Instructions for Creating Custom Maps

[eaparks]

The credit for the following instructions should be give to some author unknown to me. I have only clarified several steps to make them more user friendly for the less computer savy individual and have included display characteristcis of GPSMapEdit. Hope you find this helpful. Bus36 has offered help to anyone that may need assistance with the procedure. I highly recommend him for his expertise.

 

Creating Custom GPS Maps for Mapping GPSr for assistance email “Bus36”

 

BEFORE YOU BEGIN: You will need the following:

1. Software to create a gpx file (Mapsource works).

2. The GPSMapEdit program. Download from http://www.geopainting.com/en/. Creates .mp file and exports .img file.

3. The cGPSmapper program. Download from http://www.cgpsmapper.com/en/download.htm. Compiles for Mapsource.

 

For more details, please check this website: http://home.cinci.rr.com/creek/garmin.htm.

Here are the steps that I follow to create a custom mapset of tracks:

1. Convert your tracks to a .gpx file. Mapsource works fine for this.

2. Open GPSMapEdit program.

3. Click “File > Open” and choose your gpx file. (NOTE: you can “File > Add” multiple gpx files into one session of GPSMapEdit.)

4. Click on File > Map Properties and do the following:

a. Change type set to Garmin

b. Give the map an 8 digit ID number (must be all numbers, no spaces)

c. Give the map a name

d. Click on the levels tab and hit the “Insert Before:” tab. Do this until you have level0= through level5=

e. Click on “Change” and make the settings look like this:

 

i. Level0=24 bits/Mapsource zoom=under1.2km

ii. Level1=23 bits/Mapsource zoom=1.2-3km

iii. Level2=22 bits/Mapsource zoom=3-8km

iv. Level3=20 bits/Mapsource zoom=8-12km

v. Level4=19 bits/Mapsource zoom=12-30km

vi. Level5=18 bits/Mapsource zoom=50-120km

 

5. Click “OK” which takes you back to your tracks.

6. Click on “Edit > Select all tracks”.

7. Right click on any 1 of your tracks and select “Convert to polylines”. This will bring up a levels box. Check the levels 0,1,2 boxes and hit “OK”. Repeat Steps 6 & 7 if you want Waypoints on your map but instead of converting to polylines convert to “Points”. (NOTE: Be sure you want waypoints on your map because you may be duplicating points on your map with Waypoints you keep in your GPSr and this will clutter the viewing of your map. Also, the icons may not match each other.)

8. The type box will come up. Select “walkway/trails” then “OK”. You can change this to anything you want to have the tracks appears as on the GPS different. I use “International Boundary” and is easier to see on my GPS (shows up deep blue). “Primary Road” shows up well (red in color), but will need to change it to “level 2” in order to view it at the 0.3 mile scale on the GPS. The 0.3 mile scale on the GPS is the least detailed zoom size that will show your custom map features. (Garmin 60CSx - You can change the “Main Menu > Setup > Map (Map Setup – General) and change “Detail from “Normal” to “More” and your tracks will appear at the 0.5 mile zoom level.

9. Click on “View Levels” and select level 4. You will see your track, NOT your converted track (more on this later.)

10. Right click on the track and select “Detach file”. (This gets rid of your track file but keeps the converted file that you already did. If you want to see your file click on view, then levels and select level 0). If you right click on the track and nothing happens then go to “Edit > All tracks and put cursor over any 1 of your tracks and right click. Then click “Detach Files”.

11. Click on “View > Levels” and select “level 4”. Click on the “Wand Tab” (create object) down arrow and click on “Point”.

12. Click anywhere on your map and create a “Settlement” (less 100) and click “OK”. Settlement (less 100) is under the Description Heading.

13. Click on “File > Map Properties” and select the cGPSMapper Tab.

14. Check the “Map is transparent” box, then click “Apply” and click “OK”.

15. Click on “File > Save map as” and save your file in type “Polish format” (this is the default).

16. Click on “File > Export GarminIMG/cgpsmapper.exe”. (This program has to be downloaded prior so look at the website in this step), name your file and save it, then search for the cgpsmapper.exe file that you saved earlier and click on run and wait until it says “Export is complete” and click “Ok”.

End Of GPSMapEdit

17. Find your newly created .img file and change the name to the 8 digit number that you gave the map in step 4B.

18. You can now send the map image to your GPS or Mapsource. My instructions follow:

19. Create and compile your map using cGPSmapper. You must give it a name of all numbers: ex. 10000123.img. (You already did this in Step 17.)

