All Topo is an excellent source of basemaps for use with other programs like CAD, GIS, other mapping and image tools.
All Topo can export entire maps, pieces of any map and arbitrary coverage maps comprised of seamed sets of maps (BigTopo maps).
In every case you first must export a map image from either the viewer or BigTopo to a TIF image file:
[ Map Viewer: Exporting a piece of an existing map or an entire map. ]
[ BigTopo: Exporting coverage that extends over two or more maps. ]
Importing All Topo generated basemaps into other applications:
[ Importing basemaps into Trimble Pathfinder Office ]
[ Importing basemaps into ESRI ArcGIS Products ]
[ Importing basemaps into OziExplorer ]
- AutoCAD and AutoCAD Map are registered trademarks of AutoDesk Inc., 2320 Marinship Way, Sausalito California 94965.
- Mapinfo is a registered trademark of Mapinfo Corporation, One Global View Troy New York 12180
- Trimble, Pathfinder Office is a registered trademark of Trimble Navigation Ltd., 645 North Mary Avenue, Sunnyvale California 94085.
- ArcView, ArcInfo, ArcGIS are registered trademarks of Environmental Systems Research Institute Inc., 380 New York Street, Redlands California 92373.
- Other product names mentioned in the web, may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies, who are acknowledged.
1 Open the topographic map (any scale) from which you want to export.
2 Adjust the aspect of the map viewing Window to match the coverage you want to export. Zoom in or out until what you see on the viewer is the map you want to export:
If the All Topo map viewer covers your entire screen, press the restore button in the window's corner to return to partial screen mode so you can resize the window.
3 Select the main menu option ‘Edit: Export Map to Clipboard, File or GIS...’:
4 The ‘Export Wizard’ will be displayed:
Choose
- ‘1. Export just the Viewed map’.
- ‘2. To a Generic Image File’.
- Press the ‘...’ button to the right of the filename and choose an appropriate path and filename. Insure that the filename extension is .TIF.
- Check the ‘Write a description of map image to ...’ checkbox.
- Check the ‘Write a Worldfile’ checkbox.
- Check the ‘Add GeoTIF information to .TIF image file’.
- Choose an appropriate export datum, typically NAD27 or NAD83.
- Uncheck the ‘Compress output file if possible’ checkbox
- Uncheck the ‘3. Resample Output Image’ checkbox.
- Click the ‘Use Default PPI, Scale’.
- Click the ‘Force 8-bit Output’ checkbox to minimize the output filesize.
Finally, press the ‘Export’ button to write the selected output file.
Use BigTopo to export a map that extends beyond the collars of a single map image.
Follow the BigTopo instructions found in Chapter 11 ’BigTopo7’, except in section 3 ‘Choosing Output Files and Paths’:
- On the ‘Output File’ tab, choose to ‘Export the BigTopo as a generic graphic picture.
Press the ‘Browse...’ button to the right of the filename to choose an appropriate path and filename. Insure that the filename extension is .TIF. Check the ‘Add GeoTif Information’ checkbox. When the BigTopo is built, it will be built as a GeoTIF image, with an accompanying .TFW worldfile.
From the Pathfinder menu, select “Options: Coordinate System”.
The ‘Coordinate System’ dialog is shown:
Choose:
- System to ‘Universal Transverse Mercator’
- Zone ‘(the proper UTM Zone)’
- Datum to ‘NAD 1927 (CONUS)’
- Coordinate Units to ‘Meters’
If you don’t know the correct UTM Zone, inspect the .TXT worldfile that was written with the exported map:
;***** CAD INSERTION POINT AND SCALE INFORMATION *****
CAD Insertion Point (SW Image Corner) = 623,581.3 M E, 4,276,517.6 M N Z12 (Meters UTM Projection)
CAD Horz Scale = 13,757.910,000 (Meters); 45,137.500,000 (Feet)
From the “File: Background” menu, load the new image:
The ‘Load Background Files’ dialog is shown:
Press ‘Add...’, then browse for the image (you might need to change ‘Files of type:’ to ‘*.tif’):
When you find the correct file, press ‘Open’ to add it to the background file list:
Finally press OK and Pathfinder will load and display the selected background image:
To turn off background map display, simply go back to File, Background… and uncheck the check box next to the filename to turn it off. Press the Add… button to add other background maps.
ArcExplorer is a free GIS viewer supplied by ESRI.
Exported All Topo maps can be displayed by ArcExplorer with shapefiles and other GIS data layers. From ArcExplorer’s main menu, select the option ‘Theme: Add Theme...’:
the ‘Add Theme’ dialog is shown:
Browse and highlight the map exported from All Topo Map, then press ‘Add Theme’ on the toolbar to load the map. Finally check the box next to the newly added theme to display the map image:
ArcView is a powerful GIS tool supplied by ESRI.
Before loading the map, make sure ‘Tiff Image Extensions’ are turned on. From ArcView’s main menu select ‘File: Extensions...’, then check ‘Tiff 6.0 Image Support’; finally press OK to close the extension manager.
