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 Is WinTopo Freeware absolutely FREE?
Yes it is absolutely free. We support the Freeware concept and also promote the
CharityWare concept. There are links to charity sites on our download page, which we encourage you to visit.
We hope that you will also try out our WinTopo Pro version which can be licensed for a modest price.
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How many people use WinTopo?
WinTopo has been extremely popular ever since its first release, and by early 2007 it exceeded 1 million downloads.
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Why does WinTopo Pro cost less than other systems which are not so good?
We decided to develop WinTopo Pro in response to the lack of sensibly priced and effective solutions for raster to vector conversion.
We determined that we would create a better converter than was then available, and we would sell it at an affordable price.
We have been able to achieve both these goals.
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What sort of user support can I expect to get?
In fact WinTopo is extremely well supported. With our support teams covering both UK and USA working hours there will be someone to respond to questions nearly 24 hours a day.
E-mail questions are normally answered swiftly between the hours of 09:00 to 00:00 GMT. Try us out if you have a question.
Naturally, licensed users of WinTopo Pro get priority over users of WinTopo Freeware.
There is another very good source for support: the WinTopo E-group. The existing users have a wealth of knowledge.
Simply join the e-group
and then post your query to wintopo@egroups.com. See also the E-group Page
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Is WinTopo still in active developement?
Yes, we are constantly researching and developing new and improved techniques for image processing.
New versions of WinTopo Freeware and WinTopo Pro are released regularly.
The development project is currently headed by Matthew Heaton.
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When I download the WinTopo setup file it disappears from my PC before I can run it, why?
This can happen with some Anti-virus software. You need to set your anti-virus software to allow the download and installation of executable files.
A similar problem can be experienced when downloading through a Firewall, if you are on a network.
You can download the ZIP file instead of the EXE. Then extract the installer from the zip file.
You may have to ask your System Administrator to adjust the firewall settings to allow you to download this software.
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I can download the exe file, but the installation fails to complete, and I get a message saying a file is missing. What's wrong?
This problem can be caused by anti-virus software or a firewall when it is set to disallow installation of new exe files.
If your anti-virus software or firewall is set up in this way then you need to disable it during the install.
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When will Linux WinTopo be available?
Right now. Take a look at www.wintopo.com/linux.
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How do I get more information on WinTopo?
The online manual Help Pages.
WinTopo User Group (mailing list) is at: http://www.egroups.com/list/wintopo
To subscribe, mailto:wintopo-subscribe@egroups.com with subject "subscribe
wintopo".
To send message, mailto:wintopo@egroups.com
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What make of scanner is good for large format images?
Most wide format scanners are very good. They are also very expensive. However, if you have a requirement for a large scanner then the investment is almost certainly worth the cost.
In our experience, we found that both Colortrac
and Contex Scanning Technology produce very good and cost effective scanners.
Our personal recommendation is the SmartLF range from Colortrac which is priced more sensibly than others.
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The vectorised drawing is the wrong size/scale in my CAD/GIS/CNC system?
You can use the Vector->Set Scale... facility in WinTopo before saving the vector output. With this feature you can choose your desired scale and units.
Additionally, WinTopo Pro has a very powerful function for setting the scale and position of the drawing. This is the Vector->Georeference function.
All you need to do is click three points on the image and say what coordinates you would like each one to be. See the help page for full information.
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I can vectorise, but the DXF output file is huge. What's wrong?
WinTopo has been designed to produce as few vectors as possible and a very compact DXF file.
If you're getting huge numbers of vectors and an oversize DXF then consider the following:
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Use the magnifier to zoom in to the image and look at the pixels. Are the features dithered (see Help Page)?
If the image is dithered, then you need to use the Heal option in WinTopo Pro to repair the image before vectorising.
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