20. Create a folder named “custom” under the Garmin folder and copy your custom map to it. (Only do this for the 1st map ONLY.)

21. Copy cGPSmapper.exe to the same folder.

22. Copy test_pv.txt (found in the Test_Map folder of cGPSmapper) to your custom folder.

23. Edit test_pv.txt (using NotePad or WordPad – works best) so it looks something like this and “File > Save”:

 

[Map]

FileName=CINtopo ‘ anything

MapVersion=100

ProductCode=111 ‘ a different number for each custom map (not sure this matters)

Color=32

 

Levels=2

Level0=20 ‘ this should be the least detailed (but not empty) layer on your map

Level1=17 ‘ anything

 

Zoom0=5

Zoom1=6

 

MapsourceName=CINtopo ‘ anything (this will be the name of the files and registry entry)

MapSetName=CT ‘ anything

CDSetName=CT ‘ anything

Copy1=Garmin

Copy2=Stan

[End-Map]

‘ You should do this - delete the Dictionary section that shows up in your “test_pv.txt file”.

[Files]

img=10000123.img ‘This is your map file name. *** MUST be numbers ***

‘ YOU CAN HAVE SEVERAL OF THESE “img” LINES. They will all be compiled into a single preview map, and you can select and upload them to your GPS individually using Mapsource.

[END-Files]

24. Open a “command window” (DOS prompt): Start > Run, type “cmd” and click “OK”.

25. Now type “cd c:\garmin\custom” in the command window to change the directory to the “custom” folder and click “Enter”.

26. Create the preview files: type “cgpsmapper pv test_pv.txt” and click “Enter”. This creates a small preview map file (.img), a table file (.TDB) and a registry file (.reg).

 

You Don’t Have To Do Steps 27-29 Except For You’re 1st Custom Map ONLY

27. Edit the registry file (i.e. CINtopo.reg) that was just created in your “Custom” folder: Right click on it and select Edit. Change the folders (directories) so they point to your custom folder. Yes, you need the double back-slashes:

 

REGEDIT4

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Garmin\MapSource\Products\CINtopo]

“LOC”=”C:\\Garmin\\custom\\”

“BMAP”=”C:\\Garmin\\custom\\CINtopo.img”

“TDB”=”C:\\Garmin\\custom\\CINtopo.tdb”

and click File > Save.

28. Run the registry file (double click it) that you edited in your “custom” folder and select “yes” to load it into your registry.

29. Open Mapsource. If you made a registry file mistake you will get an error saying to reinstall MapSource. Don’t worry, you don’t have to reinstall. Just run “regedit” (seek help if unsure about this!) and remove the “HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Garmin\MapSource\Products\CINtopo” key. Repeat the above steps until you get it right.

30. You should now see your map listed in MapSource along with your other Garmin maps in the ‘Product’ list as “CINtopo”.

31. Select (click) your map and the preview map will show up in the map area of the screen. Since we did not go to any trouble to make the preview map pretty you will see an outline and not much more. You may be able to zoom in to see more detail of your custom map.

32. You should now be able to use the “Map Tool” to select your custom map for uploading and upload it with your other maps.

 

Thanks to Groundspeak members Bus36 and GeoBobC for all their efforts. Rev.1; 09-29-2006

 

I highly recommend Groundspeak forum member Bus36 if you should have any technical questions. He is an excellent source for troubleshooting and will be more than happy to assist you.

 

Note: The following information is a comparison concerning Track/”Types” (such as roads) and Waypoints/”Labels”/”Icons” used in GPSMapEdit and uploaded to a Garmin 60CSx.

This gives a description of they actually end up looking on the GPS, since a lot of Tracks/”Types” and Waypoint Icon Symbols won’t look the same as they do on your computer screen.

Tracks/”Types”

“Major Highways” show up well on GPS – Red, wide line.

 

“Principal Roads” show up well on GPS - Red, but not quite as wide a line as Major Highways (little hard to distinguish between “Major Hwys”. and “Principal Rds”.).

 

“Other Highway Road” doesn’t look any different than Principal Roads on GPS.

 

“Unpaved Road” shows up as a somewhat faint broken black line – not quite as a broken line as the Walkway/Trail. Doesn’t jump out at you as being able to see it easily, but can be seen ok.

 

“Walkway/Trail” shows up as a faint broken black line – a little difficult to see if wanting to easily see a trail.

