Blue Course at Burton Creek (2001)

Mapping Resources

The IOF specifications for orienteering maps (i.e., general, Sprint, mountain bike, and Ski-O) are available on the IOF website here (https://orienteering.sport/iof/mapping/).
Comments about the IOF specifications, and links to the main documents (including links to local copies that are much smaller files), are available here.
OUSA has an extensive section on mapping here (http://orienteeringusa.org/resources/club-development/#mapping). (As of June 2020, the information is being actively updated, so the link might not work correctly.)
This drawing program was created for cartographers and is the standard software for producing orienteering maps. Orienteering Unlimited (http://www.orienteeringunlimited.com) is the primary contact for OCAD (https://orienteeringunlimited.com/ocad/) sales and support in North America.
Notes: 
BAOC has a club license for OCAD 8 that can be used by event course setters.¹
OCAD is a Windows program. It can be used on a Mac that has a Windows virtual system installed.
If you need to use a BAOC license for OCAD, start by contacting the .
If you need to access the OCAD file for a BAOC map (e.g., for course setting), contact the . If you make changes to a file, be sure to send the new file to the .
If you want to use a newer program to edit a map before course setting, you could use OpenOrienteering Mapper (OOM), which is freeware (and has a Mac version). The latest version of OOM can open all versions of OCAD, and can save to OCAD versions 8–12. There appears to be no loss of information to open an OCAD file in OOM, and then save back to OCAD format. (Note, however, that there is loss of information if you save from a higher version of OCAD to OCAD 8. For example, OCAD 8 doesn’t support georeferencing with a real-world coordinate system.)²
This software is not actually used to create orienteering maps​—​it is used to create courses on those maps. In addition to showing the course on the map, Condes creates the control description sheet (i.e., “clue sheet”), and provides the information used by the E-punch system.
Notes: 
BAOC has licenses for Condes that can be used by event course setters.³
Condes is a Windows program. It can be used on a Mac that has a Windows virtual system installed.
If you need to use a BAOC license for Condes, start by contacting the .
Look at USGS aerial or SPIN-2 satellite photos of almost any location in the US at 1-meter resolution. (A bit slow over a dial-up line.)
Note: As of June 2020, it appears that the TerraServer no longer exists. If you know of a successor or replacement, please tell the .
PPgis.net is the Open Forum on Participatory Geographic Information Systems and Technologies. The website includes a list (http://www.ppgis.net/resources/free-imagery/) of sources of free imagery.

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¹ OCAD 8 is “ancient” (probably at least 15 years old), but it is perfectly fine to use to update a map that has been stored by OCAD 8. OCAD 9 was the last version with the option of a club license; newer versions require per-user licenses.

² Thanks to Bill Cusworth for pointing out the existence of OOM in June 2020.

³ BAOC has a “club” license for Condes 9, but newer versions require per-user licenses. The BAOC license for Condes 10 is limited to 40 users, so care should be taken to remove Condes 10 from your computer when you are done using it. (If you have another project later, you can request a license again.)