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How to download USGS topo maps for free & print them using a freeware digital tiler
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Arlen Holder
Aug 10, 2018, 7:06:11 PM8/10/18
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============================================================================
Here's how anyone on this ng can print their nearest USGS quadrangles.
============================================================================
Download & print USGS PDF maps of the desired quadrangles nearest you:
1. Create a directory to store your downloaded USGS topographic maps:
For example: mkdir C:\app\database\map\usgs\
2. Visit the USGS National Map Data Download & Visualization Services site:
https://viewer.nationalmap.gov/launch/
3. At top left, press "Download Maps" which takes you to a multipane page:
https://viewer.nationalmap.gov/basic/?basemap=b1&category=histtopo,ustopo&title=Map%20View
Note the right pane contains a map of the United States.
4. Left mouse drag your desired location to the center of that map.
Click the + (zoom) 7 times (re-center as needed) to see quadrangles.
It's simplest if you zoom until you have only 1 or 2 quadrangles in view.
At most, zoom to only as many as 4 contiguous four-corner quadrangles.
5. In the left sidebar, click the blue "Find Products" button.
6. In the left sidebar under "Available Products", click "US Topo" "results".
7. In the left sidebar, scroll until you see the desired quadrangle.
Once you find the desired quadrangle, right click its "Download" button.
Choose to "Save Link As" so as to download the ~30MB PDF file.
8. Save the ~30MB PDFs using the default name of the quadrangle.pdf
For example:
C:\app\database\map\usgs\CA_Laurel_20150226_TM_geo.pdf
C:\app\database\map\usgs\CA_Loma_Prieta_20150226_TM_geo.pdf
C:\app\database\map\usgs\CA_San_Jose_West_20150304_TM_geo.pdf
C:\app\database\map\usgs\CA_Santa_Teresa_Hills_20150226_TM_geo.pdf
etc.
Read this document for instructions on how to interpret USGS map margins:
<http://education.usgs.gov/lessons/mapmargin.pdf> (details)
<http://education.usgs.gov/lessons/map_margins_2p.pdf> (summary)
============================================================================
I called a local Kinkos/FedEx printer who charges $7.25 per sqft for color
printing on regular paper. So a 2.5x2.5 foot color map on regular paper
they said would be about $73.48 with California tax. Yikes.
It's much cheaper to print to 8-1/2x11-inch paper using a freeware tiler:
<https://sourceforge.net/projects/posterazor/>
And then manually tape it together.
============================================================================
See also:
How to view & edit tracks on USGS WMS databases using QGIS freeeware
<https://groups.google.com/d/msg/alt.comp.freeware/IeNTm2cOrd8/F_ftT-p5CAAJ>
How to record tracks on USGS geocalibrated PDFs using Avenza freeware
<https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/comp.mobile.android/zNKD3jyeye4>
How to record GPX tracks on iOS & Android freeware & copy to the desktop
<https://groups.google.com/d/msg/comp.mobile.android/zNKD3jyeye4/vxLvk87oAgAJ>
How to freely geocalibrate multiple USGS quadrangles into a single PDF map
<https://groups.google.com/d/msg/alt.comp.freeware/W3IjaKFeLrM/TpFbNWiIAAAJ>
============================================================================
Here's how anyone on this ng can print their nearest USGS quadrangles.
============================================================================
Download & print USGS PDF maps of the desired quadrangles nearest you:
1. Create a directory to store your downloaded USGS topographic maps:
For example: mkdir C:\app\database\map\usgs\
2. Visit the USGS National Map Data Download & Visualization Services site:
https://viewer.nationalmap.gov/launch/
3. At top left, press "Download Maps" which takes you to a multipane page:
https://viewer.nationalmap.gov/basic/?basemap=b1&category=histtopo,ustopo&title=Map%20View
Note the right pane contains a map of the United States.
4. Left mouse drag your desired location to the center of that map.
Click the + (zoom) 7 times (re-center as needed) to see quadrangles.
It's simplest if you zoom until you have only 1 or 2 quadrangles in view.
At most, zoom to only as many as 4 contiguous four-corner quadrangles.
5. In the left sidebar, click the blue "Find Products" button.
6. In the left sidebar under "Available Products", click "US Topo" "results".
7. In the left sidebar, scroll until you see the desired quadrangle.
Once you find the desired quadrangle, right click its "Download" button.
Choose to "Save Link As" so as to download the ~30MB PDF file.
8. Save the ~30MB PDFs using the default name of the quadrangle.pdf
For example:
C:\app\database\map\usgs\CA_Laurel_20150226_TM_geo.pdf
C:\app\database\map\usgs\CA_Loma_Prieta_20150226_TM_geo.pdf
C:\app\database\map\usgs\CA_San_Jose_West_20150304_TM_geo.pdf
C:\app\database\map\usgs\CA_Santa_Teresa_Hills_20150226_TM_geo.pdf
etc.
Read this document for instructions on how to interpret USGS map margins:
<http://education.usgs.gov/lessons/mapmargin.pdf> (details)
<http://education.usgs.gov/lessons/map_margins_2p.pdf> (summary)
============================================================================
I called a local Kinkos/FedEx printer who charges $7.25 per sqft for color
printing on regular paper. So a 2.5x2.5 foot color map on regular paper
they said would be about $73.48 with California tax. Yikes.
