Depiction 1.3.3 is out and available for download! If you own the software, you should just be able to run the Depiction Update program to get the latest version. If you don’t, what are you waiting for? There are quite a few nice updates in the new version, but I want to highlight a couple.

The first one you’ll notice is a new background street map source. This is the MapQuest Open street map, a “re-skinning” of OpenStreetMap created and provided by MapQuest. This is a much cleaner and smoother version of OpenStreetMap, though it does have less detail–both are useful to have on hand, and now, you do!

Washington, DC in OpenStreetMap

Washington, DC in MapQuest Open Street Ma

Another new tiling source, also from MapQuest Open, is the OpenAerialMap imagery. This is largely a combination of the NAIP and Landsat imagery that Depiction users are likely familiar with, now in a single tiling source. One very cool addition, though, is the ‘blue marble’ style tiling you get when you are zoomed out far enough.

MapQuest Open OpenAerialMap Imagery

Another nice change is the new method for downloading OpenStreetMap road network data–this should both increase the speed of the download and processing, and enable you to bring in road network data for larger areas more consistently.

I’ll wrap up with the improvements made to the settings menu. While there’s no actual change to the functionality, we’ve made things much clearer and easier to use. This is the largest of a number of ease-of-use changes that were originally developed as part of DepictionPrep but that have been brought over into Depiction 1.3.3 as well.

Settings, before

Settings, before


Settings, after

Settings, after

You can see the rest of the new enhancements and fixes at our What’s New page.