Difference in the Maps?

[Majestic]

For Christmas I got the new, revised Rulebook (YAY!). Today I downloaded the stuff, and when I compared the maps to the ones I used to have I noticed that they're WAY smaller. Just looking at them, they sure look similar, but datawise they're about 1/10th the size. The specs:

Old Adventurer's Map: 15.8 MB
New Adventurer's Map: 1.5 MB

Old Loremaster's Map: 18.3 MB
New Loremaster's Map: 2.09 MB

Anybody know what's different about them? Before I delete the old ones (from the thumb drive I carry all my stuff on; might as well use the much smaller one that takes up less room), I want to make sure there's no differences.

[Heilemann]

I haven't checked, but it may simply be that the map graphics are now vector instead of bitmaps. That would indeed be a great upgrade.

[zedturtle]

I haven't checked, but it may simply be that the map graphics are now vector instead of bitmaps. That would indeed be a great upgrade.

That would involved redrawing the entire map, or automatic retracing which doesn't actually work so hot most times.

The real answer is more prosaic: The original map is 22 x 17 at 100 dpi (i.e. poster size, but lower resolution than it was actually printed at). The new map is 17x11 at 100 dpi (the size as it appear in the cover sheets). That accounts for a 50% reduction right there, and a more aggressive compression setting and the colour conversion probably accounts for the rest.

[Stormcrow]

Original Adventurer's Map:
Application: Adobe InDesign CS
PDF Producer: Adobe Photoshop for Windows -- Image Conversion Plug-in
PDF Version: 1.4
File Size: 15.84 MB
Page Size: 22.00 x 17.00 in

New Adventurer's Map:
Application: Adobe InDesign CS4
PDF Producer: Adobe PDF Library 9.0
PDF Version: 1.7
File Size: 1.51 MB
Page Size: 17.24 x 10.86 in

[Heilemann]

I haven't checked, but it may simply be that the map graphics are now vector instead of bitmaps. That would indeed be a great upgrade.

That would involved redrawing the entire map, or automatic retracing which doesn't actually work so hot most times.

Not if it was created in vector to begin with.

[zedturtle]

I haven't checked, but it may simply be that the map graphics are now vector instead of bitmaps. That would indeed be a great upgrade.

That would involved redrawing the entire map, or automatic retracing which doesn't actually work so hot most times.

Not if it was created in vector to begin with.

I was originally going to say "the map is obviously hand-drawn" but then I thought about how much capability Illustrator has for custom brushes and everything these days and it was no longer so obvious. In any case, the files we've been given have been raster, but that means little about the source file.

It'd be nice to have a vector map... infinite zoomability.