How to install Mapwel?
Uninstall your current copy of Mapwel by clicking in Windows on "Start -> Programs -> Mapwel -> Uninstall Mapwel" command. Download installation file of Mapwel from http://www.mapwel.net/down.htm and save somewhere on your hard disk (save for example into folder C:\My Documents). Start this saved installation file in Windows (select Start -> Run -> Browse -> C:\My Documents\ mapwlstp.zip -> OK) and allow to unzip into proper folder (default folder C:\Program Files\Mapwel is recommended).
How to install Mapwel on the new/another computer?
Never copy Mapwel software from the old computer on the new -
copied Mapwel is not working correctly!
Mapwel as every program working with Windows must be installed.
To install Mapwel on the new computer you need to transfer installation file of Mapwel on the new computer.
If your new computer is connected to the Internet, you can download all installation files from http://www.mapwel.net/down.htm
If installation file is saved somewhere on the new computer, start it in Windows and allow to install in the folder C:\Program Files\Mapwel. Then insert password. Open Mapwel, select Help -> About and check if ID number of your GPS is displayed.
Mapwel is unable to detect my GPS
How to use Mapwel with Garmin Mobile XT?
Connect your phone to computer with USB cable. Select 'mass storage' mode. After a few seconds Mapwel should be able to work with the phone like with any other GPS. Try to read GPS ID with use of Mapwel main menu>GPS>Display GPS ID
Map created with Mapwel software is not visible on the GPS screen.
Most GPS (including Garmin Mobile XT) must be restarted after the map upload. Otherwise, map may be not visible.
If you have problem with map visibility on GPSmap276C, please refer to chapter Mapwel with GPSMAP 276C.
Some GPS models (like Garmin Mobile XT) require to turn on 'Outline Detailed Map' option in Tools/Settings/Map. Otherwise, border of custom map is not visible and this could make the searching for a custom map more difficult.
Another possible cause of this problem is wrong use of the 'Background Area' polygons. These objects are intended to define irregular shape of the map. GPS displays only objects that are inside of the Background Area (if it is present in the map). Other objects are ignored. If Background Area polygon is wrongly used as a fill of some map object, the whole map is invisible.
If you custom Mapwel maps are located on the same place as other detailed maps in GPS and they are supposed to be displayed one on top of another, the possible cause of map invisibility can be "Draw Map Priority" parameter. Try to increase "Draw Map Priority" of your Mapwel maps in Mapwel main menu > File > Properties.
GPS does not display maps with identical ID. If you use your own numbering of maps (Mapwel > File > Properties > ID), each must have a unique internal ID number. Unless you select 'User Defined' option, Mapwel assigns unique ID number to each map automatically.
If you use user defined polygons or polylines, map may be not visible on GPS if it does not support user defined styles. In such case objects in you map are displayed in blue, yellow or other colors which are not visible on the map background. In some cases this problem can be solved by upgrading the GPS firmware. Please visit Garmin web site to find instructions on how to upgrade firmware.
Invisibility of map can be caused by wrong map coordinates. If south-north or west-east map scope is too small, map can be invisible. Please make sure that your map is has least 0.001 degree in both directions.
I use custom colors, symbols and fill patterns in my maps and some of them are displayed in weird colors in the GPS
Assign different Map Set Data (main menu > File > Properties > ID tab) to all your maps if they contain user defined styles. This ensures displaying of map with correct colors in the GPS. GPS uses the same color palette for all maps in a map set. Therefore, maps with different palettes are not displayed correctly if they have the same Map Set Data.
My custom map completely covers the underlying maps. Is it possible to make them show through my map?
Yes, it is possible. Use Mapwel main menu > Edit > Preferences to turn on the 'Transparent map' option. Then load the map into the GPS.
