J. A. C. E. VAN ROERMUND1
THE APPLICATION OF MODERN CARTOGRAPHY BY THE
TOPOGRAPHIC SERVICE AT DELFT
In the title the expression 'modern cartography' is used. The conception 'modern
cartography' as used in this article may be described as follows: Today, in the carto-
graphic processes of the Topographie Service, the line elements of maps are engraved
on plästic sheets and the masks for colour Separation are produced by means of the
strip-coat procedure. h'urther, new materials have influenced the cartographic process in
such a way that one may speak of a complete change. A change, in favour of accuracy
as well as speed in the cartographic process.
Before starting to describe these new techniques employed by the Topographie Ser
vice the processes will first be discussed in general, from which it will appear that the
course taken in this process is not the only one, but exactly that most suitable for the
purposes of the Topographie Service at Delft. Existing modern literature on this sub-
ject reveals many varieties in the application of modern techniques.
When going into the various details, and finally, into the working methods, one
restriction must be made: as this new method may still be considered in a primary stage
of development, it is not only possible, but even probable, that within a fairly short
time, amendments and improvements will be effectuated; these will not affect the basic
principles but will probably cause modifications in details of the cartographic process.
The three elements of the modern cartographic process are:
a. Engraving
This conception is nothing new, engraving on copper and stone being very old tech
niques. But the way in which engraving is practised nowadays may be called a new
technique. Modern engraving technique, developed in the post-war period, consists of
inscribing on a rather soft thin coating applied on a plastic base (see c). On this coating,
which is opaque for actinic light, the line elements of the map are engraved. It will be
clear that in this way a negative is produced. Unquestionable, this engraving technique
has great advantages Over inkdrawing, e.g. engraved lines are much sharper and can be
drawn much finer, without hitches and with one constant line weight. The different
line weights for the map elements are standardi2ed for the whole map, all engravers
using scribing tools with needles of equal diameters. Consequently the quality of the
map is improved. Besides this, engraving reduces the produetion time by about 30
Generally speaking it can be stated that engraving (or scribing) has partially, and in the
future will have completely superseded inkdrawing.
b. The strip-mask method
On a transparent plastic base, a coating is applied which has the property that it can
easily be peeled from that base. The fair drawing of a map is copied onto this coating,
developed and etched. As a result, the areas of the coating, enclosed by the (now
transparent) lines, have remained. Those areas, which are to be printed in a specific
colour are now stripped off, by this a negative mask for the separate coloursheet is
produced. Formerly, these transparent areas were dyed with black ink, so producing a
positive mask. Without going into details the advantages of the produetion of a nega
tive mask over a positive mask can be described as follows:
1 Ir J. A. C. E. van Roermund, Topografische Dienst, Delft.
