There are three ways to add XY points to a map in Surfer. Which way is best depends on the data you have.
1) Draw the point manually in a new empty base layer:
- Select the existing map.
- Click Home | Add to Map | Layer | Empty Base.
- Click the new Base layer in the Contents window to select it.
- Click Home | Insert | Point and draw the point at the location you want.
- If desired, adjust the position of a drawn point by selecting the point in the Contents window and adjusting the X and Y values in the Coordinates tab of the Property window.
- Press ESC to stop drawing.
2) Load a data file containing the point location as a base layer:
- Save the XY coordinates to a data file, like an Excel file (or DAT, CSV, TXT, etc), with the X coordinate in one column and the Y coordinate in another column.
- Then select the existing map and click Home | Add to Map | Layer | Base from Data.
- Select the data file and click Open.
- Select the X and Y data columns and click OK. The base layer is created.
- If desired, adjust the position of any of the points by selecting a point in the Contents window and adjusting the X and Y values in the Coordinates tab of the Property window.
3) Load a data file containing the XY point location as a post layer:
- Save the XY coordinates to a data file, like an Excel file (or DAT, CSV, TXT, etc), with the X coordinate in one column and the Y coordinate in another column.
- Then select the existing map and click Home | Add to Map | Layer | Post.
- Select the data file and click Open. The post layer is created. By default it uses column A as the X coordinate column and column B as the Y coordinate column (you can change this later).
- To make any changes (e.g. X column, Y column, symbol properties, labels, etc) select the Post layer in the Contents window and make any changes in the Properties window.
Updated October 30, 2018
Comments
2 comments
@Sayce,
You can add a post layer to a map using the AddPostLayer method. You can read more in the help: AddPostLayer. You may also want to review the sample script that comes with Surfer, PostMap.bas. By default, this script is located at C:\Program Files\Golden Software\Surfer 13\Samples\Scripts\PostMap.bas.
Thanks,
Jennifer
How is this done in scripter ?
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