Map in GPS is displayed in other colors than those that are visible in Mapwel
Map in GPS native format can contain two types of objects: 1. basic, 2. user defined. Objects of basic type have no color information stored with them. GPS displays them in its own pre-defined colors. User defined objects have their own color and style assigned by user (Mapwel main menu > Objects > User Defined Styles). Therefore, you have to use objects from the second category if you want GPS to display them in your own colors. Moreover, Mapwel allows to draw map objects in the work area in any color to make creation of map easier. These 'work' colors, however, are not transferred to GPS. To see how the map will look like in the GPS, please use 'Color' tab at bottom part of the main Mapwel screen.
My auto-vectorized map is displayed as a large colored squares and details appear only when I zoom in to 120 m
The most detailed layer of auto-vectorized maps is supposed to appear at higher zoom levels as well. Check 'Map Detail' setting in your GPS. It should be set to 'Most'.
Map looks good in Mapwel, but after loading to GPS the polylines and/or polygons become distorted and look like zig-zag line
The finest coordinate grid used in native map format has approximately 2.5 m spacing (on equator). If polylines and polygons in your map contain large number of very small elements, their coordinates are rounded (some up and some down) when exported to GPS map format, creating a zig-zag effect. The work around is to make elements of polylines and polygons longer.
I try to load map from Mapwel to GPS device, but following error message appears: Windows - No Disk Exception Processing Message c0000013 Parameters 75b6bf7c 4 75b6bf7c 75b6bf7c
This error message is supposed to pop-up when there is USB device (GPS, printer, etc.) with a card slot connected to the computer and there is a false plastic card inserted instead of normal memory card. Try to disconnect such devices.
Auto-vectorized raster map is displayed in GPS as a large blue square and there are no details visible
If GPS is of old type its firmware may not support user colors, which are necessary to display auto-vectorized maps. In most cases upgrade of the unit firmware solves the problem. Please visit Garmin web site to find instructions on how to upgrade firmware.
When I import tracks from GPS to Mapwel the long tracks seem to be truncated
Some GPS units handle tracks in a two
different way:
1. ACTIVE LOG tracks are exported in full detail.
2. Saved tracks are limited to 500 points each.
Mapwel software does not affect the number of points in
the imported track, the truncation is done by GPS when exporting 'saved'
track.
Conversion of existing Mapwel map into routable map
When map is loaded into the work area of Mapwel software, you have to select all polylines which are supposed to be roads (main menu > Select > Lines > Roads) and use main menu > Convert > Convert Line to Routable Road function.
Then use main menu > Routing > Detect Intersections function to mark nodes where roads connect one to another. Now you have map that can be compiled as routable map.
The next steps you need to do is to mark border nodes, assign Oneway attribute to respective roads, define road class, max. speed and turn restrictions in nodes. Even if you do not define these parameters, the map can be compiled and will act as routable map in GPS, but navigation will be not 100% accurate because of the missing information. For example, it will lead you to oneway streets from opposite direction or select lower quality roads. We do strongly recommend to set at least Oneway attribute and Road Class parameter. You can set Road Class according to object type. For example, use main menu > Select > Routable Roads > Type... to select all objects of 'Unpaved road' type, open Properties window and set their Road Class parameter to Unclassified.
How to use IMG file from Mapwel with Mapset Toolkit?
To make map in IMG format exported from Mapwel compatible with Mapset Toolkit, you have to do the following:
Use main menu >File >Properties > Map ID of Mapwel software tab to set user defined ID to map. Check 'User Defined' option and insert some 8 digits map ID number. This number must be unique among all maps in GPS. Check the 'Use as a file name' option.
On the same tab check the 'User Defined' map set data option. Select some Map Family ID and Product ID.
Uncheck 'User Defined Styles' in the map parameters tab in the same window to avoid merging of user styles file to the main map file. If you want to use user defined styles with your map, export styles into TYP.txt file with use of main menu > Objects > User Defined Styles > File.
Make sure that map has 'Background Area' object which defines the shape of the map. If there is no such object, draw it manually. It can have irregular shape or it can be just rectangle.
