Typwiz

TYPWiz

TYP files are used to colour maps,change the width of highways and edit pois. They are not text files - their complex structure reflects Garmin's obsession with compression. TYPWiz supports latest NT TOPOs (2017) which in addition use TYP files to enhance searches or active routing.

For more information about the TYP format see TYP Files

TYPWiz is a GUI for editing non NT TYP files ,windows only. TYPWiz 2 for Linux has been discontinued.

Latest version 3.97 imports MapTK files. There is a comprehensive manual which you can download from the same site.

TYPWiz 7

TYPWiz 7, designed to edit Garmin's larger and more complex NT 2012+ TYP files.

It can edit highways containing 6 types of Active Routing - walking, hiking, mountaineering, cycling, tour cycling and mountain biking - and separates them for ease of access.

At present, maps created using mkgmap, do not support Garmin's Active Routing.

In addition, so called extra pois ,used in recent TOPO TYP files & City Navigator 2012+ (nuvi) maps, can be edited as well . There is also full editing support for pois with TRUECOLOUR (256*256 colours).

Polygon Draworders

Draworders are like layers determining the order in which polygons are processed. Solid Polygons do not need a draworder and those with a type number smaller than &100 and a subtype greater than 0 can not have a draworder due to the draworder algorithm used in TYP files. Draworders do not need a matching polygon.

TYPWiz5 shows extensive support for draworders and displays all draworders found at each level.

Polygons and lines with more than 2 colours

Garmin polygons and lines have a maximum of two colours - this effectively means that if you are using transparency, only one additional colour is available. With TYPWiz4 you can create lines and polygons with up to 6 colours.

EXTRA POIS

Garmin NT maps include 'extra pois' when its own search categories need to be expanded; these are often commercial points of interest but could also be types of lodgings or tourist attractions etc. Before NT maps, fuel, for example, could only be represented by one icon (0x2F01). With NT , each fuel poi (0x2F01) contains a reference using an involved algorithm to an extra poi found in a TYP file .Such icons can be edited in TYPWiz5.

POIS TYPE SEARCH

Garmin uses TYPES to categorize its elements. With POIs these range from 0x00100 to 0x1FF1F. If you are creating your own maps (ie with mkgmap) it is important to use the default Garmin type numbers for each category . This ensures the search results are correct - some undocumented types are used for reasons other than display,ie 0x13A00. TYPWiz5 includes POI TYPE SEARCH to help the user identify the correct type number.

Codepage 65001

TYPWiz5 provides full support for UTF-8 and codepage 65001. Codepage 65001 is needed when a TYP file includes languages with mixed codepages, ie Russian and Greek.

Color Palettes

All icons can be quickly converted to black and white or 16 / 64 / 256 Garmin color palettes. Many garmin devices come with a limited color palette of only 16 or 64 colors. In addition, you can create your own palette.

IMG2TYP

TYPWiz7 comes with IMG2TYP which can create a TYP fille from any Garmin map.