Computer Map Research

Treasure hunting without maps would be like riding a bicycle without a seat; painful to say the least!

The older maps are a little harder to come by in a form that is readily usable. Most of us have gone to libraries and photocopied parts of maps for areas we are interested in hunting. This works great and is a very inexpensive way to go but what happens if your copy is misplaced, rendered unusable from wear, or some other unforeseen reason? (Loaned out to a friend who forgets it wasn’t theirs in the first place) It’s back to the library for a second copy.

Been there, done that, as they say nowadays! What I plan on sharing with you here is the process that I have found, using a computer, to eliminate these problems and greatly enhance the maps from their static state in printed form!

Use a digital camera to take photos of the maps wherever they are found, Library, Historical Society, Court House, etc... then upload them to your computer. Use the highest resolution on your camera so you get the greatest detail when zooming on the computer.

There are many different graphics programs to use to manipulate your maps but by far the best has to be Adobe PhotoShop. It works easily with large map files.

There are many things you can do with the maps in PhotoShop. Remove “smudge” marks, add your own text comments, remove unwanted parts of the map, etc. . .

Zooming in on your map is where the real advantages start showing themselves. Many times there have been small text or features on maps that I would have missed if I didn’t have the ability to zoom in and take a closer look.