1842 OS maps - how to take clippings for your projects

[Paddy Casey]

The 1842 Ordnance Survey maps are superb pieces of work and 168 years later they haven't been beaten for their detailed views of the individual townlands, monuments, big houses, etc. In fact I was amused to see a couple of years ago that they are still being used for modern-day planning applications. Not bad for maps made by guys plodding the sod in pouring rain in the middle of famine, pestilence, agrarian and other violence, footpads and highwaymen, and other vicissitudes without GPS, laser theodolites, computers, aerial surveys and all the other hi-tech stuff used nowadays (not to mention warm accomodation and hot showers at the end of each day).

The 1842 maps can be found at http://www.clarelibrary.ie/eolas/coclar ... dex_OS.htm (and, of course, lots of other maps at http://www.clarelibrary.ie/eolas/coclare/maps/index.htm )

When documenting one's family history research it's often helpful to intersperse the text with clips from the old maps. A bunch of useful hints on how to do this have just been posted on the Library site at http://www.clarelibrary.ie/eolas/guests.htm

The hints mention the use of the PrintScreen button on the keyboard to take clippings. One can also use MWSnap, a small yet powerful Windows program for snapping (capturing) images from selected parts of the screen. It's a kind of PrintScreen on steroids, costs nothing, contains no spyware or ads. I use it every day. Go to http://www.mirekw.com/winfreeware/mwsnap.html

Another hint: when trying to get a real close-up from the old maps (e.g. the old house where your GGG-parents lived), zoom in on the map with the map viewer first and then PrintScreen it (rather than taking your snap with PrintScreen or MWSnap and then enlarging it). That way you have a higher-resolution image for your document which doesn't pixelate so quickly when you zoom into it.

Paddy