Load IMG file to Mapset Toolkit. Load TYP.txt file into respective box. Previous steps were made to ensure compatibility with Mapset Toolkit, which should be achieved at this point.
If map installed with Mapset Toolkit is blank, do the following: increase zoom level of all objects in Mapwel and re-export map to IMG file format. Make sure that folder where map files are installed has correct name.
We are having an issue with custom maps being distorted when putting them on different Garmin units. They work fine on Gamin 76Cx but when put onto Garmin 60Cx the view levels become distorted
The view levels (zoom levels) differ from one GPS type to another. Each GPS also allows to set map detail (Most, Normal, ... etc.) that influences the view levels of all maps. Moreover, some GPS units like GPSMAP 276 allow to override zoom levels for POIs, polygons, etc. On the other hand, most Nuvi GPS block displaying of point icons entirely. Therefore, the zoom levels are just very approximate. Their main meaning is to create map with hierarchical structure, where only few most important objects appear at distant zoom and other objects gradually appear when zooming in. This structure is crucial for speed of map rendering and for map legibility. As mentioned above, exact zoom level of respective objects may differ in various GPS models. Please see Map Visibility in GPS chapter for more detail.
I have been trying to use the download free maps tool. It comes up with a download error and won't let me retry
This message indicates that OpenStreetMap server is overloaded, which happens very often. There is another source of OSM files at http://downloads.cloudmade.com You can download required osm files directly from there and then use Mapwel > main menu > Tools > OSM splitter tool to split and compile this osm file (which is usually too large for single conversion) into Garmin compatible format.
My roads are in multiple pieces. Must I use the "group" function to let Mapwel know it's all one piece?
When making network of lines routable, each branch should be a separate object so that no element is duplicate. For example, if network is of letter 'Y' shape (no serifs), you have to use at least 2 pieces. If you would made it with a single draw, it would contain duplicate edge, which is bad for routing. For network of 'H' shape, there must be at least 3 pieces. More pieces are not a problem, as long as the junctions are properly marked as 'intersection nodes'. GPS device navigates from one piece to another through table of intersection nodes, so they are crucial for routing. You can join pieces together if you wish, but it is not necessary and it makes no difference in navigation functionality. Use main menu > Transform > Combine Polylines if you want to join pieces. Joining pieces together or their splitting has meaning only for house numbering along the road, if it is used. "Group" command has effect only when manipulating objects in Mapwel work area. It does not affect compiled map in any way
The resolution of the background image drops as I make map bigger by merging new parts.
Background raster image may be re-sampled automatically if it is merged with other raster and the overall size exceeds max. allowed size (30 000 x 30 000 pixels in the current version of Mapwel). This makes the background image resolution drop down.
If I put MapSet name into re-distributable .exe file created with MapUpload, the MapSet name in IMG file is missing.
MapSet name included in re-distributable .exe with MapUpload is not supposed to be written into IMG file. It should only appear in the top bar of the MapUpload window when user runs the .exe. Creating of re-distributable exe files with MapUpload is intended as an authoring tool for map producers. Map producer is supposed to be able to compile maps with desired mapset name in IMG file easily, from the source files. Other users should not be allowed to change the mapset name of existing IMG file. This is the reason why MapUpload does not change the mapset name in map file.
I am starting a business making GPS maps and I would like to use Mapwel. Would we require additional agreements of any kind?
Mapwel is a software mapping tool and we regard map file created with Mapwel as a stand-alone product and intellectual property that is not bind to Mapwel, which acts only as data processing and compiler tool. In other words, we do not require any additional agreement regarding maps you create with Mapwel and we do not restrict the use of such maps in any way. Of course, geospatial data of any origin, used by map author/producer to create the map, can be subject to various copyright requirements of respective owners. Conforming to these requirements is a separate cause and BALARAD s.r.o. (Mapwel software producer) does not remove this responsibility from the map author/producer.