Golden Software, Inc. Quick Start Guide 2D & 3D Graphing for Scientists, Engineers & Business Professionals www.GoldenSoftware.com Full User’s Guide Golden Software, Inc. Surfer ® Registration Information Your Surfer serial number is located on the CD cover or in the email download instructions, depending on how you purchased Surfer. Register your Surfer serial number online at www.GoldenSoftware.com. Or, complete the Registration Form.PDF, located in the main directory of the installation CD. Return the Registration Form.PDF by mail or fax. This information will not be redistributed. Registration entitles you to free technical support, free minor updates, and upgrade pricing on future Surfer releases. The serial number is required when you run Surfer the rst time, contact technical support, or purchase Surfer upgrades. For future reference, write your serial number on the line below. _________________________________ Surfer ® User’s Guide Powerful Contouring, Gridding, and Surface Mapping Golden Software, Inc. 809 14 th Street, Golden, Colorado 80401-1866, U.S.A. Phone: 303-279-1021 Fax: 303-279-0909 www.GoldenSoftware.com COPYRIGHT NOTICE Copyright Golden Software, Inc. 2014 The Surfer ® User’s Guide is furnished under a single user license agreement. Only a single user may use a single user’s guide. With the purchase of the Surfer User’s Guide, the user is entitled to download the user’s guide content to one (1) electronic medium and print one (1) hardcopy. No part of this document or the related files may be reproduced or transmitted in any form, by any means (electronic, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) thereafter. Contents are subject to change without notice. Surfer is a registered trademark of Golden Software, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. January 2014 Contents Chapter 1 - Introducing Surfer  Introduction to Surfer® 1 Who Uses Surfer? 2 New Features 2 User Friendly 2 Map Features 3 Gridding Features 4 Drawing and Boundary Editing Features 4 Data Features 4 Import and Export Improvements 5 Automation 6 Projections, Coordinate Systems, and Datums 6 System Requirements 8 Installation Directions 8 Installing Surfer 8 Updating Surfer 9 Uninstalling Surfer 9 Surfer Demo Functionality 10 A Note about the Documentation 10 Surfer User Interface 11 Opening Windows 13 Selecting and Closing Windows 13 Unsaved Changes 13 Plot Document 14 Worksheet Document 15 Grid Node Editor 15 Object Manager 18 Opening and Closing the Object Manager 18 Auto Hide the Object Manager 18 Object Manager Tree 19 i Surfer Arranging Objects 19 Object Visibility 20 Opening Object Properties 20 Selecting Objects 21 Scroll in Object Manager 21 Property Manager 21 Expand and Collapse Features 22 Changing Properties 22 Applying Property Manager Changes 23 Keyboard Commands 23 Property Defaults 23 Property Manager Information Area 23 Changing the Window Layout 24 Visibility 24 Auto-Hiding Managers 24 Size 25 Position 25 Docking Mechanism 25 Restoring the Managers and Windows to Their Original Locations 26 Tabbed Documents 26 Toolbars 27 Show or Hide Toolbars 27 Tool Tip Display of Button Function 27 Customize Toolbars 27 Toolbar Positions 28 Types of Toolbars 28 Status Bar 30 Status Bar Sections 30 Adjust Section Width 30 Progress 31 Cancel 31 ii Table of Contents Rulers 31 Drawing Grid 31 Reset Windows 32 Surfer Flow Chart 33 Three-Minute Tour 33 Example Surfer Files 33 Overview of Sample Surfer .SRF Files 34 Using Surfer 36 Using Scripter 39 File Types 40 Data Files 40 Grid Files 40 Boundary Files 40 Surfer Files 40 Map Types 41 Contour Maps 41 Base Map 41 Post Maps 42 Image Maps and Shaded Relief Maps 42 Vector Maps 43 Watershed Maps 43 3D Surfaces 44 3D Wireframes 44 Introduction to Map Layers 45 Using Map Layers 46 Layers and 3D Wireframes 46 Layers and 3D Surfaces 46 Layer Exceptions 46 Layer Map Limits 50 Editing a Map Layer 50 Hiding a Map Layer 50 iii Surfer Removing a Map Layer 50 Deleting a Map Layer 50 Coordinate System Overview 51 Source Coordinate System - Map Layer 51 Target Coordinate System - Map 52 Setting the Coordinate System 53 Getting Help 54 Online Help 54 Context Sensitive Help 54 Internet Help 54 Automation Help 55 Complete the Surfer Tutorial 55 Technical Support 56 Register Serial Number 56 Suggestions 56 Golden Software Contact Information 57 Chapter 2 - Tutorial  Tutorial Introduction 59 Tutorial Overview 59 Advanced Tutorial Lessons 60 Using the Tutorial with the Demo Version 60 A Note about the User’s Guide and Online Help 60 Surfer Flow Chart 61 Starting Surfer 61 Lesson 1 - Viewing and Creating Data 62 Opening an Existing Data File 63 Adding New Data 64 Creating a New Data File 65 Saving the Data File 67 Lesson 2 - Creating a Grid File 67 iv Table of Contents How are grid files produced? 