Mapeo Support Materials
English
English
  • Introduction
  • Overview
    • About Mapeo
      • Mapeo tools
      • Peer-to-peer & Mapeo sync
      • How Mapeo is being used
    • Is Mapeo right for me?
    • FAQs
  • Quick start guide
    • Getting started
    • Mapeo Mobile
    • Mapeo Desktop
  • Complete Reference guide
    • Welcome – Introduction
    • 🗒️Essentials for a successful Mapeo project
      • Planning a Mapeo project
        • What is the project goal?
        • What outputs do you want?
        • What information to collect?
          • Data types within Mapeo
        • Who should be involved and how?
        • What are the parameters?
      • Security & risk assessment
      • Creating user protocols
    • ✔️Will Mapeo work out-of-the-box for me?
      • Default configuration
      • Default background map
    • ⚙️Customization options
      • Translating Mapeo & default configurations
      • Custom configurations
        • Creating custom configurations
          • Planning configuration & data structure
            • Categories
            • Icons
            • Details fields
          • Coding configuration
            • Adding icon files
              • Creating and exporting SVG files using Adobe Illustrator
              • Creating and exporting SVG files using Inkscape
            • Creating details fields
            • Creating categories
            • Defining geometry defaults
            • Adding a project key
            • Adding project name and version
            • Building configuration file
              • Via the command line
              • Using GitHub Actions
          • Testing and iterating
      • Custom background maps
        • Creating custom background maps
          • Generating map files in .mbtiles format for the experimental Background Maps feature
    • 📱Mapeo Mobile installation & setup
      • Installing Mapeo Mobile
      • Choosing Mapeo Mobile settings
      • Experiments: Turning on experimental features
        • Directional Arrow
        • P2P (peer-to-peer) App Updates
        • Background Maps
        • Security
          • App Passcode
          • Obscure Passcode
      • Importing configurations into Mapeo Mobile
      • Adding custom background maps to Mapeo Mobile
      • Updating Mapeo Mobile
    • 📱Mapeo Mobile use
      • Activating GPS and viewing current location
      • Creating observations
      • Viewing observations
      • Editing and deleting observations
      • Sharing data externally
      • Syncing data via Wi-Fi
    • 💻Mapeo Desktop installation & setup
      • Installing Mapeo Desktop
      • Choosing Mapeo Desktop language
      • Importing configurations to Mapeo Desktop
      • Adding custom background maps to Mapeo Desktop
      • Updating Mapeo Desktop
    • 💻Mapeo Desktop use
      • Mapeo Desktop for managing Mapeo Mobile data (Observations mode)
        • Synchronizing data
          • Synchronizing via Wi-Fi
          • Synchronizing with a file
        • Viewing observations
        • Editing and deleting observations
        • Exporting data & sharing externally
      • Mapeo Desktop for creating territory data (Territory mode)
        • Navigating around the map
        • Creating and editing territory data
        • Changing background maps in Territory mode
        • Importing and using external geospatial data
        • Exporting and syncing data
      • Synchronizing data with Mapeo Desktop
    • 💡Mapeo trainings
      • Defining goals and format
      • Structuring a training
        • Best practices for planning a training
        • Structuring the agenda, content and activities
          • Suggestions for the different sections of a training event
          • Tips and suggested activities for training key features of Mapeo
          • Materials and resources available for the training event
      • Preparing equipment and supplies for a training
        • Recommended equipment and supplies
        • Tech preparation before doing in-person training
    • 🔧Troubleshooting
      • I can't start Mapeo
      • Mapeo closes automatically
      • I have problems with the GPS in Mapeo
        • GPS is not activated in Mapeo
        • My GPS signal is very weak
      • I have problems with the camera in Mapeo
        • I get a black screen when using the camera
      • I want to update Mapeo Mobile permissions
      • I have sync issues
        • I want to connect to Wi-Fi
        • I want to create local Wi-Fi networks
          • With a portable router
          • With a smartphone
        • The device I want to sync with does not show up on my Synchronize screen
        • I get an error when I try to sync with another device
        • I can't sync with the sync file
        • The person I want to sync with has deleted valuable data
      • Sharing files between devices
      • Saving and printing Mapeo reference materials
      • How do I back up Mapeo Desktop data?
    • Glossary & quick reference sheets
      • Glossary of Mapeo related terms
      • Overview of Mapeo Desktop Territory mode screen
  • For developers
    • Mapeo architecture overview
    • Mapeo repositories
    • Localization
  • Support
  • Additional references
  • Digital Democracy website
Powered by GitBook
On this page
  • Standard background map options
  • Using a minimap and overlays
  • Custom background maps
Export as PDF
  1. Complete Reference guide
  2. Mapeo Desktop use
  3. Mapeo Desktop for creating territory data (Territory mode)

