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Making a pin map
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Eriamjh
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Mar 2, 2008, 09:04 PM
 
Does anyone know of a free or cheap mapping program where you can can enter addresses or zip codes and make a pin map showing where everyone lives?

I tried doing this with Google Earth, but it is painfully slow and the interface is crap. Plus, there is no way to export the list, or import the list.

I found iMap, but it is $200 and I couldn't get the demo to even work.

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naphtali
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Mar 2, 2008, 09:33 PM
 
Last I tried, Google Earth did allow you to import and export your map annotations - try poking around the interface, creating folders etc to hold your markers.

Also, you should be able to adjust the resolution of satellite imagery pulled in by Google Earth. Switch to a lower resolution and the application should speed up quite a bit! There might be other settings you can optimize in the preferences too. Out of curiosity, what machine are you running it on? It works great on my old PowerBook G4 1.33 GHz (definitely not cutting edge), though perhaps that has to do with the discreet graphics card.

As you can probably tell, I am quite happy with Google Earth. If you are still unable to get decent performance out of it, perhaps you could look around for one of those "Web 2.0" mapping applications, then take a screenshot of the product or something. I have not done a deep search, but my impression is that there aren't many mapping applications on the Mac.
     
ide3308
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Mar 2, 2008, 09:48 PM
 
you can use the google maps API, that allows you to convert addresses to map points easily with just a bit of scripting.
     
Eriamjh  (op)
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Mar 2, 2008, 09:49 PM
 
My CD MBP should be fast enough for anything.

I'll play more with Google Earth. I hate the default marker and can't seem to set a default or do a group change (shift-click) to change them.

iMap doesn't appear to do pin maps. There was a misleading pic on their site.

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Eriamjh  (op)
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Mar 2, 2008, 10:55 PM
 
Google earth does not appear to have an import or an export function of any kind. Am I missing something obvious?

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Gavin
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Mar 3, 2008, 07:06 AM
 
There are different versions of google earth - I don't think the free one has useful export functions

As ide3308 said, with a little bit of javascripting you can do this with Google Maps. (that's Maps not Earth!) It's free but there is a learning curve.

You will need to "Geocode" your addresses into latitude and longitude first.

You need to sign up with google for a "map key"

Have a look at the examples:
Map Overlays - Google Maps API - Google Code
Google Maps JavaScript API Example: Simple Markers

Then a script to make your map with points goes something like this:
(you actually wrap this in a little more code on a web page - see the examples)

var map;

function initialize() {
if (GBrowserIsCompatible()) {

map = new GMap2(document.getElementById("map_canvas"));
map.setCenter(new GLatLng(47.8213, -122.3090), 11);
map.addControl(new GSmallMapControl());
map.addControl(new GMapTypeControl());

// Add markers to the map

addPointToMap(47.8223,-122.3090,"Location One");
addPointToMap(47.8321,-122.2818,"Location two");
addPointToMap(47.8580,-122.2705,"Location Three");

// etc...

}
}

function addPointToMap(lat,lng,info) {

var point = new GLatLng(lat,lng);
var marker = new GMarker(point);

GEvent.addListener(marker, "click", function() {
marker.openInfoWindowHtml(info);
});

map.addOverlay(marker);

}
You can take the dude out of So Cal, but you can't take the dude outta the dude, dude!
     
JKT
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Mar 3, 2008, 11:23 AM
 
Originally Posted by Eriamjh View Post
Does anyone know of a free or cheap mapping program where you can can enter addresses or zip codes and make a pin map showing where everyone lives?

I tried doing this with Google Earth, but it is painfully slow and the interface is crap. Plus, there is no way to export the list, or import the list.

I found iMap, but it is $200 and I couldn't get the demo to even work.
In Google Earth 4.x - control/right-click the folder holding your nested group of pins and select Save As... to create a kmz file that you can send to other Google Earth users. If you select Email from the file menu, you can do something similar, but also send an image of your screen at the time.
     
naphtali
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Mar 3, 2008, 12:10 PM
 
To change the pin colours and/or graphic, you need to control+click on the individual position tag to get into some sort of get info/inspector mode. I think you can even use your own graphics.

From what I can remember, you can't change all of them at once, but any tags you add after will follow the same style.


The export and import (save as, open) functions are definitely in the free version


You may find the picture export function a little limited. One way to get around it would be to zoom in to a suitable quality (no need to accommodate all the pins), take screenshots and pan around so that you can stitch them later with Photoshop/equivalent.

My PowerBook ran Google Earth at full quality with no problems so it's kind of weird that it performs like crap on yours. Are you running many other apps at the same time? Or perhaps your internet connection could be the bottleneck.


I think you'll be more impressed with the app if you give it more time. There are many nifty tools like distance calculators, path drawing etc
     
   
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