Note 1: See this series of posts for info on converting shapefiles to KML format.
Note 2: The current version of the program has a bug that doesn’t let you select a file. The author has indicated on the website that a new version should be out soon, but until then, you may have to use the approach described in either this post or another post. Also available now is an online KML to shapefile converter.
In two previous posts, I covered several multi-step hacks for converting Google Earth KML files to shapefile format, since there wasn’t a single-step free approach to my knowledge. Well, there is now, and it makes the process a lot easier.
Continue reading ‘The Last Word (For Now) On Converting Google Earth KML Files To Shapefiles’
ExtremeTech has an article about the gCensus site, which lets you select US Census tabular data using a web-based interface, and convert it into a Google Earth KML file. Examples include a plot of population density in the Berkeley, CA area:
and a plot showing racial segregation in Philadelphia:
Only data from Summary File 1 is currently available, but the site creator intends to add additional data later on.
From the “I’ve been missing the obvious” file: If you have the MapSource program that comes with many Garmin GPS units or Garmin MapSource data disks, you can export waypoints, tracks or routes in the display directly to Google Earth with the View => View In Google Earth command. The data can be imported from a GPS unit, imported from a file (*.gdb, *.gpx, *.mps or *.loc formats supported), or entered manually into the program using its editing tools. Once displayed in Google Earth, you can make a permanent KML file of the data by right-clicking on any the appropriate data entries in the Places Pane, and choosing Save As.
Ogle Earth posts today about two new KML editors:
KMLEditor
NorthGates’ KML Editor
Note: See this series of posts for info on converting shapefiles to KML format.
In the last post, I covered a mildly painful way to convert the vector data (points, paths, and polygons) in Google Earth KML files to shapefile format, while keeping at least the name associated with the points and paths. Today, I’ll describe a simpler and faster two-step process, but one that unfortunately doesn’t keep the name or any of the other KML data associated with the original shapes.
Continue reading ‘Another Way To Convert Google Earth KML Files To Shapefiles’
Note: See this series of posts for info on converting shapefiles to KML format.
I haven’t really found a good way to transform KML files to shapefile format, and certainly not one that preserves most of the attribute information or data associated with the shapes in the KML file. But I’ve come up with a mildly painful, multi-step hack that will allow you to convert the point, path and polygon shapes to shapefile format, and which allows you to keep at least the object name associated with points and paths.
Continue reading ‘Converting Google Earth KML Files To Shapefile Format’
Just stumbled across another Excel .XLS file with macros that will convert a list of coordinates and descriptions into a Google Earth KML file. Not particularly fancy, but easy to use and works well.
excel2kml uses VBA, so you’ll have to have Excel (i.e. it won’t work with OpenOffice). Open the file in Excel, and enable macros if they’re disabled for security purposes. First page is the data sheet, with a set of sample data already in place: Name, Latitude, Longitude, and Description are the only data fields available. Paste your data into the data sheet (up to 50,000 lines), enter Alt-F8, and run the “Generate KML” macro. A file called “myfile.kml” will be created in the root directory of the C-drive; you can modify the file name and destination in the “File Details” tab. That’s it – tested it with the sample data and a file of my own, and works perfectly. You could probably modify it quite easily to meet any additional requirements you might have.
Here’s a short post recapping my series on free (or cheap) ways to export shapefiles to Google Earth’s KML format:
Using GPS TrackMaker to quickly export point and line shapefiles into KML format. Not a lot of flexibility, though, and limited attribute export.
Shp2KML exports point, line and polygon shapefiles, with more attribute data than GPS TrackMaker. No ability to modify KML plots based on attribute data, limiting usefulness, especially for polygons.
shp2kml uses a wizard approach to export shapefile data to KML format. Allows you to export multiple attributes, and to vary plot color depending on attribute value. Has some problems with large shapefiles.
The only paid solution here ($29.99), but by far the most flexible and powerful.
Since the first two solutions above require the shapefile to be in Google Earth’s native coordinate system (geographic coordinates, WGS84 datum), here’s a great program to convert shapefiles in virtually any coordinate system to the right one for Google Earth.
