Last year, I posted about using the free command-line utility mkgmap to convert Open Street Map (.osm) data into the .img format used by Garmin GPS units, with a later post trying it out with US OSM data based on TIGER data. If you need to access any of the command-line options, you’ll need to use it in its original command-line format, but in many cases you’ll only need to tell mkgmap which osm file you want to convert, a fairly simple command. I created a simple GUI to simplify this for the command-line-allergic like me, but there’s now a better one available from Activity Workshop. It’s open-source (written in Java), checks to make sure you’re not overwriting another file (which mine doesn’t), and also lets you combine multiple .img files into a single file:
Hopefully some of the command-line options will be added to a future version.
Also available from Activity Workshop is a program called osmwrangler. OSM files often contain not just road data, but also locations for amenities like restaurants, parks, doctors, theaters, prisons, etc.; a full list is available here. These will be converted by mkgmap into points on the Garmin map, regardless of whether you want them or not. osmwrangler gives you the option of removing whichever amenity types you don’t want in your map, and generating a new OSM file without them that you can then run through mkgmap. Oddly enough, it’s only currently available in command-line format.
USGS Topo Maps, Aerial Imagery, And Scanned Maps On Your Garmin GPS!
Choose The Right Option For Your Garmin Handheld Model
 
Actual screenshots from a Garmin Oregon! |
G-Raster For The Garmin Colorado/Oregon/Dakota/62/78 Series“… great (tool) for creating custom maps ...” GPS Tracklog Blog “… easy as 1, 2, 3.” gpsinformation.net “Works great!” GPSFix "Holy crap; this looks amazing.” GPSFileDepot Click here for more info on G-Raster |
 
Actual screenshots from a Garmin 60Cx! |
Moagu For The 60C(S)x, 76C(S)x, And Some eTrex Models"... Moagu rocks! This really is revolutionary!" GPS Tracklog Blog Click here for more info on Moagu |
Related posts:
- Converting OpenStreetMap Data Into GPX Or Garmin .img Format
- Free Tools For Custom Garmin Vector Maps XIII: OSM Tools A
- Free Tools For Custom Garmin Vector Maps XVIII: Full GUI For mkgmap Compiler
- Free Tools For Custom Garmin Vector Maps V: Other Format Converters
- More Garmin Maps From Open Street Map Data
- Converting Raster Maps To Garmin Vector Format With BMap2MP
- Free Tools For Custom Garmin Vector Maps IV: Vector Data Format Converters
- Free Tools For Custom Garmin Vector Maps XIV: OSM Tools B
- Breaking Up A Garmin gmapsupp.img Map File Into Separate Map Tiles
- High-Res Garmin Topo Maps For CO, WY, and UT (also Argentina, Uruguay and Chile)
I guess you already know about some of the sites that offer pre-made .img files for Garmin, but did you know about this site? (not mine)
They offer regularly updated routable maps of OSM data with install files for Windows and Mac. Extremely useful, and the maps are good for helping to know where to add additions to OSM data. The associated forum (linked on the left) gives an overview and explains the process and problems associated with keeping the site working.
Thanks for the all your work on Freegeographytools.com
Robert
Rather than use osmwrangler, you can just edit the default style in mkgmap to remove the amenity types you don’t want. Then call mkgmap with the –style-file=path_to_your_edited_style switch