Maps

Scanning of paper maps

To use paper maps, you will need a scanner. There is not so much need for the resolution as there is for the size. 300 dpi is mostly sufficient. For the scanning purpose it is better to use map books that are already in smaller formats (A4, etc.).

The best scanning resolution is mostly 200 to 300 dpi for paper maps. Too much resolution does not add anything to the quality, since the original material is mostly no more detailed than 300 dpi (due to human vision limits). Too much resolution only slows down the programs and requires more memory.

Accurate Finnish Maps

Up to 1:16000 resolution maps can be downloaded at Kansalaisen Karttapaikka.

Google Maps Interface

If you want to download Google Map tiles and create your own maps you might want to use Google Maps Downloader.

Spatial References

Several spatial references can be found at spatialreference.org.

Downloading map images

Several maps are available for download in the www. For example the CIA has political maps of all countries in the world without copyright. Most pictures can be downloaded by first pressing the right mouse button on the image and then selecting "Save Picture As..". Any picture can be used as the map background.

Electronic maps

All maps that are once scanned in the system can be exported individually to a format, that allows their copying to other computers. Maps can be copied as single items or as data sets. Geo information is preserved.

Additional to that it is possible to import several ready made commercial raster maps into system.

Airport Diagrams

Airport diagrams in pdf format can be found at FAA Home / Airports / Runway Safety / Airport Diagrams (for USA) or AOPA. Suitable conversion programs can be found on "Supporting Programs" page or you can convert for example .PDF airport diagrams to for example .PNG image format using this on line converter (choose PNG output and upload your PDF airport diagram). After conversion download the image and load to MNS.