Issue 60

How to Overlay Maps in Surfer 9

Surfer 9 has changed the location of a few commands. This was done to more accurately reflect what the command does and to make editing maps easier. This article details two specific changes in the program. This is a discussion of creating multiple maps and overlaying them.

A very common procedure in Surfer is to overlay maps. For instance, you may want a base map outlining your area overlaid onto a contour map that displays elevation of the area. In previous versions of Surfer you would create the individual maps separately and use the Map | Overlay Maps command to overlay them into one map frame. In Surfer 9, you can add a new map layer to an existing map, or you can overlay two separate maps using the Object Manager.

Adding a New Map Layer to an Existing Map
If you have one map already created and want to overlay another map, you can add the new map layer to the existing map:

Use the Map | Add command to add a new map layer directly to the selected map.

3. Select the base map file to load and click Open. The new base map layer is automatically added to the existing map.

The new Base layer is added to the existing map with the Map | Add command.

Overlaying Two Existing Maps
If you have already created both of these maps separately, it is very easy to overlay them:

Removing or Deleting a Map Layer
To remove a map layer from a map to create a separate map, select the map layer and use the Map | Break Apart Layercommand. Alternatively, right-click on the map layer and select Break Apart Layer.

To delete a map layer from a map, select the map layer in the Object Manager and press the DELETE key on the keyboard. Alternatively, you can select the map layer and go to Edit | Delete, or right-click on the map layer and selectDelete.