Revised Custom Topo Map Instructions, Rev. 2

[eaparks]

Just completed revising the step by step instructions for creating Custom Topo Maps using Cypherman's MapSetToolKit (easier process). Some steps that were not needed have been eliminated from the original instructions and several steps have been modified for clarification.

 

Instructions can be printed in PDF, from Cypherman's Website; http://cypherman1.googlepages.com/Creating...hMapSetTool.pdf

 

Or you can copy and paste from here to Microsoft Word for easier following, (4) pages. Suggest printing from PDF in above link. Many of the questions that have come up from individuals learning to make Custom Topo Maps are answered in the following thread:

http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=145256

Making Custom Topo Maps by Bus36.

 

Making Custom TOPO Maps, Step by Step Instructions using MapSetToolkit

Step by step instructions to make custom topos. Also if you make some please share them so others can use them. Go to http://mapcenter.cgpsmapper.com/ and upload your finished mp file. If you have any suggestions on how to improve these instructions, please do so. You can also copy and paste it in Word for easier reading.

 

Most information is from http://home.cinci.rr.com/creek/garmin.htm

Making Custom TOPO maps:

1. Download the following programs and install them:

A. DEM2TOPO from: http://people.uleth.ca/~brad.gom/dem2topo/index.htm

B. IDL Virtual Machine (IDL VM) from: http://www.ittvis.com/download/download.asp

C. GPSMapEdit from www.geopainting.com

D. cGPSMapper from www.cgpsmapper.com

E. MapSetToolKit from http://cypherman1.googlepages.com/intruction_en

 

2. Go to http://seamless.usgs.gov/and download high-resolution DEM data (for Canada go to http://www.geobase.ca/geobase/en/index.html)

A. Make sure to visit the FAQ if running SP2 for XP and allow downloads and make trusted site in

order to get info.

B. For usgs click on view and download U.S. data

C. Click on the zoom in tool and zoom in to your area of interest

D. Use either define download area tool under downloads or define area by coordinates tool to

download yourarea. (Note: If the SDDS Page does not appear using the download area tool use

the define area bycoordinates method and it will appear.)

E. An SDDS Request Summary Page will appear, click on modify data request

F. Uncheck the National Elevation Dataset (NED) 1 Arc Second, let the page refresh

G. Check National Elevation Dataset (NED) 1/3 Arc Second box, let the page refresh

H. Change form ArcGrid to GeoTiff, scroll to the bottom of the page

I. Change the Maximum size (MB) per piece from 100 to 50mb (Working with files under 50 mb is

easier and faster.)

J. Click save changes & Return to summary.

K. Click on download and save your data, unzip your files, save the data anywhere you want, just

don’t forget where you put it.

 

Beginning of Dem2Topo

3. Next is to convert the GeoTiff (.tif) to an .mp file (an mp file is a file that you will manipulate latter on)

A. Double-click on dem2topo.sav to start the program, IDL will automatically start and run dem2topo.

B. Select units feet or meters, set your minor contour intervals, set your intermediate contour

interval, and your major contour interval (I set them to 20 feet, 200 feet, and 500 feet…for minor

contour intervals less than 10 feet makes your map very cluttered). (Contour line intervals need

to be a multiple of each other).

C. Change your plot refresh interval to 99

D. Next click on Select DEM files, find your GeoTiff file (.tif) and open it (select DEM file if you are

from Canada here)

E. Your map screen will go black while it is loading so give it time. (Your map screen may stay black

even after it has finished loading, but it will say “Ready” in the box in the lower left corner of your

screen.)

F. After it has loaded simply click on “Create .mp file” and watch it work. When it says Finished

click “Ok”. (You should now begin to see contour lines appear. This can take several minutes

depending on the size of your map)

 

4. Next is to download your water data (if you don’t need nor want water data skip this part)

A. Go to http://nhdgeo.usgs.gov/viewer.htm

B. Zoom in to your area of interest

C. Under layers open the Hydrologic Units and put a check in the Subbasins box (anytime you check

a box that item will show up on the map when you hit redraw the map, so you can turn on cities or

counties to figure out where you are)

D. Next open the NHD High Res tab, you may or may not see anything here, the more you zoom in

the morethings that show up to turn on or off, so keep zooming in and something should show up

here.

E. When the NHD High Res data shows up put a check in the box for the following: NHDFlowline,

NHDArea, NHDWaterbody

F. Next put a dot in the circle of Subbasins, Subbasins will now have a checked box and dotted circle

(the dotted circle tells the download what to download while the checked box tells what to display

on the map)

G. Click on the polygon extract tool, click in the area you want to download,

H. A NHD Geodatabase Extract should appear, for #1 put a dot in High Resolution, for #2 put a dot in

the shapefile, #3 enter your email address.

