Great Circle Maps

We managed to map out the entire planet in great detail in the past couple of decades, and there are multiple specialized applications which can display interactive maps. One suitable example is Great Circle Maps, which allows you to generate circle maps from a custom location, and save it as a picture, or print out on a sheet of paper.

Once it’s installed, and this is done before you realize, you’re free to take it for a spin, not that you’re actually able to spin the generate globe view. Although there’s no preset example to show you what it’s all about, this can happen at the press of a button.

On the other hand, you can take the time to go through the properties panel in order to configure all parameters, including target location. However, this requires some degree of knowledge, because the target location, or home is set by writing down latitude and longitude values. The map layout uses a built-in map file to plot, but you can load two additional ones.

Map plotting can be configured as well. In fact, the application allows you to specify squares to plot, with values for color, and type of plotting to perform, as well as Sun tracking, with the possibility to enable gray areas, and configure grayzone gradients. Time has a saying in simulations as well, with values to use real time, or a specified value.

Visual customization benefits from an abundance of settings as well. Sure enough, the visual design doesn’t get affected, but general options can be used to specify zoom levels, what details to plot, such as meridians, fields, squares, compass, radials, and range circles, with color values, alpha field, line widths, text plot, color, and more.

Last but not least, saving images can be done under quite the variety of image file formats, such as BMP, PNG, JPG, TIF, GIF, PNM, PCX, ICO, CUR, ANI, TGA, and XPM, but you must manually write down the file extension, apart from name in the save dialog.

All things considered, we come to the conclusion that Great Circle Maps is a neat way of creating a map based on a specific location. An abundance of details can be made visible, and even customized in visuals. When done, data can be saved under picture files of popular formats, making this app worth a try overall.