Four-Color Printing of the Atlas of Togo

Summary

The Atlas of Togo, commissioned by UNESCO and organized by the ITC in the Netherlands, is the first comprehensive national development atlas of a West African country, comprising 88 thematic maps and 91 explanatory texts. This paper presents the technical practices of Xi'an Meihang Cartographic Printing Factory in undertaking its production. To address issues such as incomplete originals, numerous errors, and missing legends, the factory implemented supplementary compilation and fair drawing, utilized the CPW computer typesetting system for unified annotations, and adjusted map frame proportions to ensure quality. Editorial design was optimized from the perspective of four-color overprinting, with geographic base maps prepared in three separate plates to balance thematic expression. A four-color printing process was ultimately adopted, reducing costs while maintaining high standards, offering a valuable reference for similar atlas production.