Map Sheets
let's begin
Formerly called Geospatial Images, map sheets are any image that can be referenced to a place on the surface of the earth.
Supported file types include JPG, TIFF, or PDF files. Please be aware that if you are uploading a map sheet, the max file size is approximately 40 MB.
Map sheets can be viewed and stacked just like base layers in the map viewer, although they are more limited in geographical scope. This is a great solution for displaying local data, such as a map of campsite and boat launches or state park trail systems, in CalTopo.
Lessons in this Chapter:
- Upload a Map Sheet (requires a pro, desktop or team account)
Topics on this Page:
Methods
There are two pathways for adding a map sheet to your map:
- Use a publicly available shared map sheet (available to all users)
- Upload your own map sheet for personal use (requires a pro, desktop or team account)
First let’s look at how to add and use shared map sheets. The next lesson will look at how to upload a map sheet yourself.
Shared Map Sheets
Shared map sheets are available to all users.
To add a publicly available shared map sheet, first navigate to the area you are interested in. Then click the + Stack Map Sheet button in the Map Layers menu.
A blank dropdown menu will appear. Click that dropdown menu and any shared map sheets in the map viewer area will be listed. Publicly available map sheets will be grouped by type (Visitor, Bike, Water, etc).
If you are zoomed out too far, no mapsheets will appear in your list and you will get the following message: Zoom In To See Shared Map Sheets. Zoom in more on the map viewer and try again.
Select the map sheet you wish to view from the list and it will be added to your map at 100% opacity by default.
Map sheets work in a similar way to base layers: you can change the opacity and stack multiple map sheets on the same map. Please see the Working with Base Layers lesson to learn more.
Map sheets also have additional options. Click the zoom to extent icon directly below the map sheet’s name to zoom the map viewer to fit that particular map sheet. You can click crop to neatline if the border of the map data has extra blank area or text outside of it. Selecting this option will hide anything outside the border of the map data (also known as the “neatline”).
Clicking the Info icon (represented with a question mark) will display a dialog with basic background information about the map sheet. If you are logged in, clicking Add to Account will save the map sheet to your account under the Map Sheets tab.
Any map sheets that are saved to your account will appear at the top of the map sheet list under Your Sheets the next time you view the area. You also have to save map sheets to your account on the web if you wish to view and download them for offline use on the mobile app.
You can add as many map sheets as your heart desires to your map! If you wish to remove a map sheet from the map, click the X next to the name of the map sheet in the Map Sheets menu.
Submit a New Shared Map Sheet for Review
Any user can submit a map to be reviewed for inclusion in the overlay at https://caltopo.com/submitmap. CalTopo will assess all maps for quality as well as copyright issues.
Mobile Map Sheets
Currently you can only find new shared map sheets or upload personal map sheets on the web. However if you save a map sheet to your account on the web, you can also access and use it on the mobile app. To view map sheets saved to your account on the mobile app, tap the 3 bar main menu in the upper left hand corner of the map viewer and then select Map Sheets.
A new screen will open with a list of the map sheets saved to your account.
Although syncing with the cloud should occur automatically, you can manually update the map sheet list with the cloud by pressing the sync icon in the upper left hand corner. You can also download or delete previously downloaded map sheet data using the Edit link. To the left of each map sheet name in the list is an icon that indicates if the map sheet is saved to your device. You must save a map sheet to your device in order to use it without a data connection.
To the right of each map sheet name is an information icon. Tapping that icon will open up a new screen with that map sheet’s details, including its name, size and whether or not it is saved to your device.
If a map sheet is not saved to your device, tap the download icon in the upper right hand corner and the map sheet will be saved to your device. If a map sheet is saved to your device and you want to remove the downloaded data, tap the garbage can icon in the upper right hand corner.
When removing downloaded data for a map sheet, a dialog will appear confirming that you want to remove offline data for the map sheet (also known as a geoimage). Press Ok and your map sheet will no longer be saved to your device; however it will still appear in your Map Sheet list.
To view the map sheet in the mobile map viewer, select Show on Map at the bottom of the screen. You will be redirected to the map viewer and your map sheet will be displayed.
The added map sheet will also appear in the Map Sheets dropdown menu on the Map Layers page. Tap the layers icon in the upper right hand corner of the map viewer to open the Map Layers page.
Your map sheet will be visible in the Map Sheets dropdown menu.
The map sheet will be displayed at 100% opacity by default and you can adjust the opacity using the dropdown menu. You can also select "crop to neatline" in order to hide excess information or space outside the map data border. To remove the map sheet from the map viewer, click the X to the left of the map sheet name.
You can also add any map sheets you have already viewed in the map viewer from the Map Layers page. Simply click + Stack Map Sheet and then select the map sheet you wish to display from the drop down menu.
