Page History: Personalize Your Map
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Page Revision: 02/13/2009 12:23 PM
Now that you have a basic understanding of the core functions of Weather Defender, its time to personalize your map by adding geographic layers and reference points.
This tutorial assumes you have completed the Getting Started Tutorial.Step 1
To keep the display simple, turn off any active weather layers in the Map Layers window.
Step 2
Reposition your map so your Home icon is centered on screen. If you do not have a Home icon anywhere on the map, use the
Set Home tool from the
Map Tab toolbar to set it.
Tip
You may click Preset > Center Home on the toolbar to automatically center your home location on screen.
Step 3
Zoom the map to about 1:100 (does not have to be exact) as indicated in the lower-right of your status bar.
Note: The zoom scale identifies the number of pixels per degree. 1:100 means the current zoom displays 100 pixels for every latitudinal/longitudinal degree.
Step 4
Your map should display a small regional view of your location. Its time to start adding layers.
Click
Add Layer from the toolbar and select
U.S. Cities from the drop-down list.
Note: Some layers, like U.S. Cities will be downloaded to your computer the first time it is added to your map. You will not have to wait for the same layer to download if you add it again (or on other maps).
Step 5
In the Map Layers Dialog, drag the U.S. Cities button into the
'Foreground group. If the Foreground group is not expanded, click the Plus button to expand it.
Delete the
USACITIES.ZIP group because it is empty. Do this by clicking the X in the group's panel.
Step 6
Repeat Steps 4-5, but add
U.S. Counties.
Your map should now display county outlines:
Step 7
Next, we are going to add street maps. Click
Add Layers again, but this time select
Browse All Layers.
A new window will appear. This is the Layer Browser:
The Layer Browser gives you access to the full catalog of weather and geography layers in Weather Defender. It is organized by categories for easier reference and there is even a search engine if you don't want to browse.
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Note: The Layer Browser is continually being updated with new and better Weather and Geography layers, so be sure to check out the selection regularly.
Step 8
In the Layer Browser, click the category link titled
Roads, Rails, & Pathways.
On the next page, find the
U.S. Highways listing and click the
Add To Map button.
Close the Layer Browser.
After the download completes, you should see highways and interstates added to your map:
Step 9
Save your map
Step 10
Store your view
Step 11
Zoom into your county.
Step 12
local county roads
Step 13
change group name to 'Streets', set to all/none select.
Step 14 (optional)
Click the Presets > Home Base button to revert to the previous zoom scale.
Congratulations!
Have other custom data sets you would like to import? See the
Importing Data Tutorial.