Save the portal map and load it on the tablet

Step 6 packs your portal map into one ZIP file for the tablet. In the app you add that ZIP as an image overlay, and the map, with your routes drawn on it, sits in place under your live survey and grading screens.

There are three parts: save the ZIP on the computer, copy it to the tablet, and add it in the app.

Before you start

• The water map looks the way you want it on the tablet. The picture shows exactly the layers that are switched on. See Set up a clean map for the tablet.
• Your routes are in the layout, if you drew any (Plan routes). You can also save without routes.
• The tablet runs Ditch Assist app v1.5.4 or later. Earlier versions do not read the ZIP (see Older app versions).
• A way to get a file from the computer to the tablet: a USB cable, email or Google Drive

How long it takes: about 2 minutes in the portal, then 5 to 10 minutes to copy the file and add it on the tablet.

Save the ZIP in the portal

1. Click Save for Ditch Assist

   It's the orange button in step 6, near the bottom of the left panel. Can't see it? Point at the panel and roll the mouse wheel toward you (Scroll the left panel).

   The picture always covers your whole outline and every route, whatever part of the map is on screen, so you don't need to zoom first. A window opens called Name this map.

   1

2. Type a name for the map

   The box already holds a name, highlighted in blue: My field the first time, then the last name you used (or your outline file's name, if you uploaded one).

   Type the field or project name, for example North 40. What you type replaces the highlighted words. Every file in the ZIP is named after it. Leave the box empty for a name with the date.

   1

3. Click Export

   Click the blue Export button in the bottom right corner of the window. The portal makes the picture and saves the ZIP. This takes a few seconds.

   1

4. Check the notice

   A box titled Notice appears at the top of the map: Saved North 40 - map.zip to your browser's Downloads folder. Step 6 ticks green and reads Map saved for Ditch Assist. The yellow line reads Saved. Load it in Ditch Assist (steps in the card below).

   1 2

5. Find the ZIP in your Downloads folder

   The file is called North 40 - map.zip (your name, then - map.zip).

   • Windows: click the yellow folder icon in the taskbar along the bottom of the screen. In the window that opens, click Downloads in the list on the left. The newest files are at the top.
   • Mac: click the blue and white face icon in the Dock, then Downloads in the list on the left.
   • Right after saving, you can also click the download arrow at the top right of the browser window to see it.

   Leave the ZIP as it is. Don't open or unzip it for the tablet.

What is in the ZIP

• North 40 - map.jpg: the map picture, with the photo, the layers you had on, the outline and the routes with their names. The app shows it as the overlay.
• North 40 - map.jgw: the world file, a small text file that pins the picture to the ground in latitude/longitude (WGS84). The app uses it to place the picture.
• North 40 - routes.kml: your routes as lines, named Ditch 1, Tile 1 and so on. The app does not read it from the ZIP; to use it, unzip it and use Add KML (below).

Copy the ZIP to the tablet

Do this while the tablet has internet, before it joins the control module Wi-Fi. Copy the ZIP as it is: there is no need to unzip it. Any folder works, but Download is the easiest to find.

• USB cable (Windows computer): copy the ZIP into the tablet's Download folder. Every tap and click, one at a time: Copy with a USB cable. A Mac can't open the tablet over USB; use email or Google Drive (On a Mac).
• Email: email the ZIP to yourself, open the email on the tablet and download the attachment. See Google Drive or email.
• Google Drive: upload it from the computer, then download it on the tablet from the Drive app. The app's file picker can also open it from Drive directly, but only while the tablet has internet.

Add it in the app

On the tablet, open any screen with a map: a survey, any grade screen, Levee & Contour, or LiDAR & Mapping. Once added, the overlay shows on every map screen.

Tap the layers button

On the right side of the map, near the bottom, is a short column of square buttons. Tap the one with a blue icon of stacked squares: on the survey screen it's second from the top.

A window opens called Map Layers.

1

Tap +

Tap the green + in the top right corner of the Map Layers window. A short list opens.

1

Tap Add Image Overlay

It's the third line in the list, with a picture icon. The list reads Add KML, Add WMS, Add Image Overlay, Drain-IQ, My LiDAR Fields, Drainage plan.

Android's file picker opens and fills the screen. It shows one folder at a time.

