Adding Garmin .img Map Files To MapSource

Published at October 2, 2007 in GPS and Garmin.

In the last post, OpenStreetMap data was converted to a Garmin .img map file, which can be directly uploaded to a Garmin GPS unit using SendMap or MapUpload software. But it’s more convenient to use the MapSource software that comes with most Garmin GPS units to do this, since you can preview the map data in that program, and create/upload multiple maps and mapsets easily. The best program I’ve found to do this is MapSet Toolkit; you’ll also need the map compiling program cgpsmapper, free for creating basic maps for personal use.

Using the process in the previous post, I downloaded some street data for London, and converted it to a Garmin .img file. I then used the following steps to add the .img file to MapSource:

1. Created a subdirectory in my C:\Garmin directory called “London”, and copied my “63240001.img” file there.

2. In Mapset Toolkit, chose that file with “Select IMG files”.

3. Highlighted that file, and “Add”ed it to the selected IMG files. You can add multiple .img files as part of a single set of files.

4.Chose the same directory that contained the .img file as the “Mapset directory” to be used

5. Assigned a name to the mapset, “London”

6. Chose a 4-digit “Product Code” number (”8765″ in this example); the only limitation is that it not conflict with any other product codes (which are displayed in the “Uninstall Mapset” box at the right).

7. You can enter copyright info if appropriate, but it’s not required here

8. At lower left, chose the directory where cgpsmapper.exe is located (usually the C:\Program Files\cGPSmapper directory), and selected the cgpsmapper.exe file

9. The “Convert (Product>Families)” section was left blank; more information about Family ID and TYP files is available in the cgpsmapper manual.

10. Checked the box marked “Install in MapSource”. Checking “Blank overview maps” will eliminate the map preview in MapSource, but I can’t think of a good reason to do that.

11. Clicked “Start”, and shortly thereafter got a message box saying “Convert termined” (sic).

12. In the “Uninstall Mapset” section, there’s now a new listing for the added map.

The program screen after all these operations looks like this:

If I now open Mapsource, the dropdown at the upper left has a selection for “London”; selecting it brings up the OpenStreetMap data:

I can now select this dataset along with any others I might want, and upload it to my Garmin.

You can also use the “Uninstall Mapset” section to remove mapsets from MapSource as well. There’s more complete documentation available in PDF format at the MapSet Toolkit website.

Addendum: There are two other programs floating around that can also add .img files to MapSource. M3 is available at MalsingMaps.com, where you can also find free Garmin maps for Borneo, Malaysia and Singapore; free registration required. However, I’ve found that if you install a MapSet using M3, other mapsets installed by either MapSet Toolkit or with the Garmin installer can disappear off of the dropdown menu (they come back after you uninstall the offending mapset). GPS Map Manager is better than M3, but MapSet Toolkit has a better interface and more capabilities.

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