Why was the PDF file format selected for US Topo maps?
US Topo maps are intended to serve map users who are not GIS specialists. The priority design objectives were to create a traditional topographic map as a digital document that could be displayed on a typical computer without specialized software and printed at map scale without specialized software or expertise. We believe PDF is the only format in common use that satisfies these requirements. PDF is also the only commonly used format that can carry raster data, vector data, and formatted text annotation.
All dates of USGS topographic maps (both Historical topographic maps and US Topo maps) can also be freely downloaded in GeoTIFF, JPG, and KMZ formats using TopoView.
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Can I import a US Topo map into my Geographic Information System (GIS)? Can I import a US Topo map into my Geographic Information System (GIS)?
Modern USGS topographic maps are derived from GIS data sets and are distributed as a digital Portable Document Format (PDF) for the benefit of non-specialist users. USGS topographic maps are considered the output of, rather than the input to, GIS. Many Geographic Information System (GIS) software cannot read or import a PDF file. It is not recommended to use USGS topographic maps in a GIS...
How can I find the source and vintage of each US Topo data layer? How can I find the source and vintage of each US Topo data layer?
US Topo maps have a credit legend in the lower left-hand corner of the map collar. This includes a short summary of data sources and data currency. More detailed source information is in an XML metadata file attached to each GeoPDF file. This file contains series-level, quad-level, and layer-level metadata, but US Topo does not preserve or track feature-level metadata. Open the GeoPDF map file in...
Related
Can I import a US Topo map into my Geographic Information System (GIS)? Can I import a US Topo map into my Geographic Information System (GIS)?
Modern USGS topographic maps are derived from GIS data sets and are distributed as a digital Portable Document Format (PDF) for the benefit of non-specialist users. USGS topographic maps are considered the output of, rather than the input to, GIS. Many Geographic Information System (GIS) software cannot read or import a PDF file. It is not recommended to use USGS topographic maps in a GIS...
How can I find the source and vintage of each US Topo data layer? How can I find the source and vintage of each US Topo data layer?
US Topo maps have a credit legend in the lower left-hand corner of the map collar. This includes a short summary of data sources and data currency. More detailed source information is in an XML metadata file attached to each GeoPDF file. This file contains series-level, quad-level, and layer-level metadata, but US Topo does not preserve or track feature-level metadata. Open the GeoPDF map file in...