• Open an existing view or create a new one. • Press the ‘Add Theme’ button:
• Browse for the All Topo basemap to import (you may need to set the ‘Data Source Type’ to ‘Image Data Source’,) then press OK. ArcView will add the image as a theme, check the table of contents box corresponding to the basemap to display the basemap.
If other vector themes are added you may need to manually set the projection by selecting the main menu option: ‘View: Properties...’, then press the ‘Projection’ button, then set the ‘Projection Properties’ to ‘Standard’ ‘Category’ = ‘UTM - 1927’ ‘Type’ = ‘Zone XX’ (match Zone to the correct UTM Zone)
OziExplorer is interactive, scanned map, trip planning software available from Des & Lorraine Newman (www.oziexplorer.com).
OziExplorer will directly import basemaps generated with the All Topo viewer or BigTopo. To import and register a map, select the OziExplorer main menu option ‘File: Import Map: Single DRG Map’:
Ozi will prompt to find the source image, browse for the .TIF file exported from All Topo:
Press ‘Open’ to import the file, Ozi will ask for a name and path for the Ozi map file that defines the imported image:
The default file and path is usually adequate. Press ‘Save’ to import and register the image from All Topo.
AutoCAD is a computer aided drafting program by AutoDesk.
Raster images can be imported into AutoCAD (R14 and higher) as base layers and engineering documents can be overlaid on the base maps. A complementary product ‘AutoCAD Map’ can automatically georeference basemaps into world space.
To import an image into AutoCAD LT 2000, first open the accompanying .TXT file generated when All Topo or BigTopo exported with the Windows Notepad editor. Find the lines labeled:
; CAD base insertion and scale include map collars (entire image).
CAD Insertion Point (SW Corner) = 632,113.03 M E, 4,281,285.14 M N Z12 (UTM Meters)
CAD Horz Scale = 6,469.380,0 (Meters); 21,225.000,0 (Feet)
If you choose to insert the basemap at its UTM location, the listed insertion point can be used. If you are using a local reference you can position the basemap manually
The ‘CAD Horz Scale’ is required so that engineering units can be used on the imported map.
Open an existing drawing or create a new drawing. Select the main menu item ‘Insert: OLE Object’:
The ‘Insert Object’ dialog is shown:
Select the ‘Create From File’ option, check the ‘Link’ checkbox, browse for the basemap; then finally press the ‘OK’ button. The basemap will be shown:
Typically the basemap will look horrible when viewed in AutoCAD! AutoCAD uses a sub-sampling algorithm optimized for speed not quality. The full resolution image is registered by AutoCAD and will be used when the project is printed. (Printed maps will look good.)
To scale the image to ‘real world coordinates’, right-click on the image and select ‘Properties’:
Check the ‘Lock Aspect Ratio’ box, then set the ‘Size: Width’ to the ‘CAD Horz Scale’ indicated in the .TXT file that is built with the basemap. Be sure to use the scale that matches your drawing units (feet or meters.) Press OK. You will need to ‘Zoom, Extents’ to see the entire basemap.
From the AutoCAD Map main menu, select ‘Map: Image: Insert...’
Browse for the .TIF image file saved from the viewer or BigTopo. Check ‘Modify Correlation’ to inspect the insertion point and scale, check ‘Show Preview’ to verify you have selected the correct image:
Check the ‘Image Correlation’, if you added ‘GeoTIF’ information to the image, then the ‘Correlation Source’ should be the ‘Image File’.
You will need to ‘Zoom Extents’ to view the inserted image:
MapInfo is a leading business mapping solution, it performs sophisticated and detailed data analysis to drive insightful decisions.
Maps exported from the All Topo Map viewer or BigTopo can be easily imported into MapInfo. From the main MapInfo menu select “File: Open..”:
Change the “Files of Type:” to ‘Raster (*.bil...’:
Browse for the ‘.tif’ image, then press the ‘Open’ button to load the basemap:
MapInfo will load the raster image and generate a .TAB file in the same folder as the basemap for future use.
All Topo V7 includes a DEM Export tool that will directly export full resolution (tenth meter), arbitrary grid, arbitrary spaced (base data is 1 arc-second spaced in the lower 49 states and 2 arc-second spaced in Alaska) DEM and XYZ files!
To export a DEM, start DEMExport from the All Topo 'Tools' menu:
Type in the first few characters of the standard USGS map you would like to export, then double-click on the map name to automatically load the Export Configuration. Choose an appropriate output file and path and check the Output Elev Units.
You can manually enter a South East coverage corner, DEM height and width, and spacing value to build custom coverage and file resolutions. To export a NAD83 coverage, add ' NAD83' to the end of the South East Corner specification.
If you need a DEM file for use with a BigTopo basemap in a CAD or GIS application, press the 'Match BigTopo' button and choose an existing BigTopo file to match coverage from.
When all the values are correct, press the 'Build and Write File' button to export the requested DEM grid.
Elevation Data Availability
All V7 Reference Sets include full elevation data (except: 'The Islands' set only includes Hawaiian elevation data). V6->V7 Update users can call Igage to get free elevation data set disks.