1. Don't use Internet Explorer 6 or earlier versions to view this DVD! The graphics are TERRIBLE! Use Netscape (now a dead browser, by the way), FireFox (my browser of choice), or Opera. Set Netscape 8 to Display like Firefox (right click in any window). If you MUST use IE 6, the transparent images will have ugly backgrounds, some links may not work correctly, and some images will be plain old nasty looking or unreadable! Internet Explorer 8 is the latest version as of October 2008, and it now has proper support for .png images (yes, I know, Microsoft is always LAST to implement years-old graphics technology in their products, go figure :( GET IT HERE!
2. View the DVD in full screen mode (F11 key). You will save a lot of time & trouble moving slider bars or mouse wheeling around the pages. The images are large because they have to be in order to be readable, not because I like producing 3000x4000 pixel maps! If the text is too small, press the control and "+" keys to make it larger.
3. If IE gives a "harmful content" message at the top of the page, click on allow content. There is no harmful content on the DVD! (Bill Gates is trying to protect you from his own software - Doh!))
4. PLEASE NOTE! You must know how to open a file in your browser in order to use this CD/DVD! Always keep your browser up to date. I am not responsible if you order the CD/DVD and then cannot access the information because of an old browser or operating system (i.e. ancient MACs (newer MACs read the disc just fine) and 10 year old copies of Windows!)
5. To browse the CD/DVD:
These apply to all versions of the CD/DVD:
The file "Dig Location Waypoints.txt" is a waypoint list of the coordinates of each dig location. The file "Waypoints for GPS.txt" is an export file in WGS84 datum Waypoint+ text file format; please refer to the documentation for your GPS unit. This file can be uploaded to a GPS unit with the proper hardware and software. It may have to be reformatted for your particular software and GPS unit. I have instructions for a few makes of GPS; Email me at the address at the bottom of this page if you are having trouble. (Note that the file contains more than 500 waypoints and since most GPS units can only store 500 waypoints you may have to edit the file to delete waypoints! If you want the waypoints already on your GPS to stay there I suggest using the utility below to add new waypoints without overwriting your own! )
The program GPS Utility works with any modern GPS and is free for files containing 100 waypoints. If you register the program for $40 it will import an unlimited number of waypoints (note that most GPS units can only store 500 waypoints!) "Waypoints for GPS.gps" (on Version 2 and above only) is the waypoint file saved in GPS Utility's format; right click the link, select "save link as", and save it on your hard drive. Since the unregistered version can only import 100 waypoints at a time, you need to edit the file "Waypoints for GPS.gps" with a text editor such as notepad or wordpad. Right-click on the file in Windows Explorer or My Computer and select open with...and select notepad or wordpad.
The file will look something like this:
U LAT LON DEG M E WGS 84 100 +0.000000e+00 +0.000000e+00 +0 +0 +0 F ID---- Latitude Longitude T Comment W 10MICR 4X.XXXXXX -12X.XXXXXX I TENMILE CREEK AGATE IN GRAVELS W 15MILE 4X.XXXXXX -12X.XXXXXX I FIFTEENMILE CANYON AMBER 2 MILES UP CR. FROM BRIDGE APPROX LOC W 281GUL 4X.XXXXXX -12X.XXXXXX I EMERALD CREEK GARNET AREA PARK PAY TO DIG MEM. DAY _ LABOR DAY 9_5 FRI_TUES W 7DEVIL 4X.XXXXXX -12X.XXXXXX I LARGE CLAM FOSSILS etc...
All you need to do delete all but 100 waypoints, save the file as something else, open it again, and repeat until you have a gazillion files to upload to your GPS. Don't forget to leave the header information in each file or it won't work (i.e. everything between "U LAT LON DEG" and "Comment"). Then open the files in GPS Utility and follow the help to upload them to your GPS unit. Don't mess with the datum; leave it at WGS84 or your waypoints will be off!
