The Library of Congress has uploaded some very useful (and large) digital reproductions of maps, posters, pamphlets and other stuff. http://loc.gov
I’ve been able to use some of these (public domain files) to print some nice large anciet maps for friends and myself.
Question: are there other online libraries that contain art, maps, posters, photos, etc. that are public domain (or limited use rights given away) and in large enoug digital format to make quality prints out of them? (Large enough generally means a couple megabyts at least. Some of the Lib of Congress map files, once converted to tiff files, are over 100 megs!)
The Terraserver Project makes available aerial/satellite photographs of a large portion of the United States. In most areas, the resolution (screen-wise) is about 100 yards per inch (good enough to identify particular houses, buildings, etc.). Printed out (at 300 d.p.i.) that would be a bit more than 300 yards to the inch, but that’s still good enough to recognize street layouts, general neightborhood layout, and natural features.
In (some) urban areas, you get about 20 yards to the inch (and in color, no less), which would work out to a bit more than 60 when printed – enough to see individual vehicles.
While these aren’t conveniently downloadable in large format (that I can see, at least), it is possible to save pieces of their map and stitch them back together in a photoshop-type program.
You will avoid having to construct a mosaic of your desired area, but the interface is a bit difficult and the TIFF files can be huge. Hint: on the right side of the screen, turn off the layer “shaded relief” in the “elevation” section. High-res image layers will be under “orthoimagery”.
Also, for some reason the viewer is squashing the image vertically, which is different from the last time I visited. But the downloaded file is okay.
