Overlay Route on 1939 Map

Question

I have a JPEG of a 1939 Wyoming map that I'd like to overlay with a line of the route my father took on his motorcycle. Rough idea attached below with orange line sketched in amateur freehand with my mouse. Ideally I'd like to have the line precisely match the old Highway with drop shadow, glow, and the like.

Perhaps use Illustrator to make a line with Bezier curves etc? But that seems onerous. Any ideas welcome - thanks in advance!

Wyoming-Small.jpg

HOD19095479 · Accepted Answer

Personally I would make a cup of tea, put some music on and enjoy recreating the path with the pen tool. I could then add colour, effects at will afterwards.

Zoom into the path and use spacebar to move as you work. If you select the direct selection tool first and then pen tool you only have to hold Command to switch back to the direct selection tool and edit the path as you go.

It's a lovely project and deserves to be enjoyed with care as you recreate the route. I hope that's of some help.

Bobby Henderson · Answer

It's easier than it might seem at first to draw Bezier paths over the top of a placed map.

One of the key things is learning the keyboard shortcuts related to the Pen Tool. Those shortcuts will allow you to modify the path while you're still drawing it. You can adjust the position of anchor points, change their type (smooth or corner) and adjust direction point handles while the path is still being drawn.

Another big thing is learning the keyboard shortcuts for zooming in/out and hand-panning the view of the artwork. Those shortcuts work hand in hand with the shortcuts for the Pen tool. Nearly all of those keyboard shortcuts can be toggled with the left hand on the left end of the keyboard while the right hand is still holding a mouse or pen. You'll be able to draw a path with the pen tool, adjust the path while it is being drawn and adjust your view of the artwork all on the fly. It's a very powerful setup. None of Illustrator's rivals (CorelDRAW, Affinity Designer, etc) can match it.

Illustrator's Shape Builder tool can also help. Rather than draw a single "perfect" path all at once, you could lay down a lot of shorter and separate path segments over the map and allow the lines to overshoot where a turn/corner may be. The Shape Builder tool can remove the overlaps and leave behind corners that are just right. The different path segments can then be joined together in a single path.

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