I have always been a bit disappointed with S&T's approach to adjusting colors for night viewing. Blacking out the background gives the feeling that you are not seeing all the information that you get from the day-view map. Why use green for the road color, when red does not cause night-blindness.
Seeing Marvin's thread on how to make a Halloween Themed Map has me wondering about creating a template for night maps. In his thread, Marvin gives instruction for changing the background color on an area of interest on a map. I would like to make the background color for the entire map template be red, with the roads in black.
I admit that I have not done my homework on how this might be accomplished. Maybe somebody could save me a bit of time by pointing me in the right direction? And, I would really like to hear from anyone who has experience in night navigation, or ophthalmology, to know what might be the best color arrangement. With all of the wonderful experts that grace this forum, I am sure that we have an ophthalmologist bombardier hanging around here, somewhere.
Seeing Marvin's thread on how to make a Halloween Themed Map has me wondering about creating a template for night maps. In his thread, Marvin gives instruction for changing the background color on an area of interest on a map. I would like to make the background color for the entire map template be red, with the roads in black.
I admit that I have not done my homework on how this might be accomplished. Maybe somebody could save me a bit of time by pointing me in the right direction? And, I would really like to hear from anyone who has experience in night navigation, or ophthalmology, to know what might be the best color arrangement. With all of the wonderful experts that grace this forum, I am sure that we have an ophthalmologist bombardier hanging around here, somewhere.
Red color is actually not bad. Give it a try while driving at night, and let us know if it helps.
To set a background color in Streets & Trips is rather very simple:
- Zoom out till you see the map of the entire world
- Select Rectangle tool on the Drawing toolbar
- Click and draw a rectangle on the map to cover the entire world
- Click on the Fill Color tool button on the Drawing toolbar and select red color
- Right-click the rectangle and select Order > Send Behind Roads
Good tip, Marvin.
But I wouldn't think it necessary to rectangle the entire World (unless you are planning to drive Cape Town); just the area of your route should do. And I would think the color of the sample just above the pure red one you use as an example might be better for night driving, it is still red but a little darker. The route shows nicely as a very visible blue line and the main roads are mostly yellow, also very visible especially against this deeper red background. This is more like an ATC screen.
But I wouldn't think it necessary to rectangle the entire World (unless you are planning to drive Cape Town); just the area of your route should do. And I would think the color of the sample just above the pure red one you use as an example might be better for night driving, it is still red but a little darker. The route shows nicely as a very visible blue line and the main roads are mostly yellow, also very visible especially against this deeper red background. This is more like an ATC screen.
Yeah, my 'red' looks more like 'orange' on my computer. I like the color you chose and posed in the attached PDF file.
Actually, this thread suggests some interesting variants.
Since these drawn shapes (they do not have to be rectangles: can be circles, elipses, or completely irregular) can be layered and have different colors, you can color-code the areas you are going to be passing through on your route so that the background color changes on your display as you go to alert you to differing conditions or just to change the appearance of the navigation screen.
For instance, I have attached a sample to show speed limits in the northwest quadrant of London. If you had this running as you navigated through this area, you would see the map color change as you went from one speed limit to another. You would not have to rely solely on the small circular signs that are the official postings. Please note that I take no responsibility for the accuracy of these markings! Also, these colors are illustrative only and there are probably better choices to be made.
Since these drawn shapes (they do not have to be rectangles: can be circles, elipses, or completely irregular) can be layered and have different colors, you can color-code the areas you are going to be passing through on your route so that the background color changes on your display as you go to alert you to differing conditions or just to change the appearance of the navigation screen.
For instance, I have attached a sample to show speed limits in the northwest quadrant of London. If you had this running as you navigated through this area, you would see the map color change as you went from one speed limit to another. You would not have to rely solely on the small circular signs that are the official postings. Please note that I take no responsibility for the accuracy of these markings! Also, these colors are illustrative only and there are probably better choices to be made.
Re: Marvin's Reply
Thanks for the 411. Yes, that is a rather straightforward method. And, easy enough. As far as covering the whole world, having a separate night template that could have routes created directly on it without having to do the steps to change the color for each separate night route would be useful. So, that's why I asked for it.
Re: SpadesFlush's Reply
Yep, I agree that your deeper red is a nice color. I like your use of colors for zones. It would be easy to refer to the driving directions for the locations where nightfall begins and ends and just create a red zone for the areas traveled at night.
Thanks so much for your input. Man, I just love this forum. Best forum I know of!
Thanks for the 411. Yes, that is a rather straightforward method. And, easy enough. As far as covering the whole world, having a separate night template that could have routes created directly on it without having to do the steps to change the color for each separate night route would be useful. So, that's why I asked for it.
Re: SpadesFlush's Reply
Yep, I agree that your deeper red is a nice color. I like your use of colors for zones. It would be easy to refer to the driving directions for the locations where nightfall begins and ends and just create a red zone for the areas traveled at night.
Thanks so much for your input. Man, I just love this forum. Best forum I know of!
... It would be easy to refer to the driving directions for the locations where nightfall begins and ends and just create a red zone for the areas traveled at night...
Wouldn't that be cool?
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