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 three approaches 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 5 (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, USA.

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!

Didger 5 is tremendously flexible. Didger supports over 90 import file formats and exports in over 45 file formats to make sure you can import and export your data in the formats you need. Create large overlays easily by importing several vector, data, or image files into one project. The files will align according to their coordinate systems.

Import or export multi-line LAS files, export as a PDF file, or export as an HTM file with working hyperlinks to publish your maps on the web for browsing by anyone.

Object Editing! We know creating and editing data is very important to you, so we have made every effort to make it as easy and efficient as possible! Change color, line styles, fill patterns, symbol size, and font properties with just a few clicks. Polylines can be created, moved, joined, resampled, split, removed, trimmed, colored, and labeled. Closed polygons are formed easily from existing polylines with the polygon editing tools. Convert points to polylines, polylines to polygons, and vice versa. Each object has its own invisibility control, so you can create any type of map, showing only the data you want without actually removing data from your project. You can also assure you have all the information you need by creating up to 256 identification attributes per object!

Layers! Keep your project organized by importing and creating data for different themes onto different layers! Didger’s Layer Manager makes managing the layers easy – including moving objects between layers, renaming the layer, turning the layer on or off, and locking the layer so that you cannot accidentally edit or move items on that layer. Data editing and handling is easier than ever!

Organize your data easily by separating components onto different layers. The Layer Manager makes accessing and editing layer properties easy!