US.A.—6 PHOTOGRAMMETRIC ENGINEERING 
MAP FINISHING 
While scribing techniques have contributed in an important way to economy 
in producing the original manuscript, they have contributed in an even greater 
degree to the economy of cartographic finishing and reproduction; it may well 
be said that these operations have been virtually revolutionized by the scribing 
technique. 
In the new method for preparing color-separates for reproduction, several 
guide copies are made by contact printing on a scribing base from the original 
scribed planimetric compilation. For each of the several color-separation ele- 
ments, a guide copy is scribed appropriately so that separate plates are pro- 
duced for culture, drainage, woodland, and ''red roads." These scribed separate 
plates, together with the original scribed contour compilation (if suitable), 
are then used as reproduction copy. If the original contour compilation is not 
of suitable quality for reproduction, a guide copy is prepared from the original 
and the contours are re-scribed. 
This procedure eliminates the slower and more costly, pen-and-ink drafting 
and at the same times gives a better quality of copy. Costly and time-consuming 
photographic steps are eliminated. Revision and correction processes are simpli- 
fied. Efficiency and quality are continually improved by an increasing applica- 
tion of mechanical aids to scribing. There is no doubt that the savings are very 
substantial; the Geological Survey is therefore adopting scribing techniques for 
map finishing as rapidly as orderly change permits. 
CONCLUSION 
The integrated photogrammetric and map-finishing system now being 
installed by the Geological Survey is already saving money in the principal 
phases of topographic mapmaking. As an indication of the trend, savings of 
about 3095 have already been recorded in the supplemental control phase, on 
those projects where convergent photography has been available. In one regional 
office, a saving of one-third of the color-separation labor costs has been realized 
by the application of scribing techniques. As the system gains momentum, an 
increasing degree of economy is anticipated.