Seven Reasons to Choose ExpertGPS Desktop Mapping Software

1. One click switches between seamless topo maps, aerial photographs, and your own scanned trail maps or engineering drawings

Only ExpertGPS combines seamless USGS topo maps, aerial photography, and your own maps in a single mapping environment. One click switches between all three views, allowing you to trace features on the topos, see new roads and developments on the aerial photos, and then superimpose your data over paper trail maps, blueprints, or your engineering drawings.

2. ExpertGPS works with ALL of your GPS receivers - don't get locked in!

Hundreds of new GPS receivers are released each year. The GPS you own today may not be the GPS you rely on 6 months from now. GPS manufacturers sell you maps and software for one reason alone - to lock you in to their brand. Buy your GPS hardware with the expectation that you'll be upgrading in a few years' time, and buy your mapping software with that in mind. ExpertGPS works with every major brand of handheld GPS, and we're constantly adding support for new models as they are released.

List of GPS Receivers Supported in ExpertGPS

3. Better maps than your GPS receiver will ever have (and a whole lot cheaper)

You can spend hundreds of dollars for a topo map package for your handheld GPS receiver. Guess what? You'll be looking at a grossly-simplified version of a real topo map, on a dim screen that's only an inch or two across. Try reading a map (or even this Web page) through an opening the size of your GPS screen. Now do what the pros do: print out a paper topo map with a UTM grid in ExpertGPS, set your GPS to WGS84 UTM, and learn how to plot your GPS position on a paper map.

4. ExpertGPS works with AutoCAD, ArcGIS, Google Earth, Excel, and your other business and mapping programs

Collaboration and data exchange are at the heart of ExpertGPS. ExpertGPS uses GPX, the GPS Exchange Format as its internal file format, so your data can be used in over 100 different mapping and GPS programs. Need to see your data in Google Earth? Press F7 and Google Earth will automatically synchronize itself with ExpertGPS. You can copy and paste data directly from Google Earth or Excel directly into ExpertGPS. ExpertGPS Pro reads and writes ArcGIS shapefiles and AutoCAD DXF drawings, making it easy to combine field data from your handheld GPS receiver with your GIS and CAD data.

Learn more about GIS features and CAD features in ExpertGPS.

5. Spend more time in the field, less time doing data entry

ExpertGPS was designed to make entering or updating data fast, error-proof, and painless. Built-in address geocoding lets you quickly create waypoints and routes and retrieve maps for client sites, delivery locations, or trailheads. The Edit Waypoint dialog remembers your last entry and auto-generates waypoint names and comments as you type. You can change or clear entire columns of data at once using the F2 key, just like in Excel. Shortcut Keys and right-click Context Menus let you execute frequent commands without reaching for a menu.

6. ExpertGPS automatically links your photos to any map

Photo geotagging allows ExpertGPS to place your photos directly on the map. It works automatically with any camera and GPS receiver. If you spend any time in the field collecting data, or simply want a cool way to organize your photos after a trip, this feature alone will pay for ExpertGPS the first time you use it. Read our PDF tutorial on linking your photos (geotagging) in ExpertGPS.

7. Know before you go

For pre-trip planning, scouting hunting or geocaching locations, or preparing for a client site visit, ExpertGPS gives you a birds-eye view of what to expect. Jump directly to a client address on the map, or look up one of more than 1.6 million US Points of Interest. Check out the terrain on the seamless topo map, and switch to the aerial view to see any recent developments since the map was published. Press F7 to see the same location in Google Earth, with your GPS waypoints and tracklogs precisely drawn over the color imagery. Print out maps to take along, send waypoints to your GPS, and you're fully prepared to go.