HDMapper™ MapScale
Q: How can I add a linear range scale on my HDMapper drawing?
A: For TAP 6.1.2512 systems with a Maintenance Subscription date of February 28, 2013 or later, you can add a linear range scale on the map.
An example MapScale is highlighted in yellow below:
Notice that there is both a
horizontal
and vertical scale. Both are needed because the map window extents
are in geodetic degrees, so part of the sphere is projected onto a
flat, rectangular display. At northern latitudes, one degree of
longitude is narrower in arc length (distance) than one degree of
longitude at the equator, whereas one degree of latitude is the same
everywhere. So a 1-by-1 degree map in northern Canada has more
pixels per mile in longitude than a 1-by-1 degree map in Central
America, but the same pixels per mile in latitude.
The scale may be enabled and disabled from the Configuration menu in the HD Mapper menu. This setting is retained when HD Mapper is exited, so that it the scale will be shown or hidden the next time HD Mapper is executed.
The scale is calculated by an algorithm to generate a number that is 1, 2, 5 or 10 times a power of ten (e.g. 1, 10, 100, 0.1, 0.01, etc) in the display units, chosen from the “Configuration” menu:
The scale is divided into fourths to allow finer estimates, and the scale label is placed in the corner to indicate that it applies equally to both dimensions. While the legs look nearly the same length, they may not always be such (see above), however the legs will always have the same length in distance units.
This scale is provided to enhance your
presentation and should not be relied upon as the sole source of
distance measurement. (TAP6 includes a distance tool in HDMapper.)
The scale will be exported when the map
is saved as a bitmap or PNG, and when exported to Google Earth. To
prevent this, simply disable the scale prior to export.
  
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Copyright 2013 by SoftWright LLC