AVENZA MAPS
Avenza is a Canadian company that produces map making software. AvenzaMaps
(previously known as PDFMaps) is an App for both iOS and Android which allows the user to
navigate offline (providing your device has GPS) using maps either from the extensive
Avenza Map Store or imported from your own collection. Information is either on the
relevant App Store or at https://www.avenzamaps.com/. There is no desktop version like
OziExplorer.
There are 3 subscription levels. The free version and Plus version (US$29.99 per year) are
very similar with the Plus having expanded capabilities. The main differences are:
1. Plus has unlimited map imports compared to 3 active imports for the free version.
You can import more than 3 maps into the free version, but need to remove earlier
imports. However, Map Store maps are unlimited including all the Get Lost Maps
covered above, so this probably isn’t a big deal.
2. GeoFences. The free version can have 5 features on 1 layer compared to 50 features
on 5 layers.
3. GPX Import. The free version will export tracks and features in GPX, KML or csv
format, but you can only import KML format whereas the Plus version includes GPX.
However, there are online converters between GPX and KML if you need to share
with someone else.
There is also a Professional version at US$129.99 per annum which removes all the above
limitations has more capability such as using Shapefile for feature import / export and using
the British National Grid format.
The Map Store has a vast array of maps, many of which are free. All of the Get Lost maps
can be accessed this way and you can also purchase maps produced by Hema (High Country
East is $7.99) and Spatial Vision ($1.49 for a 1:100,000 sheet, more for others) along with
many others. Maps can be found by searching on a map or by keyword.
Maps can be linked. So if you are travelling over several maps you can put them into a
collection and relatively easily move from one to the other. Unfortunately, this is not
seamless and as you get to the edge of one map the next is not shown until you move onto
it and then the other disappears. Also the zoom works with different scale maps – eg the
Get Lost 1:25,000 and 1:75:000 can be put into a collection and as you zoom in and out
you’ll move from one to the next. With the collection of maps you also lose screen space
with a graphic which shows the relative map positions and you’re location.
Features include placemarks, lines (or tracks) and areas and are all editable for size and
colour. For placemarks a range of other common symbols can be used. Features can also
have geotagged photos attached. The features are stored in layers and layers are attached
to maps. You can use the same layer on more than one map if required and can move
features between layers. Layers and features can be switched on and off. So you can set up
your route by having a layer for each section and switch it on and off as required and have
another layer for the tracking line, so in summary very flexible.
The Free Version App has a range of features for navigation including
� Location – provides a grid reference in a number of formats including:
o UTM-WGS84. This has been added in the last couple of months and is what