 

“International Boundary” shows up well on GPS – purple or deep blue, easy to see.

 

Waypoint Icons/Symbols

The solid Green, Blue, and Red navigation aids show up as solid round circle on the GPS and show up very good. Are good to distinguish between easy, moderate, and difficult trails.

 

The following icons show up the same in GPSMapEdit and on the GPS (more to be added after verifying how they appear).

Mine

Camera

Tall Tower

Car Parking (appears as a capital red P in a circle)

Green, Blue, and Red navigational aids (appear as a round circle without the light bulb effect around the circle)

 

The Icons/Symbols located in the category of “Man Made” have light brown text in the label name but appear black on the GPS.

 

You can very quickly clutter a custom made map by putting to many Waypoints in the map itself. Keep it reasonable for the size of map. I have found it works best to put major Waypoints on the map and keep less significant Waypoints in the GPS, this way it greatly aids in finding your Custom Map on your GPS screen since the Waypoints in the GPS show up at all zoom levels simplifying locating your Custom Map. To distinguish between different types or difficulty of trails the green, blue, and red navigation aids in GPSMapEdit work really well if you create a Waypoint on each trail using them as the Waypoint Symbol/Icon.

 

This list is in no way conclusive; it is just a few of the things I’ve noticed while working with GPSMapEdit.

[Laurontario]

This is five pages long but sooooo gooood with looots of details!

 

Thanks a lot for it!

[eaparks]

This is five pages long but sooooo gooood with looots of details!

 

Thanks a lot for it!

 

It is 3 pages in a Microsoft Word file with the margins as wide as they'll go. You could copy and paste it in Word inorder to print less.

[GeoBobC]

Also see this post from today (it may contain the same instructions): http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=145256

[+Bus36]

Also see this post from today (it may contain the same instructions): http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=145256

The site you gave GeoBobC is for custom topo maps. This thread is for transparent track maps which is a little different. Some of the steps are the same though so if you can do one you can easily do the other.

[eaparks]

Update on the Track/"Types" and Waypoint Icons in GPSMapEdit concerning how they look on your GPS.

 

Note: The following information is a comparison concerning Track/”Types” (such as roads) and Waypoints/”Labels”/”Icons” used in GPSMapEdit and uploaded to a Garmin 60CSx.

This gives a description of how they actually end up looking on the GPS, since a lot of Tracks/”Types” and Waypoint Icon Symbols in GPSMapEdit won’t look the same in your GPS as they do on your computer screen. All of these are with GPS Display Mode as “Daytime” & Color Scheme as “Diamond”.

Tracks/”Types”

“Major Highways” show up as a Wide Red line –extremely easy to see

“Major Highway Connector” shows up as a Thin Light Blue line - somewhat easy to see (looks like “Shoreline of Water Body” and “River”)

 

“Principal Roads” show up as a Reddish Brown line – very easy to see (not quite as wide a line as Major Highways (little hard to distinguish between “Major Hwys”. and “Principal Rds” when zoomed in)

 

“Other Highway Road” shows up as a Reddish Brown line - (doesn’t look any different than Principal Roads)

 

“Arterial Roads” show up as a solid Thin Gray Line – somewhat easy to see.

 

“Collector Road” shows up as a Very Thin Gray – easy to see (similar to “Time Zone” or “Marine Hazard” when zoomed in a lot just not quite as heavy a line)

 

“Unpaved Road” shows up as a faint Broken Black line – somewhat easy to see when zoomed in (not quite as broken of a line as the ”Walkway/Trail”)

 

“Hwy. Ramp Low Speed” shows up as a Thin Black line – easy to see

 

“Roundabout” shows up as a Thin Gray line – easy to see (looks like “Arterial Roads”)

 

“Walkway/Trail” shows up as a faint Broken Black line – a little difficult to see if wanting to easily see a trail.

 

“International Boundary” shows as a Wide Violet line - easy to see.

