# Mapping Resources > How Do I ??? >  A quick way of doing Compass-Roses?

## Schwarzkreuz

I had wasted my entire day to do some proper Compass Roses, but hell am I slow.....
Do someone know a quicker way to do such things?

Here are some results:

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## Hai-Etlik

Well, for the rhumb lines, I wrote a script to do it automatically.  You set a bunch of parameters, and it spits out an SVG image. http://www.cartographersguild.com/au...generator.html

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## waldronate

The classic way is to derive your single point element and then make a circular array (or copy/paste/rotate). Other than that I can't really think of a good technique, especially for those cases where folks want a distinctive north marker, lesser EWS markers, and lesser still fractional markers. And even then, that basic style of the rose requires something called artistic sensability, which I really don't have much understanding of.

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## Schwarzkreuz

I had analyse over 100 Compassroses from old maps writing ob a concept letter with detailed construction plans, I was in awe about how much simplicity but on the other hand complexity there was within the compassroses on the maps, (15. -17. AD)

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## ravells

Following on from what Waldronate said: most good vector drawing programmes allow you to replicate and rotate. So if I need 360 small ticks in a circle I will use Serif Drawplus to make it.  I draw one tick, I move the centre of rotation of the tick to where I want the centre of the circle of ticks to be. I then use a command which will draw 359 ticks each at 1% to the last around the centre of the circle. It takes a few seconds to do. I would be surprised if Inkscape did not have this capability.

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## Schwarzkreuz

Hi Revells
I just downloaded this Drawplus thingy and will try it out today, this sounds exectly what I need.
Could you do me the favour and make a small screenshot or something how to do this? I am kind of a noob in vectorthings.

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## ravells

Sure!

I did a video.....let's see if it works

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## Schwarzkreuz

Oh wow, this is realy usefull have to try this soon.

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## Schwarzkreuz

Some new Compass Results

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## ravells

Beautiful Work!!!! Is that with drawplus?

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## arsheesh

Those are fabulous!  Lovely work.

Cheers,
-Arsheesh

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## Schwarzkreuz

Nope, I had some problems download it from their page, so this is done by hand manually.

This is weird, initially I was asking how to do them, and now I end up spilling them out  :Very Happy:

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## ravells

You are drawing them with pen on paper????? Wow, you are very precise, I really thought that the elements were copies of each other!

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## Schwarzkreuz

This is only a very little "Non-Update" on the Compasses.
The distressed versions.

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## Schwarzkreuz

> You are drawing them with pen on paper????? Wow, you are very precise, I really thought that the elements were copies of each other!


emmm, no, they are indeed copies of each other but constructed out of scanned material, which is also altered digitally.
I am not sooooo precise. That would kill my hand actually.

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