It's much cheaper to print to 8-1/2x11-inch paper using a freeware tiler:
<https://sourceforge.net/projects/posterazor/>
And then manually tape it together.
============================================================================
See also:
How to view & edit tracks on USGS WMS databases using QGIS freeeware
<https://groups.google.com/d/msg/alt.comp.freeware/IeNTm2cOrd8/F_ftT-p5CAAJ>
How to record tracks on USGS geocalibrated PDFs using Avenza freeware
<https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/comp.mobile.android/zNKD3jyeye4>
How to record GPX tracks on iOS & Android freeware & copy to the desktop
<https://groups.google.com/d/msg/comp.mobile.android/zNKD3jyeye4/vxLvk87oAgAJ>
How to freely geocalibrate multiple USGS quadrangles into a single PDF map
<https://groups.google.com/d/msg/alt.comp.freeware/W3IjaKFeLrM/TpFbNWiIAAAJ>
============================================================================
Arlen Holder
Aug 10, 2018, 8:46:28 PM8/10/18
to
On 10 Aug 2018 23:06:07 GMT, Arlen Holder wrote:
> 8. Save the ~30MB PDFs using the default name of the quadrangle.pdf
> For example:
> C:\app\database\map\usgs\CA_Laurel_20150226_TM_geo.pdf
> C:\app\database\map\usgs\CA_Loma_Prieta_20150226_TM_geo.pdf
> C:\app\database\map\usgs\CA_San_Jose_West_20150304_TM_geo.pdf
> C:\app\database\map\usgs\CA_Santa_Teresa_Hills_20150226_TM_geo.pdf
> etc.
I just combined those four quadrangles, which seemed to work fine offline!
> 8. Save the ~30MB PDFs using the default name of the quadrangle.pdf
> For example:
> C:\app\database\map\usgs\CA_Laurel_20150226_TM_geo.pdf
> C:\app\database\map\usgs\CA_Loma_Prieta_20150226_TM_geo.pdf
> C:\app\database\map\usgs\CA_San_Jose_West_20150304_TM_geo.pdf
> C:\app\database\map\usgs\CA_Santa_Teresa_Hills_20150226_TM_geo.pdf
> etc.
Here's what I just tried after downloading a set of four geospatial PDFs
using the method and file types outlined in this post of a few moments ago:
<https://groups.google.com/d/msg/alt.comp.freeware/W3IjaKFeLrM/BCWbshWoCAAJ>
I figured I'd try a single quadrangle first, before trying to tile them.
I wasn't sure if the USGS geospatial PDFs are "vector" or "raster".
So I guessed at "vector" first.
This pretty much worked, with minor complications of too many layers:
. View the newly downloaded CA_Loma_Prieta_20150226_TM_geo.pdf file:
<http://www.bild.me/bild.php?file=4462770geopdf00.jpg>
. Start Quantum GIS 3.2.1 on Windows 10
<http://www.bild.me/bild.php?file=9663160geopdf01.jpg>
. QGIS:Layer > Add Layer > Add Vector Layer >
<http://www.bild.me/bild.php?file=7538129geopdf02.jpg>
. Data Source Manager Vector > Source
Vector Dataset(s) = C:\tmp\CA_Loma_Prieta_20150226_TM_geo.pdf
<http://www.bild.me/bild.php?file=5773673geopdf03.jpg>
. Click [Add] (It's so slow, be careful not to click twice!)
. It asks "Select Vector Layers to Add"
<http://www.bild.me/bild.php?file=5004482geopdf04.jpg>
. Not knowing any better, I hit [Select All]
<http://www.bild.me/bild.php?file=5858855geopdf05.jpg>
. And then [OK] (It's so slow, be careful not to click twice!)
<http://www.bild.me/bild.php?file=1424688geopdf06.jpg>
. And then [Close] (Be careful to only click once.)
<http://www.bild.me/bild.php?file=3545122geopdf07.jpg>
Well, that worked (albeit, as BeAr Ederson had warned, rather slowly).
At least it's offline - which always is the goal all along.
But now, the question comes how to *join* the four quadrangles in QGIS?
Trying that process with a second quadrangle, seems to kind of work:
<http://www.bild.me/bild.php?file=9247140geopdf08.jpg>
*Notice in that screenshot that the corners actually line up!*
Let's bring in a third contiguous quadrangle:
<http://www.bild.me/bild.php?file=9176734geopdf09.jpg>
And, the fourth:
<http://www.bild.me/bild.php?file=7754255geopdf10.jpg>
At this point, I decided to add the hiking track that I had saved.
And then to zoom to the layer of that track.
<http://www.bild.me/bild.php?file=8848544geopdf11.jpg>
Notice it worked, kind of sort of, but not really all that well:
<http://www.bild.me/bild.php?file=1819179geopdf12.jpg>
The good news is that the USGS geospatial PDF quadrangles seem to line
themselves up automatically, with the borders overlapping such that the
actual map corners coincide at the correct GPS corner dots.
I'm not sure how to make the four quadrangle map borders go away, but
that's probably a "layer" that I hope can be made invisible.
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