 

“State/Province Boundary” shows up as a Wide Light Violet with a very tiny bit of Black (if GPS @ 45 deg. Angle looks green) – easy to see (looks like the “Walkway/Trail overlaid with the “International Boundary”)

 

“Time Zone” shows up as a Thin Black line – very easy to see (looks like “Interim Land Contour”)

 

“Major Land Contour” shows up as Thin Light Purple line –somewhat easy to see (small version of “Int’l Boundary”)

 

“Interim Land Contour” shows up as Thin Black line – very easy to see (looks like “Time Zone”)

 

“Shoreline of Water Body” shows up as a Thin Light Blue line – somewhat easy to see (looks like “Major Hwy. Connector” and “River”)

 

“Major Depth Contour” shows up as a Thin Bright Blue line – very easy to see (doesn’t show up as well when U.S. Topo is showing at same time)

 

“Marine Hazard” shows up as a Thin Black line – easy to see

 

“River” shows up as a Thin Light Blue line – somewhat easy to see (looks the same as “Shoreline of Water Body” and “Major Hwy. Connector”)

 

“Airport Runway Ctr. Line” shows up as a Thin Black line –very easy to see (looks the same as “Time Zone”)

 

“Railroad” shows up as a Very Thin Black line with Slashes across the line – easy to see (have to change level in order to see it when other lines/types 1st appear)

 

“Oil/Water Pipe Line” shows up as a Thin Black line – easy to see (looks the same as “Marine Hazard”, “Time Zone”, ”Airport Runway Ctr. Line”

 

Waypoint Icons/Symbols

The solid Green, Blue, and Red navigation aids show up as solid round circle on the GPS and show up very good. Are good to distinguish between easy, moderate, and difficult trails.

 

The following icons show up the same in GPSMapEdit and on the GPS (more to be added after verifying how they appear).

Mine

Camera

Tall Tower

Car Parking (appears as a capital red P in a circle)

Green, Blue, and Red navigational aids (appear as a round circle without the light bulb effect around the circle)

 

The Icons/Symbols located in the category of “Man Made” have light brown text in the label name but appear black on the GPS.

 

You can very quickly clutter a custom made map by putting to many Waypoints in the map itself. Keep it reasonable for the size of map. I have found it works best to put major Waypoints on the map and keep less significant Waypoints in the GPS, this way it greatly aids in finding your Custom Map on your GPS screen since the Waypoints in the GPS show up at all zoom levels. This simplifies finding your Custom Map’s exact location. To distinguish between different types or difficulty of trails the green, blue, and red navigation aids in GPSMapEdit work really well. Create a Waypoint in GPSMapEdit on each trail and use a colored Navigation Aid as the Waypoint Symbol/Icon.

 

This list is in no way conclusive; it is just a few of the things I’ve noticed while working with GPSMapEdit.

 

I would be interested in how other Tracks/Types and Icons look that I do not have listed, please post. Rev.2; 09-30-2006

[rray6]

I am in the middle of following the instructions you posted (and thank you so much for doing this). So far, so good - I think. I am at a point right now waiting for the NHD data request so I can import my waterways (#6 in your instructions). I have a question about my mp file so far. In GPSMAPEDIT, I changed my levels as instructed and set it up just like you suggested. Level 5 is grayed out. Level 4 has the one polyline and is empty otherwise (white page). Levels 1, 2 and 3 all have data in them. All this seems correct but Level 0 is also a white page. Is that correct or should it have data in it, too? Again, this is set up exactly like your instructions. I probably won't get the waterways data until tomorrow so I decided to ask this question while I had some down time on this project. Thanks for any help you can provide.

 

rray6

 

The credit for the following instructions should be give to some author unknown to me. I have only clarified several steps to make them more user friendly for the less computer savy individual and have included display characteristcis of GPSMapEdit. Hope you find this helpful. Bus36 has offered help to anyone that may need assistance with the procedure. I highly recommend him for his expertise.

 

Creating Custom GPS Maps for Mapping GPSr for assistance email “Bus36”

 

BEFORE YOU BEGIN: You will need the following:

1. Software to create a gpx file (Mapsource works).

2. The GPSMapEdit program. Download from http://www.geopainting.com/en/. Creates .mp file and exports .img file.

3. The cGPSmapper program. Download from http://www.cgpsmapper.com/en/download.htm. Compiles for Mapsource.

 

For more details, please check this website: http://home.cinci.rr.com/creek/garmin.htm.

Here are the steps that I follow to create a custom mapset of tracks:

1. Convert your tracks to a .gpx file. Mapsource works fine for this.

2. Open GPSMapEdit program.

3. Click “File > Open” and choose your gpx file. (NOTE: you can “File > Add” multiple gpx files into one session of GPSMapEdit.)

