Hand drawn maps

[DEADOUTTHERE]

I have some hand drawn maps that are not on the internet. How can I make maps from them? They are Montana BMA maps.  Thanks  Stuart

[-Oz-]

You'd have to georeference them and then convert them to vector types.

Either MOAGU or MapWel can help you do that.

http://www.moagu.com or http://www.mapwel.com

[Indrid Cold]

You really haven't provided a whole lot of info to help you. Just like taking a trip, before getting started, you should decide where you want to go. Are you going to want to display the maps as drawn or are you going to want to trace out a vector set to maybe use as an overlay onto other maps.

What format are the maps in? Electronic, paper or something else??? You are going to have to get them into an electronic form one way or another, so that the software tools can use it. This may take a scanner or digital camera. Then as stated, you will have to geo-reference those images.

For instance, if you want to make a trail map, or land ownership map to use with you TOPO map, you might want to make a transparent overlay. You could take the image and geo-reference it with software such as Quantum GIS, and then add vector layers that can be exported as shapefiles that can be used by MapEdit to make a transparent overlay...

In any case, you have to decide where you want to end up so you can plan on how to get there.

[DEADOUTTHERE]

Thanks to both of you for responding to my post. What I want to do with the maps, and there are hundreds of them, is to put them on MapSource and my Garmin Astro 220. If they are on the internet I have not found them. So far I have scanned one, taken a digital picture, and manually drawn it on mapsource . There are two problems with drawing them on mapsource. The first is, it is very time cosuming and secondly the map has 55 legs and the astro will only accept 29 so I get half the map. I have also downloaded the free version of cgps mapper. What do I do next? I know little about computers and soft ware.  Thanks   Stuart

[Indrid Cold]

So far I have scanned one, taken a digital picture, and manually drawn it on mapsource . There are two problems with drawing them on mapsource. The first is, it is very time cosuming and secondly the map has 55 legs and the astro will only accept 29 so I get half the map.

Are you drawing them in MapSource as a route or a track?

[DEADOUTTHERE]

I think I used the route tool. Stuart

[leszekp]

There are many ways you could go about doing something like this. Here's one off the top of my head.

1. Scan the map into digital format (which you've done)

2. You now have to assign geographic coordinates to every point on the map, a process called "registration" or "georeferencing". This is complicated a bit by the fact that it's a hand-drawn map, and thus is likely not drawn with high degree of accuracy. So the georeferencing will need to include a process called "rubber-sheeting", which warps features on the map to put them in the right position.

There are many programs, free and paid, that can do registration, but far less that also do rubber-sheeting. There's a free online service called Map Rectifier that will do both registration and rubber-sheeting, and produce a calibrated map:

http://freegeographytools.com/2008/online-raster-map-georeferencingregistration-with-map-rectifier

3. Now that the map is calibrated, you have several options:

a. Use a program like Moagu or MapWel to directly convert it into a Garmin-compatible format.

b. Load the map into a simple GIS like MapWindow, and create georeferenced vector files (shapefiles) by manually tracing over the features you want.

http://freegeographytools.com/2007/intro-to-mapwindow-gis-iii-shapefile-editing

You can then convert these shapefiles directly into GPS waypoints, routes or tracks using the free version of GPS Trackmaker:

http://freegeographytools.com/2007/a-better-solution-for-gps-exportimport-with-google-earth

c. Or you can enter the fabulous world of Garmin mapmaking by importing the shapefiles into a program like GPSMapEdit, MapDekode, MapMan or Mapwel, and create your own Garmin mapsets.

[Boyd]

Have a look at Mapwel, it would do pretty much everything you need (including "rubber sheeting"). You can play with the free version to see if you like it: http://www.mapwel.eu/features.htm

Mapsource is really not the right tool for making this kind of map. But for that matter, a Garmin GPS is really not the right tool for this application either. OziExplorer is a program specifically designed to work with scanned maps (raster images) on the PC, and it has a companion program, OziExplorer CE which runs on Windows CE based gps'es. Raster images can consist of just about anything - scanned maps, satellite photos, USGS quads. I am using it on a Magellan Triton 1500 and it's very impressive. It assumes a certain amount of technical/computer knowledge to get everything working though so it's not for the average consumer. See their site here: http://www.oziexplorer.com/

[leszekp]

Wow - I hadn't heard that you could run OziExplorer CE on a Triton. Can you post a link to the install process? Also, do you know if it runs on the less expensive Triton units (300, 400,500)?

[Indrid Cold]

Wow - I hadn't heard that you could run OziExplorer CE on a Triton. Can you post a link to the install process? Also, do you know if it runs on the less expensive Triton units (300, 400,500)?

Found this:

After reading a bit more, I've learned there is a very easy way to install Ozi CE on the Triton 1500 or 2000, if that's your only goal. First, copy all your OziExplorer files and maps to the root of an SD memory card. Now rename the oziexplorer program (OziExplorerCE.exe) as "tocopy.exe".

That's all. Put the card in the GPS and press the power button. It will boot directly into OziExplorer!

[Boyd]

Yep, that's actually from instructions I posted on another site. Unfortunately you can't run it on the cheaper Tritons. The touchscreen is heavily integrated into Ozi CE and only the 1500 and 2000 have that feature. For starters, you need the touchscreen to enter your registration code.

If you want some of the nice extra features you need to install one of the "unlock" packages on the Triton. It works fine using the instructions above, but you can't do things like suspend the program or change the screen brightness. For more info, visit the Custom Software forum at TritonForum.com.

[Indrid Cold]

That is interesting, I wonder how the Triton 1500/2000 would do with the TwoNav Pocket software:
http://www.twonav.com/?op=2_1&lang=0en&prod=155