shapefile - Automate SHP to JPG creation

Does anyone know of a way to batch convert shapefiles to jpegs or another common image format?

edit: I should have clarified that I would like to apply a styling to each shapefile, and then export the shapefile with that styling to an image.

For example, I have census tracts in a county, and I want an image of each individual tract highlighted while the other tracts are all the same color.

Answer

There are many free tools like:

But in Python, the reference is Mapnik and Getting Started In Python

• You create a map (width and height in pixels, background color, etc)


• You create Styles which determines how the data is rendered


• You add a datasource (shapefile, etc.) and create a layer from it.


• You render the map


• the same map and styles parameters can be applied to multiple files (via an XML file)

see the examples in Mapniks Maps

Simple Rendered images from TM_WORLD_BORDERS-0.3.shp

selection of a country (Angola) in the shapefile:

Another example from Mapniks Maps