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 What are TYP files?

Imagine a map where all roads look identical, just black lines, and all share the same width.
You would have no idea if you were on a Motorway , a footpath, a railway line or even a stream!

To solve this problem, Garmin came up with a system of types, all starting with 0 x [a number] for highways, 'areas' and points of interest. Tracks are 0x16 ,Buildings 0 x 13, Car Parks 0 x 5, telephones 0 x 5100 etc

So now we can not only distinguish between highways of different types & widths but also different spaces and POIs.

Unfortunately...

Even Garmin 'soon' realised that their maps looked extremely dull and oddly, did not show all the types.
To make maps appear more detailed and colourful the TYP format was introduced - see typ file format.

TYP files have had various stages of development - the earliest TYP files contained no label text.

With the introduction of Car/Motor Bike Sat Navs Garmin added Extra Pois.

The latest versions allow for Active Routing.

How do I open a TYP file?

Use TYPWiz to open and edit a TYP file.

It quickly changes the colours of your Garmin maps to suite your own preferences.

Where can I download TYP files?

  • If you're lucky your TOPO map came with a separate typ file; they are not 'locked'
  • If you have your own gmapsupp.img you can extract the TYP file using gmp2typ

Please remember that using a 3rd party TYP file may produce unexpected results and may not show all the information embedded in a Garmin Map.

This is because a typ file can only reflect the interest and needs of the person who created it.
Walkers,mountaineers or cyclists highlight different highways and select different POIs .

The number of POIs is huge ; when you use TYPWiz you notice typ files only contain a small selection of all available POIs.

If a POI is not included in a typ file AND not part of the default Garmin set, it will not be rendered.

It may also be that

  1. the POI is NOT included in the IMG To check this use img2typ.
  2. only basecamp and not mapsource will render the POI.

Can I edit a TYP file?

You can use a TYP editor, like TYPWiz 7

Change the default Garmin map without a TYP file

Some IMG files do not come with a TYP file. This is no problem as you can create a matching TYP file:

Img2typ is a GUI that at the click of a button collects all the typ data contained in any Garmin map,locked or unlocked and creates a matching typ file.

IMG2TYP is now included with TYPwiz7.

 

How do I upload my new TYP file to my Garmin?

TYPWiz7 comes with a tool to upload a TYP to any Mapsource/Basecamp map. Click CTRL G