Map settings

Use the Map settings to change the appearance of information shown in the Map screen, and to configure map behavior.

To open the Map settings, tap and then select Settings. The available settings depend on the connected instrument.

To change the information that is shown in the map, such as labels and symbols, tap and then select an option from the list.

The following settings are job‑specific and must be set in the map for each job: vertical exaggeration scale, groundplane, and surface options. Other settings apply to all jobs.

To change the information shown in the map, tap each check box to show or hide:

  • name labels next to points

  • code labels next to points

  • elevations

  • points from the stakeout list
  • hatched polygons in a background file (including DXF files or Shapefiles)

To display labels and elevations for points in data files such as DXF, RXL, or LandXML, use the check boxes in the Map data controls group (see below). Labels are not shown for points stored by Continuous topo.

Symbols

To change the symbols used for points and lines, select an option from the Symbols field:

  • Select Dot symbols to:

    Show all points with a uniform dot symbol.

    Show line and polygon features using the simple solid or dashed Field line style from the Feature Library.

  • Select Method symbols to:

    • Show points by the method used to create the point. For example, different symbols are used for topo points, control points, keyed in points and as-staked points.

    • Show line and polygon features using the simple solid or dashed Field line style from the Feature Library.

  • Select Feature library symbols to:

    • Show points using the symbol defined for points of the same feature code in the feature library (FXL) file. Points that do not have a feature symbol associated are displayed as a small circle.

    • Show line and polygon features using the custom Line style from the Feature Library.

The drawing of Feature library symbols requires the map to be redrawn after every measurement to display the symbol for the new point. On very large jobs, if the map redraw slows, consider changing the Symbols setting to display Method symbols or Dot symbols instead.

For more information on selecting point and line styles from the Feature Library, see To add or edit a feature library in Origin.

Label color

To change the color used for labels, select it from the Label color list.

Lighting effects

The Lighting effects check box controls whether shading and refraction are automatically applied to surfaces. Lighting effects give more graphical depth to surfaces, but can introduce shading or shine effects in small areas on some surfaces.

Dark mode

Select the Dark mode check box to change the map background to black. This can be useful when working in low light conditions or for better contrast when working with light colored linework.

Monochrome map

To display items in map files in grayscale, select the Monochrome map check box.

Abbreviate labels

By default, point name and code labels are abbreviated to show only the first 16 characters. To display the complete label, clear the Abbreviate labels check box.

Automatic pan to current position

If the current position is off‑screen and the previous position was on‑screen, select the Automatic pan to current position check box to automatically center the map on the current position. If no current position is available, for example during a station setup, the map does not pan.

Vertical exaggeration

To emphasize vertical features which might be too small to identify relative to the horizontal scale, enter a value larger than 1.00 in the Vertical exaggeration field. The default setting of 1.00 indicates that the horizontal and vertical scales are identical, which gives a true representation of the data.

Map orientation

Select whether the plan view of the map is oriented to North or to the Reference azimuth.

Reference azimuth

3D map views are always oriented to the Reference azimuth.

By default, the Reference azimuth field shows the value entered in the Reference azimuth field of the Cogo settings screen of the job properties (see Cogo settings). Editing the Reference azimuth field in one screen updates the Reference azimuth value in the other screen. When staking a point in a GNSS survey, you can also edit the Reference azimuth value when you select Relative to azimuth from the Stake field. See GNSS stake methods.

The Reference azimuth field also updates if you orbit the map and then tap the Reset limits button rotate the Limit box so that the faces of the Limit box align with map data. See Limit box.

To reorient the map, for example to more precisely align the faces of the Limit box with map data such as the front facade of a model, enter the required value in the Reference azimuth field. To find the reference azimuth value, tap the line in the map you want to orient the map to, and then tap Review. In the review pane, if required select the line from the list and tap Details.

For information on settings for controlling the display of the data in linked DXF, Shape, 12da, and LandXML files, see Map data settings for DXF, Shape, 12da, and LandXML files.

To show station values on lines, arcs, polylines, or roads, select the Display station values check box. This check box applies to DXF files, RXL alignments, RXL roads, LandXML roads, GENIO roads, or 12da files.

If the station interval value is null no station labels are displayed. If the station interval is 0 the station labels for the start and end stations plus any PI, PC or PT stations are displayed. If the station interval is a numeric value labels for all stations are displayed (depending on the zoom scale).

To configure the groundplane displayed in the map, select the Display groundplane check box and then enter the elevation of the groundplane. Background imagery from Trimble Maps or a background image file is drawn at the ground plane elevation.

The groundplane elevation is used as a visual reference when viewing the map in 3D. It is not used in calculations.

To change how surfaces appear in the map, select one of the following from the Display field:

  • Color gradient
  • Shaded
  • Triangles
  • Color gradient + triangles
  • Outline

If required, in the Offset to surface field, specify an offset to the surface. Tap to select whether the offset is to be applied vertical or perpendicular to the surface.

To modify a surface, for example to delete some triangles, see Creating a surface from existing points.

To change how the road surface appears in the map, select one of the following from the Display field:

  • Color gradient
  • Shaded
  • Outline