Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Bible Mapper 4 Released!

Bible Mapper 4 is now available! This is not only an outstanding program but one of only a few programs that allows for full user customization of biblical maps. Furthermore, David has a heart for ministry, and this program has been a great way for Bible translation teams to produce maps that do not have any copyright restrictions. (BTW, this is a big deal.) Cost for the license key is $37.

Back in April of 2008, I reported that the Bible Mapper 3 program had been withdrawn but was subsequently shared for free but without any support or promise of further development. Bible Mapper 3 is still available for free, but it lacks the improved software and will not have any technical support. Bible Mapper 4 also includes
35 pre-made maps (as map templates) from the Bible Mapper Atlas Collection. It can read BM3 files, but BM4 files cannot be read in BM3. David also has indicated to me that:

I've also made a number of improvements and bug fixes to the program (including a much faster/smoother Select Object engine). One of the new features is the inclusion of Palestine Grid 1923 coordinates, which are often used in older academic works. You can't input data based on these coordinates, but you can opt to use this coordinate format in the status bar regarding the cursor location.
I am very happy with the improved Select Object tool, and the Palestine Grid coordinates is a feature that only Accordance's Bible Atlas also offers.

With David's blessing, I set up a Bible Mapper wiki for mutual user support. Some video tutorials were posted and a number of maps are shared on the site. Users of BM3 and BM4 are encouraged to join this wiki.

For a survey of digital resources for biblical mapping, see the resources I've assembled here.

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