What to Do...

This post may be a bit technical, so I’ll try to keep the jargon to a minimum.

The problem with not using GIS software is the fact that there’s a lot of back-and-forth going on in my maps. I don’t think this is something that can be helped, whether its in raster (Photoshop) or vector (Illustrator) software. Were I using vector software id have to convert everything to raster for the purposes of changing the projections.

This stems from the fact that I’m using a topographical style that’s composed of many different layers – one layer per style, with an edge stoke, to make them stand out in a map. And I’m beginning to realise the problems inherent in projection (Equidistant Conic) that I’ve been using so far in all my Atlas Maps (save the ones that show the entire world, in which case I’ve use Orthographic and Mollweide). 

Equidistant Conic is fine when working on middle latitudes, which is where all the maps I’ve made so far lie – the southern-most map I’ve made so far just about crosses the northern tropic, at about 20 degrees north (the Surrach); and the northern-most map I’ve made so far just about crosses the polar circle, at about 72 degrees north (Almagest).

The problem with Equidistant Conic is close to the poles and the equator, where the distortion inherent in the map’s projection becomes very clear. Here’s some examples of what I mean.
 

Here is a simple example of what a polar map in equidistant conic looks like:

Without changing the settings on the projection, we end up with a map that does not curve around itself at all. We can change the settings to make this appear like a true globe, however doing so distorts the land in a way that invalidates all the work done so far on the topography – so I need to do all these areas again from scratch – not a prospect I look forward to. 

To continue with the above examples, using the current projection of Equidistant Conic gives some strange effects closer to the equator: 

The southern-most black line of latitude is the equator. Notice how the longitude lines continue diverging once they past the equator? The only way I can prevent this is by adjusting the projection settings. And if I do that, I need to do all the topographical details from scratch.

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I’m trying to figure out what I can do about this. I can use programs like QGIS to plot the graticule points and then generate an equirectangular version of the topographical map that I can then distort into any projection I want, but this will take up hundreds of hours of work plotting the maps, exporting them as low-res jpgs and then redoing the topography from scratch in an equirectangular projection layer by layer. 

If the Nathan from 3-years ago knew what he knows now, this is what he’d do, and I’m trying to figure out what what the best course of action is. 

For the time-being I can easily keep the equatorial maps separate from the temperate maps, with no need to stitch them together, but a day will come where I will need to make a uniform base for the entire globe, which will necessitate the conversion of my current Equidistant Conic base maps (example below) to Equirectangular in the highest resolution possible, from which I can then make any projection I want with the topographical maps themselves, which will open up a lot more options.. but which will be a lot more work, potentially stalling work on new maps for some time...