staircase can easily be mistaken for an impassable object (especially if the print quality of the circles is poor).

How is the stairway symbol defined?

Steps of a stairway shall be represented in a generalized manner. Contour lines shall be cut out for better legibility, if they touch stairways.

This means that when you are drawing stairs you should make sure that…

(1) treads are not drawn with too little spacing (min. 0.4mm)
(2) contour lines are cut out
(3) stairs are not drawn too narrow (min. 0.4mm)
(4) more than 2 steps are drawn (min. 3)

By the way: In addition to the symbol definition, the IOF O Map Wiki also contains images with correct and incorrect examples.

Draw steps individually or use stairway symbol

There are basically two ways to draw steps:

Use the symbol Step or edge of paved area (symbol 501.100) to draw steps individually
Use the symbol Stairway (symbol 532.00) to use a predefined stair width.

Use stairway symbol

The stairway symbol is suitable for straight staircases. The minimum width and tread width comply with the IOF specifications. The stair filling (colour. 44 Brown 30% – stairs) covers the contour lines, so no cutting of contour lines is needed.
Problems arise with curved staircases (2) or staircases with varying widths. Often the predefined width does not fit and leads, for example, to thick edges (3). In such a case, the predefined stair symbols can be duplicated and the width changed afterwards. The whole width of the staircase should be visible and if not, building, walls, etc., should be reduced in size (4).
When drawing, it is also important to note that the beginning and end of the stairs (1) must be examined and edited if necessary.

Draw steps individually

You get the most flexibility when you draw steps individually. For that, you can use the symbol Step or edge of paved area (symbol 501.100).

With the Stairway mode you can easily specify length, width and now also the tread depth (step distance). This is displayed at the bottom left of the status bar.