4. Click on File > Map Properties and do the following:

a. Change type set to Garmin

b. Give the map an 8 digit ID number (must be all numbers, no spaces)

c. Give the map a name

d. Click on the levels tab and hit the “Insert Before:” tab. Do this until you have level0= through level5=

e. Click on “Change” and make the settings look like this:

 

i. Level0=24 bits/Mapsource zoom=under1.2km

ii. Level1=23 bits/Mapsource zoom=1.2-3km

iii. Level2=22 bits/Mapsource zoom=3-8km

iv. Level3=20 bits/Mapsource zoom=8-12km

v. Level4=19 bits/Mapsource zoom=12-30km

vi. Level5=18 bits/Mapsource zoom=50-120km

 

5. Click “OK” which takes you back to your tracks.

6. Click on “Edit > Select all tracks”.

7. Right click on any 1 of your tracks and select “Convert to polylines”. This will bring up a levels box. Check the levels 0,1,2 boxes and hit “OK”. Repeat Steps 6 & 7 if you want Waypoints on your map but instead of converting to polylines convert to “Points”. (NOTE: Be sure you want waypoints on your map because you may be duplicating points on your map with Waypoints you keep in your GPSr and this will clutter the viewing of your map. Also, the icons may not match each other.)

8. The type box will come up. Select “walkway/trails” then “OK”. You can change this to anything you want to have the tracks appears as on the GPS different. I use “International Boundary” and is easier to see on my GPS (shows up deep blue). “Primary Road” shows up well (red in color), but will need to change it to “level 2” in order to view it at the 0.3 mile scale on the GPS. The 0.3 mile scale on the GPS is the least detailed zoom size that will show your custom map features. (Garmin 60CSx - You can change the “Main Menu > Setup > Map (Map Setup – General) and change “Detail from “Normal” to “More” and your tracks will appear at the 0.5 mile zoom level.

9. Click on “View Levels” and select level 4. You will see your track, NOT your converted track (more on this later.)

10. Right click on the track and select “Detach file”. (This gets rid of your track file but keeps the converted file that you already did. If you want to see your file click on view, then levels and select level 0). If you right click on the track and nothing happens then go to “Edit > All tracks and put cursor over any 1 of your tracks and right click. Then click “Detach Files”.

11. Click on “View > Levels” and select “level 4”. Click on the “Wand Tab” (create object) down arrow and click on “Point”.

12. Click anywhere on your map and create a “Settlement” (less 100) and click “OK”. Settlement (less 100) is under the Description Heading.

13. Click on “File > Map Properties” and select the cGPSMapper Tab.

14. Check the “Map is transparent” box, then click “Apply” and click “OK”.

15. Click on “File > Save map as” and save your file in type “Polish format” (this is the default).

16. Click on “File > Export GarminIMG/cgpsmapper.exe”. (This program has to be downloaded prior so look at the website in this step), name your file and save it, then search for the cgpsmapper.exe file that you saved earlier and click on run and wait until it says “Export is complete” and click “Ok”.

End Of GPSMapEdit

17. Find your newly created .img file and change the name to the 8 digit number that you gave the map in step 4B.

18. You can now send the map image to your GPS or Mapsource. My instructions follow:

19. Create and compile your map using cGPSmapper. You must give it a name of all numbers: ex. 10000123.img. (You already did this in Step 17.)

20. Create a folder named “custom” under the Garmin folder and copy your custom map to it. (Only do this for the 1st map ONLY.)

21. Copy cGPSmapper.exe to the same folder.

22. Copy test_pv.txt (found in the Test_Map folder of cGPSmapper) to your custom folder.

23. Edit test_pv.txt (using NotePad or WordPad – works best) so it looks something like this and “File > Save”:

 

[Map]

FileName=CINtopo ‘ anything

MapVersion=100

ProductCode=111 ‘ a different number for each custom map (not sure this matters)

Color=32

 

Levels=2

Level0=20 ‘ this should be the least detailed (but not empty) layer on your map

Level1=17 ‘ anything

 

Zoom0=5

Zoom1=6

 

MapsourceName=CINtopo ‘ anything (this will be the name of the files and registry entry)

MapSetName=CT ‘ anything

CDSetName=CT ‘ anything

Copy1=Garmin

Copy2=Stan

[End-Map]

‘ You should do this - delete the Dictionary section that shows up in your “test_pv.txt file”.

[Files]

img=10000123.img ‘This is your map file name. *** MUST be numbers ***

‘ YOU CAN HAVE SEVERAL OF THESE “img” LINES. They will all be compiled into a single preview map, and you can select and upload them to your GPS individually using Mapsource.