1

Tap the three lines at the top left

First read the folder name at the top left of the picker. If it already reads Downloads, skip to Tap the ZIP once.

If it reads something else, such as Recent, tap the three short lines (☰) left of the name. A menu called Open from slides in from the left.

1

Tap Downloads

The line called Downloads, with a down-arrow icon. The menu closes and the picker shows Downloads at the top left.

1

Tap the ZIP once

Find North 40 - map.zip (your map's name, then - map.zip) among the files and tap it once.

The ZIP has a zip-fastener icon. Long names are cut short with … at the end. The picker closes by itself.

1

Check the picture is in place

You come back to the map. The app finds the picture and its world file inside the ZIP, places the picture on the field and zooms the map to it. A message along the bottom of the screen starts Added image overlay: North 40 - map.jpg, followed by the picture size.

Your live position, survey breadcrumbs and design lines draw on top of the picture.

1

Check Map Layers lists it

Tap the layers button again. Under OVERLAYS the picture now has a row: an IMG badge, its name, a switch to hide or show it, and a bin to remove it. Tap Close.

1 2

To make the picture more see-through, hide it, remove it, or use it to plan a survey, see Add a map overlay.

Routes as separate lines (optional)

The routes are already drawn on the picture. If you also want them as lines you can hide and show on their own:

1. Take the KML out of the ZIP

   On Windows, double-click the ZIP to open it, then drag North 40 - routes.kml out onto the desktop. On a Mac, double-click the ZIP: a folder with the three files appears next to it.

2. Copy the KML to the tablet

   The same way as the ZIP (Copy the ZIP to the tablet).

3. Tap the layers button

   The dark square button with a blue stacked-sheets icon, bottom right of the map, as in the steps above. Map Layers opens.

4. Tap +

   Top-right corner of the Map Layers window. A menu opens.

5. Tap Add KML

   The first line in the menu. The file picker opens. Only .kml files can be picked; the rest show greyed out.

6. Tap the KML file once

   The picker closes. You should see a row with a KML badge and the file name in Map Layers.

KML lines draw in plain blue, without names: the app does not use the KML's colours, so ditches and tiles look the same. Use the picture when you need to tell them apart.

Older app versions

Before v1.5.4 the app does not read the ZIP. Update the app (see Install the app). If you can't, take … - map.jpg and … - map.jgw out of the ZIP on the computer and copy both to the tablet. In the file picker, press and hold the first file until it is ticked (long-press), tap the second file, then tap Select at the top right.

Other outputs

The Map Outputs tab holds backups and the other files the portal can make. It's the middle tab at the top of the left panel.

1

1 2 3

1

• Save Snapshot: a JPG of the screen as it is. Not for the tablet: it has no world file, so the app can't place it on the field.
• Export PDF Map: the map view as a PDF, for printing or for the landowner. Not for the tablet.
• Export flow lines as KML: every flow line as a KML line. The Show drains slider is not applied, so it holds every small rill too. You can load it on the tablet with Add KML, but the picture is usually cleaner.
• Export contours as KML: the contour lines, named by elevation. Turn contours on first (pick a Spacing under Field Contours in Map Layers); with contours off nothing downloads. You can load it on the tablet with Add KML.

Each of these saves a file to the computer's Downloads folder.

Back up and restore a project

A backup is one ZIP with your outline, LiDAR, water maps, routes and map settings. Make one before you close the portal, and you can carry on another day where you left off. It is for the computer, not the tablet.

1. Click the Map Outputs tab

   The middle tab at the top of the left panel (picture above).

2. Click Back up project

   The green button in the Project Backup card. A notice reads, for example, Saved Geo-Surface - Backup - 2026-10-17 1602.zip to your browser's Downloads folder: the date and time are in the name. Leave the file in Downloads, or move it to a folder you keep for farm maps.

   1 2

3. Next time: open the portal and click Accept & Continue

   As in Open the portal.

4. Click the Map Outputs tab

   The middle tab at the top of the left panel.

5. Click Restore a backup

   The blue button in the Project Backup card, under Back up project (picture above). Your computer's file window opens.

6. Double-click the backup file

   Find it in Downloads (or wherever you moved it) and double-click it. The outline, LiDAR, water maps and routes come back, and the steps show as done.

If it doesn't work

More file problems: Fix file problems.