KMLCSV Converter Tutorial by Choon-Chern Lim (Mike) – 12/24/2008

Note: This tutorial is based on 2.1.0 release.

1. If you don't have Google Earth installed, get the free version at http://earth.google.com/ and install it in

your computer.

2. Once installed, open Google Earth.

3. Create a new folder to store all your custom point of interests.

a. Right click on "Places" at left navigation --> Select "Add" --> "Folder...".

b. Enter a folder name.

c. In this example, I created one folder called "Seattle".

4. Now, you are ready to search and save your point of interests.

a. Under "Search" at left navigation, search for a place by entering either an address or a place.

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b. In this example, I entered “Space Needle”. Then, hit Enter key to search.

c. Click on the search result and drag it into the folder you have created.

d. If you expand the folder, you should see the search result.

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5. You probably want to give some meaningful name to the search result. Right click on the search result

and select "Properties".

6. On the “Description” field, enter a description. Here, I enter the Space Needle’s address. You can change

the “Name” field too if you wish.

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7. You can add as many custom POIs as you want. In this example, I have added a couple of POIs.

8. Once you are done, right click on the folder and select "Save As...".

9. Make sure you specify the file type to be "*.kml", not "*.kmz".

10. Launch the KMLCSV Converter.

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11. If this is your first time using this software, click on the “Configure” button on top left to open the dialog.

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12. In this “Configuration” dialog, you must specify the watched folder that contains your KML and CSV files.

At this stage, you can tweak any settings based on your preferences. If you have Google Earth or Garmin

POI Loader installed in your computer, you can set up the application path here too for quick access.

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13. Now, you shall see your KML files appearing in the “Watched Folder”. You can drop more files into this

folder, then click on the “magnifying glass” icon to rescan the “Watched Folder”.

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14. Now, double click the KML file to want to convert to CSV file. The file content will be displayed in the

table. The console log will inform you where the file will be created. This is particularly useful when you

specified in the configuration not to overwrite the file. Click “Create File” button to generate the CSV

file.

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15. The status for each placemark will be updated, and the CSV file will be displayed in the Watched Folder.

16. Now, you are ready to feed this CSV file into your Garmin GPS.

17. You need to download the free Garmin POI Loader at http://www8.garmin.com/products/poiloader/ .

18. Once installed, attach your Garmin GPS.

19. Then follow the provided instruction to upload the CSV file into your Garmin GPS.

20. Finally, you should see the POIs loaded under "Custom POIs" category.

21. You are all set for traveling!