Since I have a new Garmin Etrex <big grin> I now offer the waypoint file in MapSource format (MapSource is the map viewing software that comes with all new Garmin GPS units). Open MapSource and select File...Open....choose MPS files under Files of Type... Browse to the main directory on CD1 or the DVD and click on the file named something like "Waypoints for DVD Vx.x.mps" that should show up by default; it should load right up.
I print the raw TIFF format maps from the mapping application I use to generate them (All Topo Maps); All Topo Maps can print the maps on multiple pages and even prints registration marks so I can align the pages to tape them together. Most of the larger .png format maps on the DVD look great when printed on four 8-1/2 x 11" landscape sheets but some of the larger ones look better printed on 4 or even 6 pages (i.e. when they are printed at the native scale, which is 300 pixels per inch). I suggest DVD users open the PNG format map images in the Maps directory from your image editing program to get the best printing results. See below.
Use your Internet browser and the instructions below to print the maps that fit on a 8 1/2 x 11" portrait or landscape page. You can't print larger maps the maps at the native scale in any Internet Browser, so they will be shrunk to fit the page, no matter what you tell the browse to do!
The default way to print the maps is from within IE or Netscape. However, if they are larger than about 8 x 10-1/2 inches, they also will look the worst!
First, try the Netscape (also applies to Firefox) or the IE method below. If they map prints with tiny text that you can't read, it doesn't fit on an 8-1/2 x 11" sheet. Then you will have to try one of the other methods. The easiest way to print maps larger maps is Printing Large Maps for the Rest of You below.
For Netscape 9: If you just want the whole map on one sheet of paper, right click on the map image, select view image, and choose File...Print Preview from the menus. Then click Page Setup, and set the orientation to landscape if the image is wider than it is tall. Click the Margins & Header/Footer tab and set headers and footers to all --blank--. The scale will say 100% but it isn't; Netscape will shrink the image to fit ont he page regardless of what you tell it to do. You can shrink the margins but at some point your printer will complain about the margins being smaller than the printable area. 1/4" margins are generally safe to use. The text will likely be unreadable and I don't know about you but I can't deal with maps printed at the wrong scale! If you zoom in by clicking on the image, the map will be at full scale. Then you will be printing only the portion of the map that displays in the window.Now you can't print anything other than what shows in the window. Netscape and old versions of IE used to allow you to scroll around the image and print only what shows on the screen. This must have been too functional so the newer versions of all Internet browsers left it out. Typical!
For Internet Explorer 9: Click the map (again, annoying) and then click the printer icon and select Print Preview or select Print...Preview from the menu. In the middle box on top of the window, click the arrow and select "only the selected frame" (see why I dislike IE? What a pain). It should say "Shrink to Fit" in the right box; this will print the entire map. There are buttons at the top to set margins, turn headers & footers on & off, and change the orientation to landscape from portrait (see the Netscape instructions). The default margins are 3/4" in my copy of IE 7 which is ridiculously large. Use 1/4" margins or smaller. Now, if you want to print it at 100% (full scale), forget it. IE will not allow you to move the slider bars and print a different portion of the image.
The Right Way: I suggest that you use image editing or viewing software that supports Image Tiling as the web browsers typically cannot print the maps in a format which makes them readable (to me at least). Paint Shop Pro is one such program that can print PNG images on multiple sheets at the native resolution. It ain' t cheap but sometimes it goes on sale, at least it was in August 2009. If you routinely edit and print photos, it offers a bazillion ways to customize them that the free or cheap-o "crippleware" that comes with most new PCs could never do. I use it almost every day LOL! A free program that I have been told works as well is PagePlus SE. To print the images in landscape format on 8-1/2 x 11 paper with registration marks in Paint Shop Pro, follow these steps:
1. Open the image that you want to print. If it is wider than it is tall, follow the instructions below. If it is taller than it is wide, simply switch the settings in step 6.
