Before you can link your event to a map, you need the map in digital form, as

• an OCAD file (version 6 or newer) (.ocd), or
• a bitmap (.bmp/.gif/.jpg/.png/.tif), or
• a Windows MetaFile (.wmf/.emf). 

Place the map file in a folder on the hard disk.

Condes supports OCAD files from OCAD version 6 through 12 and 2018.

A bitmap file can be exported from OCAD or from another drawing program, such as Adobe Illustrator, or it can be created by scanning a printed map using a scanner.

In terms of printout quality, an OCAD file gives the best results, as the map is stored in "vector" format.  A Windows metafile may also be vector format.  This gives better display and print quality than a bitmap file.   Bitmap files give slightly lower printout and display quality, as they are rasterised (dotted) images.  This depends on the resolution of the image. 

OCAD files and metafiles usually are of reasonable size (usually a few MBytes).  Bitmap files can be very large, even when they are compressed.

How to link the map file to your event

1. When you have the digital map as a file, you should place the file on your hard disk. 
2. Link the map file to the Condes event when you create your event file in Condes, or use the Canvas / Map menu to get a Setup Map dialog for the currently active canvas.  Use the latter menu when you want to change the map for a canvas.

Condes searches for the map file

Condes need the map file every time it displays the map, so the map file should not be moved after importing it into a Condes event file.

1. Condes first looks for the map file in the folder indicated when you linked the map file to the event. 
2. If Condes doesn't find the map file in this folder, Condes then looks for the map file in the standard folder.  There is a setting in File / Standard Settings for this PC, which allows you to specify a folder name for the standard map files folder.
3. Finally, Condes looks for the map file in the folder where the event file is located.

If Condes does not find the file in any of these locations, Condes prompts you to point to the correct location.

Resolution (DPI) information in bitmap files

For bitmap files, you should pay attention to the correct setting of the map file resolution.  Under normal circumstances, a bitmap file contains information on the resolution of the bitmap.  Condes uses this information to scale the map correctly, so it is essential that the resolution setting is 100% correct.

When resolution information is missing…

In some cases, the resolution information is missing from the file.  Condes alerts you when you link to the file, if this is the case.  You now need to input the horizontal and vertical resolution in dpi (dots per inch) by using the "Details" button.  If you are not sure about the correct values, you may want to experiment.  A normal bitmap resolution would be in the range of 100-300 dpi.   Tip:  Measure the distance between two North lines on the correctly printed map and see if it corresponds to the coordinate difference when you place the mouse cursor on top of the same two North lines in Condes.

If - at any time - you want to change the original scale of the map, adjusting the resolution parameters in the Canvas / Map / Details dialog can do this. 

By manipulating the DPI values, you can "repair" a map which is slightly off scale (change the horizontal and/or vertical resolution slightly), or change the scale, for example from 1:10 000 to 1:15 000 (multiply the horizontal and vertical resolution by 1.5).