Creating a Named Tile

Spatial Manager allows you to create a named tile.

Note: A named tile defines the properties of a map tile. To create the actual map tiles, you must use the Tile Generator utility.

To create a named tile in Spatial Manager:

  1. From the Create drop-down located in the toolbar, select Tile.
    Note: This is disabled if you do not have sufficient permissions.
    The Create Tile page appears.
  2. Edit the following properties as needed:
    Property Required Description
    Reference Map Y The named map that the tile references. Click to browse for a new one.
    Coordinate System Y The coordinate system projection to host the named map. The Map Tiling Service will transform the named map into the projection defined. The projection is defined using the EPSG format. For best results, use epsg:3857 (Popular Visualization CRS or "Popular Mercator"). Click to browse for a new one.
    Bounds Y The tile bounds define the full extent of the tiled map in units of the selected coordinate system. If you select Default Tile Bounds, appropriate default values are populated automatically for some coordinate systems such as WGS84, British National Grid, and Popular Visualization CRS; override these with custom bounds only if necessary. For all other coordinate systems, select Custom Tile Bounds to specify custom values.
    Tile Levels Y The minimum and maximum zoom levels to host the map. Values range from 1 to 25. The level shows how close the map image is to the Earth. Level 1 is the furthest away and is composed of one tile that the entire map will be drawn into. For more information, see What Is Tile Level?.
    Tile Expiration Y Optionally choose the date (Expire on a date) or age in time units you designate (Expire at age) of the tile after which the HTTP client should replace the map tile in its cache with a new copy that it requests from the server. Otherwise, by default a tile never expires; that is, the HTTP client will continue to request the same tile from the server and it will not be refreshed in its cache. This field displays either a date (YYYY-MM-DD) or a time value in days.

    For more information on HTTP client caching, see http://www.w3.org/Protocols/rfc2616/rfc2616-sec14.html .
    Image Settings    
    Image Formats N The available image (mime) types (PNG, GIF, or JPG/JPEG) of tiles generated by the tile server for the named map. If you do not select a format, PNG will be selected by default.
    Tile Width Y Width of a tile in pixels. Must be greater than or equal to 16.
    Pad Factor N Used to prevent the clipping of labels when a label crosses a tile boundary. Controls the number of tiles that are rendered around the requested tile, with 0 meaning no padding, 1 meaning padding of 1 tile around the requested tile. If a preference is not specified, the global preference in the configuration will be used. If neither is specified, the default is 1.0. More padding results in less label or symbol clipping, however performance is negatively affected by large pad factors.
    Background Opacity N The level of background opacity (transparency) for the tile images displayed as a percent, where 0% is completely transparent and 100% is completely opaque.

    When setting background opacity, you should keep in my mind how your basemap appears when overlaid with labels or symbols to ensure there is enough contrast.

    Render Labels N Choose to render existing label layers on the map when generating a tile. If a preference is not specified, the global preference in the configuration will be used. If neither is specified, the default is Yes.
  3. Click Save.
    The details page for the new named tile appears.