After experimenting with GPS Visualizer to create Garmin KMZ files last week I contacted Adam Schneider, author of GPS Visualizer, about making it easier to create Garmin Custom Maps using his very useful (and free) online tool. Today Adam published changes to GPS Visualizer which simplify the process of creating Custom Maps from some types of publicly available digital images.  With these changes GPS Visualizer is very helpful if you want to quickly get a small area (< 10 square miles) of USGS Topos or 1m USGS black/white aerial photos images onto your Garmin — all without doing any map calibration in Google Earth. There are two ways to use GPS Visualizer to get maps onto your Garmin Oregon, Dakota or Colorado:

  • Dynamic overlay: This is the process we described in our previous post on the topic. I’ve updated that post to provide links to the new overlay tool and update the screen shots. Using this method you can use Google Earth to find the location you want and, if necessary, preview and modify the overlay before sending it to your Garmin.
  • Overlay input form: Enter your location, select the area you want to cover and pick the map type you would like use. No need to mess with Google Earth, and Adam has added a button to preset most of the form for optimal performance on a Garmin GPS.

To use the Overlay input form method follow these steps

  1. Navigate to the GPS Visualizer overlay page and select the link for Garmin GPS users.GPS Visualizer starting page
  2. Select a location based on address or coordinates.GPS Visualizer form completion
  3. Set the area that you want your maps to cover.  The default setting of a 10km (6.2 mile) square works pretty well for Topos and Aerial photos and looks good down to about the 800′ (200m) zoom level.   If you want more detail as you zoom in on your GPS map page you can shrink the area of your maps, or if you can cover more area if you are willing to sacrifice map image quality as you zoom in. GPS Visualizer also allows you to use data inside a GPX file to bound your maps (i.e. based on waypoints, tracks, etc) or specific N, E, S, W bounding boxes. See “Coordinate input method” under “General Options” to use these features.
  4. Select the map type you want, typically it would be USGS topos or aerial photos.
  5. Click Create Overlay
  6. On the next page you can select click here to download your overlay and use your browser to save the KMZ file to your E:\Garmin\CustomMaps folder, assuming your GPS is connected and maps to drive letter “E”.  Also note this page contains useful information to determine the coverage area, resolution and m/pixel of your new map.GPS Visualizer download KMZ

I would like to thank Adam for adding this support and encourage anyone who finds it useful to make a donation to GPS Visualizer.

Related posts:

  1. Tips on Garmin Custom Maps – Using GPS Visualizer
  2. Tips on Garmin Custom Maps – Getting Started
  3. Tips on Garmin Custom Maps — Random Stuff
  4. Garmin Beta: Custom Raster Map Support for Oregon, Colorado and Dakota
  5. Garmin Custom Maps Officially Available on Oregon, Dakota and Colorado