The process of creating new digital information often starts with a paper map, graph or log, or a digital image such as an aerial photo, satellite imagery or scanned paper map. Didger provides an easy and complete solution to digitize vector data from your source documents and files by using a powerful set of manual and automatic tools. You can digitize text, points, polylines, polygons, rectangles, circles, spline areas, spline polylines, and wrapped polylines. Didger supports four ways to digitize information:

1. Full Automatic Digitizing!  Didger supports advanced raster to vector conversion for automated map digitizing! This means that one command will automatically convert your scanned map, image, or drawing to vector formats quickly and at high quality. This eliminates the need for slow and inaccurate manual digitizing of detailed lines – let Didger do it for you! The lines and polygons are extracted and displayed right on top of the image for you to verify and edit. Didger also boasts a full line of preprocessing options for finer control over the vectorization process so you can get the best possible results!

A georeferenced USGS Digital Raster Graphic was imported into Didger 4 (left).
The contour lines were detected and automatically vectorized to red polylines (right).

2. Manual Onscreen Digitizing!  You can perform onscreen digitizing using an imported vector file or imported image file. Performing heads-up digitizing has never been easier. You simply draw the object on the screen using your mouse. You can zoom in and out, or pan the screen while digitizing so you can always see clearly what you want to digitize. 

     
In this example, the boundary of the Modoc Plateau
in Northern California being digitized in blue from a 
calibrated raster image of the geology of California.

3. Tablet Digitizing!  You can digitize hard copy documents using any Wintab32 compatible digitizing tablet. Nearly all digitizing tablets work with Didger. Simply put the document on the tablet, step through the intuitive Tablet Calibration Wizard to define a coordinate system, and you are ready to go!

You can digitize paper documents with a
digitizing tablet and a puck or stylus.

4. GPS Digitizing!  Any NMEA compatible GPS device connected to your computer's serial port can be used as a digitizing device in Didger. Once the GPS is set up to communicate with Didger, you can begin digitizing over any map. Use the GPS for a "moving map" effect to automatically move the map as you travel. You can use your GPS unit to digitize your position, well locations, fence lines, roads, streams, drainage lines, tree lines, crop boundaries, sample locations, trails, or track your route real-time directly onto your map!