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Frequently Asked Questions

This page lists 'Frequently Asked Questions' on Orienteering Mapping, OCAD, and the website.  To ask a question regarding mapping or this website please use the contact us page.

Q Where can I obtain software for mapping?

Ocad has become the most popular program for producing Orienteering maps.  It was developed and written by Hans Stienegger.  Earlier versions and limited demonstration copies of newer versions are freely downloadable from the Ocad website.  More information can be found on the Ocad website.  Other software titles that have been used for mapping include Adobe Illustrator, Macromedia Freehand and Corel Draw.  MapStudio is an add-on for Adobe Illustrator that includes Orienteering symbols.

Ocad version 5 is available as a free download from the Ocad website, and runs on Windows 3.1 and above.  Later versions require Windows 95 or above.  The editor of this website has succeeded in running Ocad version 7 on Mandrake Linux 9.1 using Wine.  Adobe Illustrator and Macromedia Freehand are available for both Microsoft Windows and Macintosh.  Corel Draw is available for Microsoft Windows.  The software page on this site has links to various websites of interest for cartographic software programs.

I have a problem with Ocad, where can I find help?

Apart from the Ocad website, you can also get answers to Ocad problems from the BOF Map Group OCAD Helpline by sending an email to .  This is run by Bruce Bryant of Octavian Droobers.  If he is unable to answer your question then he will refer it to others in BOF Map Group.  Other sources of help are the O-map and O_net groups on Yahoo, but you will need to sign up for these.

Why can't I see email addresses on this website with my old browser?

Email addresses on this site are hidden in an external javascript file and are added to the displayed page by the browser viewing the site.  This is to prevent the email addresses being harvested by a robot for sending unsolicited bulk email (spam).  To view the website correctly you should use Mozilla (any version), Mozilla Firefox (any version),  Netscape Navigator (version 4 or above), Opera (version 5 or above), or Internet Explorer (version 4 and above).