Florida Hispanic Population

Using Adobe Illustrator, this week we were tasked with displaying a map of southern Florida's Hispanic population as surveyed by the 2000 US Census.  I wanted to make sure that the population ranges were distinct, but not garish.  I made sure to include all the required map elements, which I now have in a convenient sticky note on my Windows desktop, while keeping in mind the hierarchy of thematic map design (also a sticky note on my Windows desktop).

Important lesson learned this week:   Ctrl-Z is one of my all time favorite keyboard shortcuts.  You can try something and if it doesn't work you can Ctrl-Z and undo it.  Sometime I get a little Z happy and do one too many undos, so I use the handy dandy Ctrl-Y. or redo, keyboard shortcut.  Ctrl-Y does not work the same in Adobe Illustrator as it does in other Windows based programs.  Ctrl-Y makes ALL the color disappear and Ctrl-Z does not bring it back. Luckily, I had just saved my file so the damage was minimal.  (Note to self: save often!)  I’m still not sure what command Ctrl-Y executes, but did discover that Ctrl-Shift-Z will execute a redo in AI. 

I also picked up a couple of new shortcuts using the scroll wheel. 

1.      Shift-scroll moves the art board up and down quickly.  
2.      Ctrl-scroll moves the art board left and right.  
3.      Alt-scroll zooms in and out – this was my favorite find.