Coordinate systems in CartoVista

CartoVista supports any projected coordinate systems, but you will sometimes need to reproject your layer. Here is how you can work with coordinate systems in the CartoVista Server and Publisher.

There are two common types of coordinate systems used in mapping: 

• geographic coordinate systems,  where coordinates are measured in degrees, 
• projected coordinate systems, where coordinates are measured in meters or feet for instance.

To create a map with CartoVista, your layers need to be in a projected coordinate system. You can use the CartoVista Server or Publisher to reproject your layers.

One very common projected coordinate system is the Spherical Mercator coordinate system. Using this system makes the layer compatible with popular map providers such as Google Maps, Bing Maps, Yahoo Maps, CartoVista, OpenStreetMap, etc.

Working with Server Layers

When a projected layer is uploaded to the server, you can choose whether to keep the original coordinate system of your Shapefile or Mapinfo Tab layer or to reproject it to Spherical Mercator.

When a geographic layer is uploaded to the server, it will be automatically reprojected to Spherical Mercator.

What is important to know, is that you cannot create a map with layers that have different coordinate systems. You need to choose a unique coordinate system that will be used for all layers in your map.

Working with Local Layers

When working with local layers, the CartoVista Publisher can reproject any layer on the fly. This means you can create a map with layers that have different coordinate systems. You can also change the coordinate system of the map, and all layers will be reprojected to this coordinate system.

To do this, you can click on the Parameter button in the toolbar (under Publish Options):

In the Map Windows Settings, click on Set to choose your coordinate system: