Creating Icon Files

Your problem creating icons that work probably has something to do with the size of the file. I don't remember exactly what the dimensions are for files that work, search on this site and you can find it. I made an icon for a POI files I uploaded to this site that worked fine. Someone else took my file and claimed it as their own, along with the icon. The icon is still on this site.

I believe that the limit is 24 x 24 pixels.

I have grabbed Icons, by right clicking and saving an icon, from a web site, as a jpg file. I shrink it down to about 24 x 24 or whatever comes close. It's usually a rectangle instead of a square, but that doesn't matter.

The file is then saved, or exported as a bmp file, with the same name as the POI file.

Dark, bold colours, such dark, blue, red, green, etc. show best. Pale colours usually ddisappear, after shrinking..

Text, is usually unreadable, unless the colours are dark and large. I did this with the GM logo for a POI that I created for my part time job and it came out great.

In some cases, I have taken a picture of a logo on a sign and cropped the part that I wanted and followed the same procedure.

To see it on the GPS, you have to zoom in as much as possible. After creating, I always load the POI file and the icon and then use Where To, Custom POIs and choose one site. Then I touch "Map" and zoom in on the map, to see how well it shows. Sometimes, it's back to the old drawing board.

Good luck.

Size is ok, set to 22 * 22
The error message comes up in POI_loader and says that an unexpected error has occurred.
If I replace the .bmp with one downloaded from this site then it works fine

Never had a problem as far as getting error message.

Have made Icons that were unreadable or too large, etc, but never error message.

Are you sure your newly created .bmp file does not have a double extension and that it has the EXACT NAME of the POI file.

Example:
walmart.csv
walmart.bmp (NOT walmart.bmp.bmp

If using Windows Operating system, check and see if it is configured as below:

To see hidden files go to Folder Options, then view.
Use the below settings:
Show Hidden Files And Folders – Checked
Hide Extensions for known file types – Unchecked
Hide Protected System Operating Files (Recommended) - Uncheck

You are using a Mac, is that right?

Below are the parameters that will work on all versions of POI Loader and on the older GPSes. Some newer GPSes will allow the parameters to be different.

Width - 16 to 24 pixels
Height - 16 to 24 pixels
Horizontal Resolution - 199 dpi
Vertical Resolution - 199 dpi
Bit Depth - 8
Frame Count - 1

Note: The Horiz. and Vert. Resolutions can be different from 199 but in some cases the Magenta background will not be transparent unless it is set to 199 (make it 199 so you don't have to worry about it). By default MS Paint will make it 96 or 200 dpi sometimes.

As mentioned already double check the file extension to make sure it ".bmp" is not their twice.

If you copy and paste a .jpg from online to save and use as a .bmp custom poi, sometimes that .jpg image will have multi-colors layered on top of each other. In all instances like this the magenta color will not make the background transparent until you separate out the layers to have just one color in the background.

edit: An easy way to check to see if the image as layered colors is to change the color of a few of the pixels in the background to a bright yellow. If the pixels appear as any other color other than the bright crisp yellow you used, then the image has colors layered.

So far I haven't been able to make the background of any custom POIs be transparent on the Nuvi 2460LMT using Magenta = 255, 0, 255 RGB color. I asked Garmin CS a couple of years ago if the RGB color needed to be something different and they said no, but they weren't much help beyond that.

My mistake, he DID indicate that in his original post. It didn't register in my feeble brain.

Never had a Mac so don't know how that OS syatem works,

I have been following this thread with great interest because I am having a similar problem. As I sat here staring at the file on my pc it all of a sudden reached out and smacked me on the nose lol. The csv file was Cracker Barrel .csv and the icon was Cracker Barrel.bmp. Somehow I had a space then .csv and it has been driving me crazy. Problem solved!!!

I think most of us have been there & have the tee shirt to prove it.

Welcome to the senior's moment.

Hey, rcbarry. Glad you got it. I always take one file, usually the .gpx, and right click, rename (just to highlight the title)copy it, and right click, rename the other file (.bmp or wav)and paste. Same for any other file. That way it's exactly the same, and really simple. Especially if your typing challenged as I am. It doesn't include the file type (.gpx, .bmp,)

Yes I am using a Mac, is that significant?