The steps below use Delorme's Street Atlas as an example of a Windows clipboard clip of a currently displayed map, but you can use Windows to capture clips of displayed maps generated by any software. Delorme has the option "Copy Map to Clipboard" in the edit menu. If other map software does not offer this option, press <Alt-PrintScreen> to generate a clip. In addition to capturing the map, <Alt-Printscreen> will capture the toolbars, menu and borders as well which can be "cropped" using the IrFanView program below.
While the Delorme map images and clips are full color, the LXGPS software will be displayed on a black and white LCD screen, so the maps have to be processed from color to black and white, and then converted to a "1 bit" black and white PCX file.
The Delorme display colors create a complication to this process. Delorme's default background color is light yellow and a high percentage of the roads are displayed in red. While this provides great readability in color, when you attempt to convert to black and while, yellow and red "contrast" in the same direction resulting in all red streets disappearing into the yellow background.
While I have accomplished the image processing with a variety of image programs, the freeware image program IrFanView is universally available, free, easy and has all of the tools necessary to complete the conversion from a Delorme color clip to a 1 bit pcx file. Most importantly for this process, it provides a complete set of tools to deal with both the red/yellow contrast and the direct generation of a 1 bit PCX disk file. IrFanView is available at available at http://softwarecenter.net/irfanview/
For larger images, use "Virtual Desktop" if available (you may have to reduce colors)
Turn off all toolbars and status bar
Size and position the map to display the area you need to convert. (Scroll to confirm if using Windows' "Virtual Desktop")
Select "Copy Map to Clipboard"
Paste into image editor (IrFanView)
Return to Delorme (Note avoid normal "Left Clicking" in Delorme as this will reposition center of map)
Pick
and note the names two landmark "diamond" marks near opposite corners of
image you just copied.
Zoom in to maximum resolution on each of the landmark diamonds you picked.
Right Click on landmark and select "Lat/Long on Map Note." (Note, if you did not "zoom in" to the maximum resolution, the precision of numeric Lat/Long value on the map note is not going to be very precise.)
Right Click resulting "Note"
Select Properties
Copy Lat/Long and paste into text file for future reference
Repeat for second diamond
(Note... for maps displayed by other applications that do not have a
copy option, press the <PrtScreen> key to copy the current screen to
the clipboard)
Select "Greyscale"
Select "Sharpen" several times (to your taste)
Select Image/DecreaseColorDepth
Select 2 color
Save as PCX file.
As an example of the processing of the colors, note the street in red
and the small rectangle of side streets near the lower left corner of the
example above and compare the change in appeaance though the process.
In addition, note the light green area along the left border. The
"sharpening" process is necessary to keep these areas from swallowing up
the greyscaled streets.
LXGPS will automatically go to "Calibrate" mode with "crosshairs" at upper right of map
Find the diamond near the upper left of the map clip that you identified when you made the map clip in Street Atlas.
The pixel structure of these "diamonds" will fit exactly into the LXGPS map "cross hairs"
In LXGPS, the cursor moves about 5 pixels per cursor arrow press... When the crosshairs get close to the diamond, use <Shift-Arrow> for 1 pixel movements. (If running on non LX machine, numeric pad must be used instead of cursor pad for 1 pixel movements.)
Don't move too fast... if you go off of the lower or right corners of the map, a divide error will occur.
Select "point-1" and enter lat/long that you saved during the Delorme part of this process in following format;
N 30 58.946
W 98 42.444
Repeat using the diamond near the opposite corner for "point-2"
Select "Calibrate"
Select Invert for LCD displays
Select Save
Select Done
Exit LXGPS to assure CFG file settings are written
Repeat for each map