CalTopo Nautical Charts-build your own chartlet

[gyork]

You can search the archives for other ways to make your own charts, but the simplest venue for me is CalTopo. If not familiar with CalTopo, review the “getting started” post here:

 

You can construct your own chartlet by selecting an area that you are intending to paddle. My Mac allows a print screen with a shortcut (command/shift/4). I place a 6.5 X 8.5” poster-thickness cutout over my screen so the screenshot will be proportionate to the standard 8.5X11 final print. The screenshot appears in the desktop; do not “save” your screenshot  until you have finished annotating! Here is my screenshot which I have renamed muscle:

 

When you open up your screenshot on the desktop the top menu bar allows “tools.” 

 

Select “tools”, and scroll down to “annotate.” 

 

Here you will be able to select lines, arrows, and multiple other shapes. For my magnetic north lines I choose “line”, and an editable line appears on screenshot (note: you can customize the width and color of your lines). 

 

 

Now go back to CalTopo (which you have minimized), and select “measure” in the upper menu bar. Select “take bearing” from the drop-down menu. Select (click) a fixed point near the center of your chart area, near the bottom, then extend your line until the MN reads 360/0°.               

This will be your reference line for your screenshot. 

 

Now go back to your screenshot and reorient/drag the MN line such that it mirrors exactly what you had obtained through CalTopo.

Back to CalTopo to now measure “distance” from that same drop-down menu. Depending on the scale of your chart that you are saving, select ½, 1, or 2. nautical miles for spacing of your MN lines. With the “measure distance” tool click on any point/feature and extend the line perpendicular to MN to a chart feature and distance interval you have chosen. 

 

 

IN screenshot, choose “line” again, and extend/drag/orient the line such that it mirrors the MN distance interval line you obtained from CalTopo. This will now serve as your guide for spacing of your MN lines, which, while not exact, will be "close enough."

Highlight the MN line, choose line thickness/color that pleases you, then copy X 5. These copies will remain parallel to your original MN reference. 

 Move lines individually by click/hold/drag of non-highlighted lines.

 

 

When finished spacing and adding text, your screenshot will look like this:

 

Your finished chartlet will look something like this (without the header):

When you have finished ALL of your annotating, save screenshot and rename, if you like. Open up again, and export as PDF to your desktop. Build another chartlet and print both, place back to back and laminate at your local Fedex.

If you have any questions when attempting this exercise ON YOUR APPLE COMPUTER, feel free to PM me, and we can walk through the process over the phone/Zoom.

 

[DaveBergsbaken]

Thanks.  Just saw tried this charting software out and I really like the quality.  Better yet is that its free too!