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Simplification Tips

Matthew Bloch edited this page Aug 11, 2014 · 7 revisions

Deciding which simplification method to use

I usually use Visvalingam simplification with a custom weighting (default option in the cli) for making maps, because it generally does a better job of removing details that are too small to be displayed clearly. These screengrabs illustrate the difference between weighted Visvalingam and Douglas-Peucker.

Ex. 1: Natural Earth 10m coastlines, simplified with weighted Visvalingam at 5% point retention.

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Ex 2: Same file using Douglas-Peucker, also 5% simplification.

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Ex 3: Zoomed-in view of Norwegian coastline at 5% simplification; left: Visvalingam, right: Douglas-Peucker.

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