2. Choose View > Grid.
3. Choose View > Snap To Grid.
4. Choose View > Change Grid and Guide and Snap Properties.
5. From the Units drop down box in Default Settings choose Inches. choose a Horizontal grids position of 10.5 and a Vertical grids position of 8 and click OK. There should be grid lines in roughly the form of an 8.5 x 11 landscape page on the image. If the format needs to be portrait, switch the horizontal and vertical setting.
6. In the Current image settings area, set the units and grid settings to the same values as in step 5.
7. Click Okay to close the box, Now click the Selection Tool (it looks like a dotted outline of a square).
8. In the Tool Options palette (press F4 on the keyboard if you don't see it) and make sure Antialias is unmarked and Feather is set to 0. (Note: I cannot uncheck anti-alias in my version of the software.) This applies to older versions; in my version (Paint Shop Photo X3) these defaults are already set.
9. Select along the grid lines (start in the upper left corner of the Grid by clicking then move to the lower right corner of the grid rectangle and let go of the mouse button).
10. Choose Edit > Copy.
11. Choose Edit > Paste > As New Image.
12. Choose File...Print and check to make sure the scale is set to 100% and the layout is set the same way as the grid (i.e. portrait or landscape). In my version it will nag you to scale the image to fit the page; don't do it.
13. Click the Options tab and check Registration marks. Click the Print button to print the image. I set my printer to the maximum possible resolution by selecting Printer...Properties and setting it to the highest quality.
14. Close the new image.
15. Go back and do steps 9-14 until each grid has been printed.
The next time you have to do this, you only have to choose the Selection tool and follow steps 9-14 because the program remembers what the last gridline spacing was.
1. Download and install PosterPrint from here: PosterPrint You must register the program or the printout will have a "DEMO" watermark. If you don't mind the watermark, then feel free to use the program anyway :)
I have worked out a discount for users of the CD/DVD with the author of PosterPrint. The cost to you is $12.50, 50% off the regular price of $25. Please let the authors at GrandUtils know that you found the program through OreRockOn so that they know how many people take advantage of this special offer. Thanks to GrandUtils for offering this deal to us; I highly recommend the program for printing the maps on the CD/DVD and if you ever want to print large images such as banners or posters this program is far and away the best option to do so in Windows.
1. Depending on your version of Windows, you now need to set up a custom layout that will accommodate multiple sheet printing. In Windows XP, click the Start menu, and select Printers and Faxes (note: if you don't see the Printers and Faxes option, it's in the Control Panel). Under File in the top menu bar, select Server Properties. Check the box next to Create a New Form, give it a name so you can remember it (I used _GIANT so it shows as the first entry). Make the size huge; I used 96 x 96 inches. Click on OK.
2. In Windows Vista, Click on the Start button in the lower left corner of the toolbar, Control Panel, Printers. Right click anywhere in the list of printers on the right side of the window that opens and select Server Properties... Under the first tab Forms check Create a new form. Change the form name and under Paper size change the width and height as above. Click on Save Form, then Close.
3.These directions apply to Windows XP. I know that the same or very similar steps get you the same end result in other versions of Windows.
In WIndows Explorer find the map you want to print, either in the Maps or the 100k Maps directory on the DVD. Right click on the file name and select Print. The "Photo Printing Wizard" will open that gives you silly choices to print the image (yeah I know it works for most people but JEEZ I hate not having real options to print my pics!). It will take a LONG time to start up since it has to generate thumbnails of all the maps in the directory (yeah I know, stupid, but go figure). Click Next then Next again on the following screen. In the first dropdown box under "What printer do you want to use?" select PosterPrint as the printer, click Next, then Next again on the following screen, then Finish. The map image will open up in PosterPrint.