67 Creating a Grid File 68 Lesson 3 - Creating a Contour Map 70 What are contour maps used for? 70 Creating a Contour Map 71 Changing Contour Levels 71 Changing Contour Line Properties 72 Changing Contour Fill Properties 74 Setting Advanced Contour Level Properties 76 Adding, Deleting, and Moving Contour Labels 79 Exporting 3D Contours 80 Lesson 4 - Modifying an Axis 81 Adding an Axis Title 81 Changing the Tick Label Properties 82 Lesson 5 - Posting Data Points and Working with Layers 83 How are map layers added to existing maps? 83 Adding a Post Map Layer 84 Changing the Post Map Properties 84 Adding Labels to the Post Map Layer 86 Moving Individual Post Map Labels 87 Lesson 6 - Creating a Profile 88 Creating the Profile 88 Lesson 7 - Saving a Map 90 Saving a Map 90 Lesson 8 - Creating a 3D Surface Map 90 Creating a 3D Surface Map 91 Adding a Mesh 92 Changing the 3D Surface Layer Colors 92 Adding a Map Layer 94 Lesson 9 - Adding Transparency, Color Scales, and Titles 95 What is transparency used for? 95 v Surfer What are color scales? 96 How can these features improve the final map? 96 Creating a Filled Contour Map 96 Adding Transparency to Map Layers 96 Adding and Editing a Color Scale 97 Adding a Shaded Relief Map Layer 99 Adding a Map Title 100 Lesson 10 - Creating Maps from Different Coordinate Systems 101 What is a Map Coordinate System? 101 What is a Coordinate System Used For? 102 Creating the First Map Layer 102 Adding a Post Map Layer 103 Setting the Target Coordinate System for the Map 105 Downloading an Online Base Map Layer 106 Adding Text to the Base Map Layer 108 Optional Advanced Lessons 110 Lesson 11 - Custom Toolbars and Keyboard Commands 110 Creating Keyboard Shortcuts 111 Lesson 12 - Overlaying Map Layers 112 Method 1: Overlaying Two Existing Maps by Dragging in the Object Manager 114 Method 2: Overlaying Two Existing Maps by using the Map | Add Command 116 Method 3: Overlaying Maps with the Map | Overlay Maps Command 116 Method 4: Combing Maps from Different Surfer Files 117 Lesson 13 - Blank A Grid File 118 Lesson 14 - Changing the Projection in the Worksheet 120 Tutorial Complete 123 Chapter 3 - Data Files and the Worksheet  Data Files 125 XYZ Data Files 125 Missing Entries 126 vi [...]...Table of Contents Multiple Columns 126   Additional Information 127   Data as Numbers or Text 127   Data as Date/Time 129   Data File Formats 130  Import Data File Formats 130  Export Data File Formats 130  Worksheet Document ... xxiv Table of Contents Missing Data Opacity 511  Layer Page – Image Map 511  Opacity 511  Coordinate System Page – Image Map 512 Coordinate System 512 Info Page – Image Map 512 Color Scale Bar - Image Maps 513  Color Scale Bar Visibility 513  Adding a Color Scale Bar 513  Removing a Color Scale Bar 513 ... 384  Select Area to Download 384  Select Image Resolution to Download 386  Image Preview 386  Log 387  OK, Cancel and Help 387  Server Responsiveness 387  Base Map Naming Convention 388  Add Data Source Dialog 388  xiii Surfer Name 389  Type 389  URL 389  Next 389  Back... Methods 409  Filled Contours 410  Fill Contours 410  Color Scale 410  Levels for Map Dialog 411  Contour Levels 412 Adding or Deleting a Single Contour Level 412 Editing a Single Contour Level 413  Changing Multiple Contour Levels 413  To Create Contour Levels at Regular Intervals 414  Z Level Dialog ... 310  Length 311  Variance 311  Pairs 311  Model Curve 311  Experimental Curve 311  Creating a Variogram 312 New Variogram Dialog Data Page 312 New Variogram Dialog - General Page 314  Variogram Properties 316  Experimental Page 316  Model Page 321  Anisotropy 323  AutoFit... 522  Missing Data Color 522  Missing Data Opacity 523  xxv Surfer References 523  Layer Page – Shaded Relief Map 523  Opacity 523  Coordinate System Page – Shaded Relief Map 524  Coordinate System 524  Info Page – Shaded Relief Map 524  Chapter 12 - Vector Maps  Introduction to Vector Maps 525  1-Grid Vector Map... Files  Introduction to Grid Files 209  Creating a Grid File 210  To Create a Grid File from an XYZ Data File 210  Grid Data Dialog 211  Data Columns 212 Filter Data 213  View Data 213  Statistics 213  Grid Report 213  Gridding Method and Advanced Options 213  Cross Validate 214  Output... 405  Major Contours 405  Line Properties 405  Show Labels 405  Minor Contours 406  Line Properties 406  Show Labels 406  xv Surfer Labels 406  Font Properties 406  Label Format 406  Label Orientation 406  Formatting Contour Maps to Display Date/Time Labels 407  Layer Page –... 224  Using Cross Validation 224  The Cross Validation Dialog 225  Cross Validation References 227  General Gridding Options 227  Search 227  ix Surfer Blanking Values 231  Anisotropy 232  Breaklines and Faults 236  Using Breaklines and Faults when Gridding 237  Breaklines 237  Faults ... Contour Maps 446  Creating Level Files 446  Using Level Files 447  Creating Level Files in the Worksheet 447  Creating Level Files from the Worksheet 447  xvii Surfer Color Scale Bar - Contour Map 448  Color Scale Bar Visibility 448  Adding a Color Scale Bar 448  Removing a Color Scale Bar 448  Editing a Color Scale Bar . Files 125  XYZ Data Files 125  Missing Entries 126  vi Table of Contents Multiple Columns 126  Additional Information 127  Data as Numbers or Text 127  Data as Date/Time 129  Data File Formats. 8 Installation Directions 8 Installing Surfer 8 Updating Surfer 9 Uninstalling Surfer 9 Surfer Demo Functionality 10 A Note about the Documentation 10 Surfer User Interface 11 Opening Windows. 2014 The Surfer ® User’s Guide is furnished under a single user license agreement. Only a single user may use a single user’s guide. With the purchase of the Surfer User’s Guide, the user