Includes a host of new features including export to Flash maps and Adobe CS4 compatibility

Toronto, ON, December 8, 2008 - Avenza Systems Inc., producers of MAPublisher cartographic software for Adobe Illustrator and Geographic Imager spatial tools for Adobe Photoshop is pleased to announce the release of MAPublisher 8.0 for Adobe Illustrator. MAPublisher 8.0 is the latest version of this powerful mapmaking software used to produce high quality maps from GIS data for both print and electronic distribution.

MAPublisher 8.0 for Adobe Illustrator is a full product upgrade that is free of charge to all current MAPublisher Maintenance Program subscribers and replaces the current shipping version of MAPublisher, version 7.6.3, for all new customers using Adobe Illustrator CS2, CS3 or CS4.

"MAPublisher 8.0 is by far the most powerful and exciting release since the concept of working with GIS files in the graphics environment was unveiled with the first version of MAPublisher many years ago. As with previous releases, we have responded to the requests of our users by quickly improving on existing functionality and including many new functions and feature enhancements,” said Ted Florence, President of Avenza, “The Flash export capability, alone, is a reason to upgrade and is a tremendous new feature that we know many users will enjoy and find to be extremely useful.” he added.

MAPublisher 8.0 includes all the significant functionality introduced in earlier releases of MAPublisher as well as the following new features and enhancements.

New Features of MAPublisher 8.0 for Adobe Illustrator


Support for Adobe Illustrator CS4
MAP Web Author Tool for automatic creation of interactive Flash maps
MAP Vector Crop Tool
Dockable MAPublisher Toolbar
New and improved MAP Point Plotter with Plot Centroids function
Enhanced KML export support,
New format support for S-57 (import) & GML - Simple Features (import and export).
Enhanced MAP Views Editor
Enhanced MAP Attributes interface
New and improved Simplify Line functionality
New data import optimization with import times reduced by as much as 80%
Improved MAP View and MAP Stylesheets panels
New MAPublisher License Management system
Various other user interface improvements and performance enhancements to improve usability

More about MAPublisher 8.0 for Illustrator

MAPublisher 8.0 for Illustrator is powerful map production software for creating cartographic-quality maps from GIS data. Developed as a suite of plug-ins for Adobe Illustrator, MAPublisher leverages the superior graphics capabilities of this graphics design software for working with GIS data and producing high-quality maps with efficiency. 

MAPublisher 8.0 for Illustrator is available free of charge to all MAPublisher for Illustrator customers with a valid maintenance subscription and as an upgrade for non-maintenance members at US$549. New licenses are US$1249. Prices include 1 year of maintenance.  Full details are available at www.avenza.com.