--OR--
Open the map file you want to print in your favorite image editing program (note: this may or may not work in all image editing programs! It works for sure in Paint Shop Pro). Most new PCs and even digital cameras these days come bundled with some sort of image editing program (if not all LOL). Select the print option that allows you to change the printing setup (i.e., not the "instant print" button, if it exists). In Paint Shop Pro, I click Printer... and select PosterPrint from the dropdown menu. Click on OK, the click on Print. The PosterPrint program will open in a new window and your map will be displayed. I am sure there are very similar options in other graphics software.
In Windows Vista, follow the same steps above, the Print Pictures wizard is a little different but the steps are the same. One nice thing about Vista is that the pixel size of the image is shown at the bottom of the explorer window as Dimensions: when you select the map image and right-click on Properties. . Be sure to change the layout to reflect the aspect ratio of the image, in other words if it is wider than it is tall select landscape, or if it is taller than it is wide, portrait. Vista think it knows the aspect ratio of the image but it is often wrong (thanks again Bill Gates).
4. Now you need to know the "print size" of the image. In my program (Paint Shop Pro X), when I click on Print..., the print size is displayed in inches; for example the the size of the Pahsimeroi 100k map is 19" wide by 17" high. I can also get all the values when I select Image...Image Information. If you only have Windows, you are not SOL. You can use this calculator to get the image print size. I hope this web page stays up forever, but it probably won't. If I find out that it is no longer active I will post an alternative method here. The dimensions of the image in pixels are found in Windows Explorer, when you hover your mouse over the file name it is displayed under "Dimensions" as width x height. When you right click on the file and select Properties, then Summary, the pixel dimensions are shown along with the print resolution ("DPI"). Almost all of the maps print at 300 DPI. A few of the maps print at 124 DPI (no I don't know why this is, it just is). If the waypoints on the map are unreadable (too small) when you print a map using this method, enter 124 instead of 300 dots per inch in the calculator. All maps on future versions of the DVD will be 300 DPI. Enter the width and height and DPI values into the calculator above to get the dimensions in inches. These will be slightly different than your graphics program reports, but don't sweat it, there is no noticeable difference in the printed maps.
5. Now, you can print the map (whew!). in the units area of PosterPrint, select Inch in the dropdown box, then select the Units button, and enter the width. The Keep Aspect Ratio box should be checked; if not then check it. The height is now set automatically. Under Printout, select Smooth Resize (yeah I know the image isn't being resized. Oh well). Now click on the printer icon or select File...Print, and it should print at the native scale (4 pages for the Pahsimeroi map). It prints margins so you can tape the pages together ("glue margins", not really, they are just guides that say "Put some glue here". DOH!). You will have to trim off the tiny margins on the sheets that are on top when you tape it together since I can't figure out how to turn these off (none of the options in PosterPrint seem to do this).
In Windows Vista, follow the same steps above, the Print Pictures wizard is a little different but the steps are the same. One nice thing about Vista is that the pixel size of the image is shown at the bottom of the explorer window as Dimensions: when you select the map image.
Yeah I know it's a royal pain in the arse but once you have it set up all you have to do is get the print size of the image, print it to PosterPrint and BAM!™ it's printed!
If you are interested in making your own maps, I highly recommend All Topo Maps. It is the most flexible and powerful topo mapping software I know of. If you buy one state you can crop, stitch, shade, and print all the topos with my waypoints on them for that state. If you have All Topo Maps, I can send you the .hwp file which contains the waypoints in All Topo Maps format. Just email me.
Type the email address above into your email program. Please note: My email address has changed as of Jan 2010 to evade the spammers. The old email address was inactivated soon thereafter so don't use it anymore as I will NOT get your email!
This list contains all of the the internet (external) links on the DVD Version 5.0 that I found are broken. If any of the links on your DVD do not work, check here for the most current links. Note that websites come and go and frequently change the location of their pages, so even this list is bound to be out of date. If you can't find something, you can always Google it (hint: Google anything before asking a question of anyone online, 90% of the time you will find the answer through Google if you persist!).
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Tim Fisher
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