VisualCartographer: User Manual

Visual Cartographer allow you to easily use maps in the GIF file format in Palm programs from www.GPSPilot.com such as "Atlas," "Tracker" and "Fly."

This is done through the following steps:

• Load a GIF map.
• Identify multiple points on the map with latitude and longitude to calibrate the map.
• Split the map into multiple optimally sized maps for use in the Palm's external memory. This also generates the necessary .geo files
  

If the map is less than 1000x1000 in size, a single .geo file will be generated for precision calibration.

If you don't have a Palm with external memory, Visual Cartographer can still be used to help generate maps for use in internal memory (PDB files). See View-Calibration

Info.

Quick Start Guide

Click File -> Open GIF. Locate your map on your harddisk, and click open.
· Visual Cartographer displays the optimum split for your map.

Click the [Zoom] button and select a calibration area on the overview map.
·Click the exact calibration point on the "zoom map" and enter the latitude and longitude of the location.
·Click the [Add Calibration Point] button.
·Repeat creating calibration points until the map is sufficiently calibrated for your needs.

·Click File -> Save Split GIFs.
·Copy the resulting geo files and gifs to the external memory card on your palm pilot. Enjoy using your perfectly calibrated maps with your GPS Pilot program.

How to store maps in your external memory card:
See http://www.gpspilot.com/products/modules/mapping.shtml .

The Interface

The Visual Cartographer interface is divided into two parts.

On the left is an overview map showing how the map will be divided when saved. Also displayed is the name of the map, width & height. Blue targets indicate calibration points already configured. Holding the mouse over a target displays the calibration information entered. Right clicking on one allows the target to be deleted.

On the right, are details for configuring the map. Various functions appear only when needed.

Top left. Indicates how the map will be sectioned. If Total Pics is 1, then only a .geo file will be generated.

Top Right: Once enough calibration points have been defined, the current latitude and longitude of the cursor is displayed as you move the mouse around the map. At the bottom is the approximate scale of the map that will be displayed on your Palm.

Center: This is the calibration window. See the page on calibration. This area displays instructions on what to do next, a zoom window, current location of the calibration target, nudge tools for the map and target and fields to enter latitude, longitude and a target description.

Bottom: When saving, the gauge indicates progress.

Overview Map

The overview map is displayed on the left side of the main interface. This shows:

• · The currently loaded map shrunk to a maximum of 400 x 400 so the whole map can be displayed.
• The file name of the currently loaded map.
• The size of the map.
• Calibration targets. Holding the cursor over calibration targets displays the data used for the calibration. Right clicking on a calibration target displays a context menu allowing the user to delete the target.
• Red lines indicate how the map will be divided when split into multiple files.
  

Details

Certain details are displayed on the top right corner of the main interface. This shows:
· X Divs. How many times the map will be divided horizontally.
· Y Divs. How many times the map will be divided vertically.
· Total Pics. Total number of pictures that will be generated when the map is split. Simply X Divs times Y Divs.
· Latitude and Longitude. This is displayed in the format determined by preferences. As the mouse is scrolled across the overview map or zoom map, the calculated latitude and longitude are displayed. This is only displayed when the map is sufficiently calibrated.
· Map Scale. This is the approximate scale that will be displayed on the palm pilot in GPS Pilot programs. The scale can be displayed in miles/feet, kilometers/meters or nautical miles as specified in the preferences. This is only displayed when the map is sufficiently calibrated.

Calibration

Visual Cartographer guides you through the process of loading, calibrating and saving maps. The calibration pane will show various buttons and input fields as they are needed.

At the top of the Calibration window, in blue, are instructions as to what to do next to create calibration points.

The steps are:
Click Zoom to start
Click the [Zoom] button. Clicking the [Zoom] button again will switch out of this mode.

Click a point on overview
While in this mode, the cursor appears as a pointing hand while on the overview map. On the overview map, click the approximate location of where you want to place a calibration point. This show the "zoom map" with a 1:1 zoomed-in-view of the portion of the map you clicked on and take you to the next step. Clicking the [Zoom] button again will allow you to reselect a place on the overview map.

Click exact Calibration Point here:
While in this mode, the cursor will appear as a small arrow pointing straight up while over the "zoom map." This allows you to place a calibration target on a specific pixel.

Also available in this mode, the "zoom map" can be nudged in any direction using the yellow arrows surrounding the map.

Click again or fill in info and save:
This is the final step. Perfect the location of the calibration point and click the [Add Calibration Point] button.

In this mode, the current location of the calibration point is displayed to the left of the zoom map as X: nnn and Y: nnn. Below this is a blown up view of the target surrounded by red arrows. Using the red arrows, the target can be nudged in any direction.

The Latitude and Longitude input fields are available. These fields are expecting input in the form [-]DD.dddd; however, the [Parse] button allows for entry in a variety of formats, for example:
       N 39° 11.045
       N 39 11.045
       39 11.045
       -9° 14.045
       -9.39199
       -9 14.025
       N 39° 11' 23.11"
Also, latitude and longitude can be placed in the latitude field so long as they both include the compass (NSEW). Clicking [Parse] will parse the text and reset the edit fields to [-]DD.dddd format.

Optionally you can enter text in the "Point Description" field. This will be saved with the point to remind you of where the point is supposed to be.

Finally, clicking the [Add Calibration Point] button moves the calibration point to the overview map and recalculates the map calibration.

Tip : Don't line up your calibration points vertically or horizontally. The best patterns are a lopsided diamond shape, V with one leg shorter than the other, etc.

File Menu

The File menu contains the following commands:

Open GIF -- Open a picture for calibration.

Save Split GIFs -- Save calibrated GIFs and calibration geo files. If the map is split into multiple maps, a directory with the same name as the original map is created to hold the maps and geo files. If only one map is necessary, a geo file is created to go along with the original map.

View Menu

The View menu contains the following commands:

Preferences... -- Open the preferences dialog.

Calibration Info... -- Display Calibration info dialog. This option is only enabled once the map has been sufficiently calibrated.

View-Preferences Dialog

The preferences dialog allows for controlling how the interface looks.

Display Compass -- When displaying Latitude and Longitude, include compass indicators: NSEW. If this is turned off, the values will be displayed as negative for West and South and positive for East and North.

Display Ticks -- When displaying Latitude and Longitude, display degree, minute and second symbols.

Display format -- Select how to display Latitude and Longitude: degrees only; degrees and minutes; or degrees, minutes and seconds.

Map Scale -- Select how to display the map scale: in miles or feet, kilometers or meters, or nautical miles.

View-Calibration Info Dialog

The Calibration Info dialog displays calibration info that can be used with GPS Pilot's "Cartographer" program. This makes for easy calibration of maps for use in internal memory (PDB files). This dialog displays the calculated top-left-corner and bottom-right-corner latitude and longitude.

To calibrate a map for use in internal memory:
· Load a GIF map.
· Identify multiple points on the map with latitude and longitude to calibrate the map.
· View the calibration info and load the same map into "Cartographer" using that same calibration info.

> ADDS-ON: VisualCartographer product page