How Mapcreate Works: The Basics - LEI accessories MAPCREATE 7 - ADDENDUM Installation And Operation Instructions Manual

13. Follow the instructions in your GPS manual for loading the MMC
or SD card into your unit. It will automatically read the map when the
unit is turned on.
NOTE:
Custom maps and GPS data (waypoints, routes, trails, icons) are
contained in two different file types. We describe their functions in
the following segments on how the program works.

How MapCreate Works: the Basics

You'll be making maps faster if you understand the hoops MapCreate
must jump through to cram a high-detail map into your GPS unit.
First of all, those CDs you just purchased contain a whole bunch of raw
digital cartography data. There are several hundred files of digital map-
ping information containing lake shorelines, navigation aids, roads, riv-
ers and all the other information that goes into our high-detail maps.
It takes some fancy formatting to fit the whole world onto a few com-
pact discs. Your GPS unit can't read those raw files (called atlas files).
Even if it could, no GPS unit or MultiMedia Card (MMC) has enough
memory to hold that much information.
This is where MapCreate comes in. The program looks at all those raw
atlas files, shuffles the different types of information together, and then
places them onto your computer screen. That's what we call the Master
Map, the main window in the MapCreate interface. By changing vari-
ous options in MapCreate, you can control how much geographic detail
is displayed on-screen in the Master Map.
It's a pretty cool electronic map, but your GPS can't read it in this form,
either. This is where you come in. You move around the Master Map
and locate the area or areas you want to make a detailed map of. Then,
you use the computer mouse to draw a map border around the region
you want.
Now, this map border isn't really a map yet — it just defines or outlines
the area you want to include in the final GPS-friendly map. If you wish,
you can save the boundary you have drawn as a Map Border File.
MapCreate uses a map border like an electronic shopping list. The pro-
gram looks at your border, grabs the appropriate raw atlas informa-
tion, and then glues it all together as a custom map. Now you can save
this data as a Custom Map File on an MMC (or SD card) and load it
into your GPS unit. (If you like, you can backup the Map File by copy-
ing it from the MMC card to your computer's hard drive.)
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