EXPORTING NATMAP RASTER MAPS

Overview File Sizes Exporting from the Viewer

Exporting from the DOS prompt RasterExport software

EXPORTING - OVERVIEW

There are three ways in which the maps in NATMAP Raster 2003 can be converted into other common image formats such as TIFF, GeoTIFF, JPEG, Windows Bitmap (BMP) and Portable Network Graphics (PNG) formats:

• Using the exporting functions in the Viewer
• From the DOS prompt using RasterConvert (Mapsheets only), which enables a batch file to be written automatically to convert multiple files
• Using the Raster Exporter, a stand-along software package for providing a simple graphical user interface for selecting maps and output image options (Mapsheets only)

Can I directly export to OziExplorer OZF2 format for use with OziExporerCE?

At this stage no. There are a couple of ways to do this:

• for individual maps in the Mapsheets product, simply import the ECW into OziExplorer and then convert it to OZF2;
• for subset areas of the Mosaic layers or Mapsheets, export to GeoTIFF first. If your GeoTIFF file is large, download the free ECW compressor from ER Mapper and compress the GeoTIFF to an ECW before importing into OziExplorer. (Note that there is a bug with saving the current view to an ECW file.)

Why doesn't RasterConvert or the Raster Exporter work for all layers?

RasterConvert and the Raster Exporter only work for Mapsheets layers, or for the small-scale Mosaic layers, because they are designed to export single files only. The 1:250,000 scale, 1:1,000,000 scale and Satellite Image Mosaics are all very large files, so they cannot be exported using these extra pieces of software because of the file size limitations for exporting large files that are imposed by the ER Viewer software used in the Viewer and your computer's processing power.

These utilities are only included in the Mapsheets product. However, if the Mosaic layers are added to a Viewer installed from Mapsheets, then both utilities will recognise these layers and allow you to attempt an export. If you do, then the export warning dialog box will appear.

Installation

The ECW Conversion Utilities are automatically installed when you install the NATMAP RASTER VIEWER.

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FILE SIZES

Approximate exported file sizes at 100% resolution are:

• JPEG - 2-3 times the size of the original ECW; file size approx 3-7Mb
• Bitmap, PNG or TIFF/GeoTIFF - 20-50 times original size; file size approx 70-120Mb

Note that there is a limit on the size and quality of the file you can export.

EXPORTING FROM THE VIEWER (Mapsheets and Mosaic)

Refer to the Viewer help.

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EXPORTING FROM THE DOS PROMPT USING RASTERCONVERT (Mapsheets only)

1. From the Start Menu, open an MSDOS Command Prompt window.
2. Change to the directory containing the ECW Conversion utilities. These utilities are located in the Tools sub-directory of the path to which NATMAP RASTER VIEWER was installed. In this example we will assume that the Map Viewer was installed in C:\Program Files\NATMAP\NATMAP RASTER VIEWER\1.4.
3. Run the ECWConvert program. For example:


C:\Program Files\NATMAP RASTER VIEWER\1.4\Tools> RasterConvert d:\maps\cd2\sf5504.ecw sf5504.jpg

where d:\maps\cd2\sf5504.ecw is the input ECW file and sf5504.jpg is the filename of the image to create. Because the extension ".jpg" was given for the output file a JPEG image will be created.

The RasterConvert program can take up to three command line parameters. Its usage is as follows:

RasterConvert ecwfile [outputfile [geotiff | tiff | jpg| png | bmp]]

Where:

ecwfile is the ECW file to convert.

outputfile is the filename of the image to create. This parameter is optional. If it is not specified then the output file produced will be the same as the ECW file with the extension changed to ".tif". For example, if the input file is sf5504.ecw the output image will be sf5504.tif. The output format will be GeoTIFF.

The third optional parameter specifies what type of image to create. If this parameter is not specified then the output image type is determined from the output file name. If no type can be determined then GeoTIFF will be used.

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RASTER EXPORTER (Mapsheets only)

1. You can run RasterExport from the Start menu by selecting Programs > NATMAP RASTER VIEWER  > RasterExport. Or, using Windows Explorer, you can double click on the RasterExport.exe file located in the Tools directory of the path to which NATMAP RASTER VIEWER was installed.
2. The RasterExport program will start and you will be presented with the main window:



3. Select the map you wish to export from the lists. The lists are synchronised, so selecting a map name from the left list will update the selected map number in the right list. To quickly find a map name, click in the selected map name box and type the first letter of the map you are after. You should then be taken to the first map starting with that letter. Note that more than one map name (or map number) can be selected using the standard Windows keyboard modifiers <Control> and <Shift>.
4. Once you have selected a map(s), click on the Export button.
5. The window that you will see depends on whether you selected one map, or more than one map.

Single Map selected

You will be presented with a standard Save As window where you can enter the name of the image file you wish to create. For example:



Once you have entered the name of the image you want to create, click on the Save button.

6. If you have entered a TIFF file name then you will be presented with the following window asking you to select which TIFF format to save in: GeoTIFF or TIFF. You can also choose whether to use LZW compression.



Select which TIFF format and compression you require and click on OK.

7. You will then be presented with a window asking for the required resolution of the output image.



Select, or enter, the output resolution you require and click on OK.

Note: Most of the ECW images are quite large and maintaining the original resolution (100%) will require significant amounts of memory. Also, depending on the output format, very large image files (50 to 100Mb) may be produced.

8. Your output image file will now be created and you will be taken back to the main RasterExport window where you can select another map to export, or click on the "Exit" button to exit the program.

Two or more maps selected

If you selected more than one map, then you will be shown the following window:



9. Press the Browse button to browse to the folder in which you want the exported maps to be created.

   Use output image combo box to select the format  for the exported maps.

   Select the output resolution.

10. If you selected GEOTIFF or TIFF format you will be shown the following window, which allows you to choose to use either LZW compression or no compression.



When all  the settings for the export operation are correct, press the OK button.
The selected maps will be exported.

11. If the maps were selected using Map Names, the files created will have the same name as the map. For example exporting the Alice Springs map to a TIFF file this way will produce a file called "ALICE SPRINGS ED2 - 1996.tif". If the maps were selected using Map Numbers then the files created will have the same name as the map number. Exporting the Alice Springs map this way would produce a file called "SF53-14.tif"