[END-Files]

24. Open a “command window” (DOS prompt): Start > Run, type “cmd” and click “OK”.

25. Now type “cd c:\garmin\custom” in the command window to change the directory to the “custom” folder and click “Enter”.

26. Create the preview files: type “cgpsmapper pv test_pv.txt” and click “Enter”. This creates a small preview map file (.img), a table file (.TDB) and a registry file (.reg).

 

You Don’t Have To Do Steps 27-29 Except For You’re 1st Custom Map ONLY

27. Edit the registry file (i.e. CINtopo.reg) that was just created in your “Custom” folder: Right click on it and select Edit. Change the folders (directories) so they point to your custom folder. Yes, you need the double back-slashes:

 

REGEDIT4

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Garmin\MapSource\Products\CINtopo]

“LOC”=”C:\\Garmin\\custom\\”

“BMAP”=”C:\\Garmin\\custom\\CINtopo.img”

“TDB”=”C:\\Garmin\\custom\\CINtopo.tdb”

and click File > Save.

28. Run the registry file (double click it) that you edited in your “custom” folder and select “yes” to load it into your registry.

29. Open Mapsource. If you made a registry file mistake you will get an error saying to reinstall MapSource. Don’t worry, you don’t have to reinstall. Just run “regedit” (seek help if unsure about this!) and remove the “HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Garmin\MapSource\Products\CINtopo” key. Repeat the above steps until you get it right.

30. You should now see your map listed in MapSource along with your other Garmin maps in the ‘Product’ list as “CINtopo”.

31. Select (click) your map and the preview map will show up in the map area of the screen. Since we did not go to any trouble to make the preview map pretty you will see an outline and not much more. You may be able to zoom in to see more detail of your custom map.

32. You should now be able to use the “Map Tool” to select your custom map for uploading and upload it with your other maps.

 

Thanks to Groundspeak members Bus36 and GeoBobC for all their efforts. Rev.1; 09-29-2006

 

I highly recommend Groundspeak forum member Bus36 if you should have any technical questions. He is an excellent source for troubleshooting and will be more than happy to assist you.

 

Note: The following information is a comparison concerning Track/”Types” (such as roads) and Waypoints/”Labels”/”Icons” used in GPSMapEdit and uploaded to a Garmin 60CSx.

This gives a description of they actually end up looking on the GPS, since a lot of Tracks/”Types” and Waypoint Icon Symbols won’t look the same as they do on your computer screen.

Tracks/”Types”

“Major Highways” show up well on GPS – Red, wide line.

 

“Principal Roads” show up well on GPS - Red, but not quite as wide a line as Major Highways (little hard to distinguish between “Major Hwys”. and “Principal Rds”.).

 

“Other Highway Road” doesn’t look any different than Principal Roads on GPS.

 

“Unpaved Road” shows up as a somewhat faint broken black line – not quite as a broken line as the Walkway/Trail. Doesn’t jump out at you as being able to see it easily, but can be seen ok.

 

“Walkway/Trail” shows up as a faint broken black line – a little difficult to see if wanting to easily see a trail.

 

“International Boundary” shows up well on GPS – purple or deep blue, easy to see.

 

Waypoint Icons/Symbols

The solid Green, Blue, and Red navigation aids show up as solid round circle on the GPS and show up very good. Are good to distinguish between easy, moderate, and difficult trails.

 

The following icons show up the same in GPSMapEdit and on the GPS (more to be added after verifying how they appear).

Mine

Camera

Tall Tower

Car Parking (appears as a capital red P in a circle)

Green, Blue, and Red navigational aids (appear as a round circle without the light bulb effect around the circle)

 

The Icons/Symbols located in the category of “Man Made” have light brown text in the label name but appear black on the GPS.

 

You can very quickly clutter a custom made map by putting to many Waypoints in the map itself. Keep it reasonable for the size of map. I have found it works best to put major Waypoints on the map and keep less significant Waypoints in the GPS, this way it greatly aids in finding your Custom Map on your GPS screen since the Waypoints in the GPS show up at all zoom levels simplifying locating your Custom Map. To distinguish between different types or difficulty of trails the green, blue, and red navigation aids in GPSMapEdit work really well if you create a Waypoint on each trail using them as the Waypoint Symbol/Icon.

 

This list is in no way conclusive; it is just a few of the things I’ve noticed while working with GPSMapEdit.

Edited October 1, 2006 by rray6