Changing map in feet to metres
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How do I change a map from feet to metres, so the distance tool actually measures metres, instead of relying on a scale on the map (which is easy to do, but doesn't address the distance tool).
I could perhaps copy and paste, but the map is huge already ie lots of symbols - it is my map of Fahrwasser, nearing completion. So restarting just ain't an option. I should have known to start it in metric, rather than outdated internally inconsistent 'imperial' measurements (even the name indicates how outdated it is), since my customer is European (ie not UK or USA), but I just had an obvious brain snap - especially unforgiveable, since I am Australian where we adopted the full metric system years and years ago.
I could perhaps copy and paste, but the map is huge already ie lots of symbols - it is my map of Fahrwasser, nearing completion. So restarting just ain't an option. I should have known to start it in metric, rather than outdated internally inconsistent 'imperial' measurements (even the name indicates how outdated it is), since my customer is European (ie not UK or USA), but I just had an obvious brain snap - especially unforgiveable, since I am Australian where we adopted the full metric system years and years ago.
Comments
It was part of joining Europe. We dived in and became... European. I'm 52, and one of the last people to have ever been taught imperial measurements in the UK. My little sister (3 years younger) wouldn't know an inch if it bit her!
Its not so much to do with the nationality. Its to do with the fact that RPG and everything associated with it was set up using imperial measurements
Note that this will rescale your entire map, but it won't touch effects or fill scaling. That means if you have effects specified in map units, you must manually edit these effects and divide all values expressed in units by 3 (or multiply by 0.3048 to be precise). You'll also need to edit the fill styles and do the same with scaling. Once both those have been fixed, the map should look exactly as before, but if you measure something, the value should be in meters and be correct.
To save yourself from manually fixing the effects and fill scaling, you can also use the map scaling command I posted at the very end of the Scale Matters article, and use that to scale your map by 0.3048, this scales the entire map, including effect sizes and fill scaling. You'll still need to access the drawing units dialog to set things to meters, but in this case, make sure to uncheck Rescale in this dialog since you already performed scaling.
Sue, they still have miles and mph (and yards and feet) in UK - very confusing to travel from Ireland to the rebel north where one goes from sensible kilometers, and kph to senseless miles and mph. Unless that's all changed since middle of last year. Confusing to see 60 on road signs - i think of a slow speed, and the rest of the traffic flew past me - often with horns honking till I realized they meant 60 mph, ie ~ 100 kph. Ah well. At least you have decimal currency, so that's a start.
They left it the same, and never bothered to change it at any time afterwards.
But go into a supermarket and find anything in pounds and ounces - the shop is breaking the law, and will receive a heavy fine for even displaying the equivalent weight in old imperial measurements. I hate it, and wish we could go back to pounds and ounces. All my recipe books are in pounds and ounces.
(Just call me cynical :P)
The cans are all in ml and litres in the shops...
I've used some bits of metric for years. I'm just not used to thinking in a conversion between US and metric. I have to look it up.