I. A link will be emailed to you to download the data, it might take a while so be patient, when you

get the data unzip and save where you can find it later.

END of Dem2Topo

 

Start GPSMapEdit

5. Next is to edit the .mp file in GPSmapedit

A. Open GpsMapEdit, click File Open and choose your .mp file

B. Click on “File” then “Map Properties” and do the following:

1. Change typeset to Garmin

2. Give the map an 8 digit ID number (no. must be larger than 00010000 or it may not show up

correctly in Mapsource)

3. Give the map a name

4. Click on the Levels tab and Highlight the bottom or last Level in the series and then click

on the “Insert Before” tab, do this until you have Level0= through Level4=.

 

6. Change the Level & Zoom settings to look like this

Level0=24 bits mapsource zoom=under1.2km

Level1=23 bits mapsource zoom=1.2-3km

Level2=22 bits mapsource zoom=3-8km

Level3=20 bits mapsource zoom=8-12km

Level4=19 bits mapsource zoom=12-30km

 

7. Click on the cGPSMapper Tab and check the “Map is transparent” box then click on Apply and Ok.

 

8. Next is to import your waterways (Note: Do not use these “unknown types”: 0x0029, 0x003b, or 0x0045

unless you are using the .TYP file method. Mapsource doesn’t have a pattern for these “unknown

types” Use something such as (ex. 0x0049 small river, 0x0041 small lake, or 0x0048 medium river.)

A. Click on File, Import and select ESRIshape (*.shp)

B. Go to your download waterways folder and open the subfolder hydrography and click on NHDArea

1. Select type of objects, click on “From List” tab and select 0X0040 Small lake, click on Next

2. Select source of labels, click on the GNIS_Name tab, click on Next

3. Select source coordinate system, make sure Datum is WGS84, click on Next

4. Select zoom levels to import, check Levels 0,1,2,3, click on Finish

C. Click on File, Import and select ESRIshape(*.shp)

D. Go to your download water ways folder and open the subfolder hydrography and click on

NHDFlowline.

1. Select type of objects, click on “From List” tab and select 0X001f River, click on Next

2. Select source of labels, click on the GNIS_Name tab, click on Next

3. Select source coordinate system, make sure datum is WGS84, click on Next

4. Select zoom levels to import, check Levels 0,1,2 click on Finish

E. Click on File, Import and select ESRIshape (*.shp)

F. Go to your download water ways folder and open the subfolder hydrography and click on

NHDWaterbody.

1. Select type of objects, click on “From List” tab and select 0X003e Medium lake, click on Next

2. Select source of labels, click on the GNIS_Name tab, click on Next

3. Select source coordinate system, make sure datum is WGS84, click on Next

4. Select zoom levels to import, check Levels 0,1,2 click on Finish

G. Go to View, Levels and select Level0 and zoom in to the area showing your topo/contour lines.

H. Next go to Tools and select Trim. Trace the area around your elevation data then right click and

select Trim Outside (this gets rid of extra water ways)

I. Click on Tools, click on “Remove Object Duplicates”. Small box with “number deleted” will appear,

click Ok.

 

9. Click on File, Map Properties, Click on the cGPSMapper Tab and make sure the “Map is transparent”

box is still checked, if not check again and hit Apply and Ok.

 

10. Click on File Save Map As and save your file in (Polish format (*.mp, *txt.)

 

11. 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 as a Garmin Mapsource .img file, 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”. (Note: This may take several minutes depending on the size of your map)

 

12. Click on Close in “Export to cGPSmapper.exe” screen.

END of GPSMapEdit

 

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

5-B-2.

 

2. You can now send the map image to your GPS or Mapsource. For Mapsource Continue:

 

3. The next step will 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 1 above.)

 

4. Create a folder named “Custom” under the C:/Garmin folder and copy your custom map to it.

 

Start MapSetToolkit

Does not require you to make any registry changes and you do not have to create the “test_pv.txt” file or the “.reg” file; Mapsource makes them for you. See this link for the MapSetToolkit: http://cypherman1.googlepages.com/intruction_en (Thanks to Cypherman for simplifying this process)

 

5. Open MapSetToolkit 1.13. Click on “Select IMG files” and click on folder C: > Garmin > Custom.

 

6. Select your .img file or files and click “Add”.

 

7. In “Create TDB” Box:

A. For “Mapset Directory” click on “…” and select the folder C: > Garmin > Custom.

B. Enter a name in the “Mapset Name” field. (Spaces between characters is allowed)

C. In “Product Code” enter a number between (1-9999). Make sure this number is not being used

in any other Mapset Product codes.

