Unification and harmonization in true color image city map

True color image city map is a sort of new-style map which combines the high resolution image and map symbols and shows both advantages in visualization. At the same time, the map unification and harmonization should be taken into account during the design process, since some visual conflicts appear when map symbols overlaid on the true color image. The objective of this research is to explore the rules in the process of true color image city map design based on chromatic and aesthetic knowledge. At the end, taking the Image Atlas of Guangzhou as an example, image color adjustment, road network presentation, and symbol designing issues will be discussed in the application.