Changing background maps in Territory mode

PreviousCreating and editing territory dataNextImporting and using external geospatial data

Last updated 3 years ago

The standard background map that appears in Territory mode when you are connected to the internet is an imagery map provided by Bing, composed of various sources of satellite imagery and aerial photography.

For territory mapping, high resolution imagery is frequently one of the best background maps because you can clearly identify features in the landscape.

There are also other background map options available in the Background map window, which you can open by clicking on the Background settings icon or pressing the B key on your keyboard.

You can change your background map at any time while you are adding or editing features in Territory mode.

Standard background map options

Some of the standard background maps include:

  • Bing aerial imagery: An excellent source of satellite and aerial imagery at low, mid and high resolutions provided by the company Bing. Satellite imagery can be helpful for mapping both natural and artificial features in many different kinds of landscapes.

  • Esri World Imagery: An alternative imagery layer provided by the company Esri, sometimes providing different imagery sources.

  • Mapbox Satellite: Yet another alternative imagery layer provided by the company Mapbox; as with the Esri imagery layer, it is possible that there are different sources from the other two.

  • OpenStreetMap: A vector map composed of data from the OpenStreetMap service. Depending on where you are creating territory mapping data and the quality of OpenStreetMap data there, this may be a helpful reference for orientation or direct mapping, especially in urban settings or anywhere where there is a lot of human infrastructure.

  • OpenTopoMap: a vector map composed of data from OpenStreetMap combined with a multi-directional hillshade layer which highlights the landscape topography, and can be helpful for mapping features in mountainous regions. The available background maps will vary depending on your map location in the world. In some countries, there will be additional regional maps made available for you to use as a map background.

Using a minimap and overlays

There are several additional options in the Background map window that may be useful to you:

  • You can enable and disable a Minimap which will show a small-scale (more zoomed out) map to give you an overview of your location. This minimap will use the same map as the Background map you have selected.

  • You can enable and disable Overlays which may add additional layers to contextualize your background map. The most useful of these to use in conjunction with satellite imagery background maps is the Locator Overlay option, which adds administrative boundaries, roads, and labels on top of your background map.

Custom background maps

You can also provide your own custom background map, with the information most relevant to your project. This can be an online map source, or a directory composed of offline map tiles. There are two different ways to do this:

(1) Add a path to your map tiles (typically a directory of files in a {z}/{x}/{y}.jpg format, or a singular .asar file) using the Custom background option. Map tiles can either be hosted online, or offline on your machine, and so the path could either be an online path (with an http protocol) or a local file path.

  • To use a map tiles path as a custom background, click on the [...]Edit custom background button next to the Custom option in the Background map window.

  • Then, enter a path in the text field in the pop-up window, click on OK and then select the option Custom in the Background map window.

(2) You can also add background map options by specifying them in a custom configuration. Learn more about this by visiting Creating custom background maps.

To learn more about custom and offline maps in Mapeo, visit Creating custom background maps and Adding custom background maps to Mapeo Desktop.

💻
Shown here is the OpenStreetMap background map panned to an area of Manaus, Brazil.