D. In “IMG Level/Zoom” – If your Level Settings in GPSMapEdit were Level0 thru Level4 and your

Zoom was Zoom0=0 thru Zoom4=4. (This is what it should be if you have gone strictly by these

instructions.) Then enter 19:18/5:6 in “IMG Level/Zoom”.

 

Ex. Level0=24 bits MapSource Zoom0=0(under1.2km)

Level1=23 bits MapSource Zoom1=1(1.2-3km)

Level2=22 bits MapSource Zoom2=2(3-8km)

Level3=20 bits MapSource Zoom3=3(8-12km)

Level4=19 bits MapSource Zoom4=4(12-30km)

 

Why 19:18/5:6, because it’s necessary to use the last Level defined in your IMG files (19) and use the following Level (18). For the Zoom values (5:6) it’s necessary to use values that are not defined

in the IMG files and that do not overlap. This Level/Zoom is used for the overview map (global map).

 

8. If you want to use a .TYP file or registered your MapSet in families, continue to Step 9, otherwise go to

Step 10.

 

9. In the “Convert (Product->Families)” box.

A. For “Family ID” enter a number between (1-65535). Make sure this number is not being used in

any other Families ID. (Look at “Uninstall Mapset” box and verify your FID number is not used.)

(After you have entered a FID number the “Product Code” is over written with 1.)

B. If you have a custom type definition (.TYP file), then click on “…” and select your file. If

select .txt file, MapSetToolKit will compile this file when you click on “START” button.

 

10. Check the “Install in Mapsource” box.

 

11. In the “cgpsmapper” box click on “…”. Select cgpsmapper.exe program and click “Open”.

 

12. Click on “START”. Then box will pop up saying “Convert terminated” and click “Ok”.

 

13. Verify your Mapset name and Code you assigned in Step 7-B & C are now in the “Uninstall Mapset” list

box.

 

14. Now you can go to Mapsource and install them to your GPSr with .TYP file. You don’t need another

program to send your .TYP file to you GPSr if your “Product Code” and “FID” in your .TYP file is the

same as in Steps 7-C & 9-A. Mapsource will send your .TYP file for you with your selected maps. If you

used the same values in your .TYP file and MapSetToolKit for “Product Code” and “FID”, Mapsource will

send your maps and also your .TYP file to your GPSr. (Ignore this step if not using a .TYP file.)

END of MapSetToolKit

 

15. Open Mapsource, you should now see your map listed in MapSource along with your other Garmin maps

in the “Product” list.

 

16. Select (click) on your map in the Product list and the preview map will show up in the map area on

your screen. On the Mapsource Toolbar change your “Detail Settings” to “Highest” and zoom in to

see your custom map. You may have to zoom in to a Map Scale/Zoom Level of 2 miles or less before

your map starts to display.

 

17. You should now be able to use the “Map Tool” to select your custom map/s for uploading and upload it

withyour other maps such as U.S. Topo, City Navigator, and etc. maps.

 

Thanks to Groundspeak members GeoBobC, EAParks, Bus36, and Cypherman for all their efforts.

Rev.2; 02-06-07

[MtnHermit]

Thanks for all the work.

 

Will these custom topos load into any mapping GPSr? I have a Garmin Venture Cx.

 

Thanks

Hermit

[+Bus36]

Thanks for all the work.

 

Will these custom topos load into any mapping GPSr? I have a Garmin Venture Cx.

 

Thanks

Hermit

This process should work for pretty much any mapping Garmin mapping unit. It will work with the Venture Cx. Thanks for the new outline eaparks. If anyone needs help just ask. I think there is enough people around now that we can walk you through it.

[canadarideforclimate]

Hi,

Wondering if the final step...

Creating an EXE custom installer program could be included??

 

http://battlefieldsingleplayer.planetbattl...amp;#entry75001

 

I found this one on a google search... and having difficulty making this work..

I keep on getting an error.

 

nullsofts scribtable installation system (called NSIS),

 

The last part of the Creating Custom Topo map is making it into a zip file.

I think http://sourceforge.net can host the EXE file also.

... but of course, get the map on mapcenter

 

Hopefully someone can help,

Thanks

Sam

AcrossCanadaTrails.blogspot.com

[RPF2414]

Thanks for posting these instructions.

What steps to take to create a portion of a 1:24K DRG for a Garmin Map 76CSx?

I need some of the graphic features from the DRG in addition to the topo lines and hydro.

Thanks,

Joe

[-Oz-]

Yes, an exe can be created. Myself and indyjpr create them using NSIS.

 

Also, you can upload and host the map files on my new site (http://www.gpsfiledepot.com) and if you upload a zip or img I will be converting them into exe's It's free of course. I can use mapcenter because my segments are 50+mb and mapcenter won't let me upload those.

Edited April 18, 2008 by -Oz-