The GIS Editor supports several file formats. You can add any of these file types into the editor to generate map data and convert files into more common formats.

Shapefiles(.sph) are the most common sort of geospatial data and describe features using vector polygons(states, countries, lakes), lines(rivers, highways, bike trails), or points(buildings, monuments). Each feature also has attribute data associated with each feature such as names or addresses. A shapefile is typically made up of three or more separate files. The required files are: .shp, .shx, .dbf. For more information on shapefiles, see Shapefiles.

Tab files(.TAB) are another popular geospatial data format. Each Tab file has an associated file that stores all the attribute data in it, most commonly a .DAT file. For more information on Tab files, visit MapInfo TAB format.

A GeoTIFF(.tif) file contains a TIFF file with georeferencing data embedded in it. This data has information such as coordinates, map projection and datums. See GeoTIFF.

GRID files(.grd) define a geographic area with square grid points. Each grid square contains a value that represents that area's attribute. GRID files can be created in the GIS Editor using the Grid Wizard. For more information about GRIDs, see Esri grid.

Delimited files(.csv or .txt) contain information in rows and columns of data, separated by a common delimiter such as a comma(,) or pipe(|). These files can be loaded into the editor provided that they have a Longitude and Latitude column or well-known text column that represents each row's location on the map.

Image Raster files(.png, .gif, .jpg) are image files that can contain georeferenced information that can be placed on a map. If an Image Raster file does not has georeferenced information, you can add that information manually when you first add the image in the editor.

A JPEG 2000 Raster file(.jp2) is a highly compressible and flexible image format that can contain georeferenced information much like Image Raster Files and GeoTIFFs. If a JPEG 2000 Raster file does not has georeferenced information, you can add that information manually when you first add the image in the editor.

MrSID Rasters(.sid) contains a large raster image that is highly compressed that allows you to view parts of the image without having to decompress the whole image. This file format is primarily used for satellite imagery. For more information on MrSID Rasters, see MrSID.

TinyGeo files(.tgeo) is our proprietary file format. TinyGeo contains all the data from shapefiles and other similiar file formats but at about 80% compression size making it ideal for large amounts of data.

FileGeodatabase files is a folder that holds a collection of files that can be accessed and edited by multiple users provided that they are not editing the same data at the same time. They are useful for very large projects that requires multiple people to work on.