New Canterbury Maps Basemap Options

This upgrade will bring you a brand new type of basemap: vector basemaps. These basemaps are a new technology that are super responsive in the map, create a very crisp print product and are beautifully symbolised in-house by our vector basemap specialist. 

What are the new options?

There are three new basemap options for you to choose from:

• Colour Streets
• Light Grey
• Dark Grey

Each one has its own unique way of visualizing data. The colour streets map is great if you want to view a simple basemap that highlights areas of greenspace, waterbodies and built up urban areas. The light grey is a great replacement for the already existing 'simple basemap' as it provides the same level of detail but with quicker response times. While the dark grey is very useful if you want to highlight the data you are viewing, without any distractions from the basemap. 

Will the old options still be there for me to use?

All of the basemaps that were previously available will still be accessible. Over time however, some of them will be replaced by new, faster vector basemaps. The latest imagery and all of the historic imagery collections will always be available for use and will never get replaced. 

How do they differ from what was previously available?

The 'old' basemaps are using what we call 'raster' data, this data is made up of individual pixels. The 'new' basemaps are created using 'vector' data, which is not made up of pixels, rather points, lines and polygons, because of this they appear smoother on a map. Click here if you want to learn more about raster and vector data

What if I can't see these in the basemap gallery?

If you do not get these three new basemaps appear in your basemap gallery try the following:

1. Clear your browsers cache - sometimes your browser holds onto old data meaning you don't see recent changes, to find out how to do this go here
2. You may be using an unsupported browser. In general, we recommend using Chrome to use Canterbury Maps

Still have more questions about the latest change? Email us and we will get back to you about any queries you may have