Is Mapwel worth the cost?

[erik.the.awful]

Just wondering if Mapwel is worth the cost. I have found many nice raster based data layers for my state and am considering shelling out the cash for the full version of mapwel. One question does it except ArcGIS export files?

[-Oz-]

Which type of arcGIS files: .mdb, .shp or .e00?  I know it opens .shp; I can test the other two if you would like.

Each raster I tried to convert failed because it was greater than 7000 pixels; even though it wasn't; waiting on support on that one.

[Boyd]

I have the advanced version and think it's great for my purpose, which is creating custom polygon types for use with landcover shapefiles. It is also very fast to compile .mp files into .img files. It can take awhile (a few minutes) to open a big .mp file, but compiling it as an .img file is probably 5x the speed of cgpsmapper even when you include the extra time needed to initially open. Once you have opened a .mp file, save it as a .mpw (Mapwel) file and it will then open quickly.

If you want to make raster maps for Garmin, I'm not so sure. I have not tried this yet myself - guess that I should when I have the time. But this general approach is a bit of a "kludge" and has limitations. What kind of GPS are you using? The newest version of the Colorado and Oregon firmware contain native raster image support and Garmin has released one product (GB Discoverer) which uses this. Unfortunately I have not yet seen any "reverse engineering" of this new format yet. But I'm sure it's coming. Once it does, this will surely be a better solution than Mapwel or MOAGU.

[erik.the.awful]

.mbd and .e00

[erik.the.awful]

I have a 60csx. I have found some land use data and geologic data that are both in raster form. I also have some maps from the state geologic survey (now defunct) that shows historic economic areas for different minerals as well as prospect sites. I have access to a large scanner so I can scan these maps.

Is there another way to get this land use data in my topo maps? For that matter what about the geologic data? The formation data would require a large number of user defined types I think because there are 50+ mapped formation types for GA .

[Boyd]

Mapwel has ~70 user defined polygon types available for you. For Garmin maps, you will always be MUCH better off using vector instead of raster data. You will probably find the same information available as shapefiles if you dig around. Try googling but include the keyword "shapefile" in your searches. LULC and LU/LC are also good keywords to search for (Land Use Land Cover).

Once you have the shapefiles you should be able to import directly into Mapwel, although I have never done that. I build my source files with Global Mapper, then export a .mp file to Mapwel for finishing and compiling.