1. Go to Map | New | Base Map, select your image file and click Open. This will load the scanned image map into Surfer as a base map
2. Georeference the image base map, by using one of these methods:
           a. Select Base in the Object Manager. In the Property Manager, on the Base Map tab, enter in the xMin, xMax, yMin and yMax values of the image in real world units to georeference the map.
           b. If you don’t know the corner coordinates, but know 2 points interior to the image, you can use the instructions on Page 5 of our newsletter. The instructions are written for Surfer 7, but apply to higher versions as well. 
           c. If you don’t care what your X and Y coordinates are, you can simply leave the coordinates as they are in pixel units (0,0 in the lower left corner).

II. Digitize the Image and Create the XYZ Data File

3. Right click over the base map and go to Digitize.
4. Click on the first location on the map. When you click on the map, the XY coordinates for that point will be entered in a text editor window that appears.
5. In the text window, insert a comma after the Y value and type in the Z value for that point.
6. Move your cursor back over the map and click on the next point.
7. Enter the Z value for that point in the text window.
8. Repeat for all points.
9. Once all the points have been digitized, go to File | Save As in the text window and choose Save as type: Data Files (*.dat) to save it to a DAT file. Give the file a name and click Save.
10. Click the red X button in the upper right corner of the text window to close it.

III. Grid the XYZ Data

11. Go to Grid | Data, select the DAT file you just created and click Open.
12. Specify any gridding options you want and click OK. This will create the grid (GRD) file.

IV. Create the Contour Map

13. Go to Map | New | Contour Map, select the grid file you just created and click Open. This will create the contour map.
14. Select the contour map to change any of its properties in the Property Manager.