--- title: Surfer Getting Started Guide - Creating a Map description: Use the map wizard to generate a map in minutes in Surfer, a powerful 2D and 3D data visualization tool used by thousands of geoscience professionals. --- [![Screenshot 2025-09-16 at 11.39.57 AM](https://gs.goldensoftware.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Screenshot%202025-09-16%20at%2011.39.57%20AM.png?width=31&height=30&name=Screenshot%202025-09-16%20at%2011.39.57%20AM.png "Screenshot 2025-09-16 at 11.39.57 AM")](https://gs.goldensoftware.com/?hsLang=en) Open main menu Close main menu [![logo_GoldenSoftware_Web_Sm](https://gs.goldensoftware.com/hs-fs/hubfs/logo_GoldenSoftware_Web_Sm.png?width=300&height=44&name=logo_GoldenSoftware_Web_Sm.png "logo_GoldenSoftware_Web_Sm")](http://www.goldensoftware.com/) # ![icon-Surfer_21](https://gs.goldensoftware.com/hs-fs/hubfs/icon-Surfer_21.png?width=114&height=57&name=icon-Surfer_21.png)Surfer Getting Started Guide ## Creating a Map Surfer's Map Wizard makes it easier than ever to go from data to map in only a few minutes.  The wizard can be used to create new maps, as we're doing in this exercise, and to add map layers to existing maps. ➡️ To create a map using the Wizard 1. Open Surfer if it is not already open. 2. Click *Map Wizard* in the Welcome to Surfer window. ![GSG-Welcome to Surfer](https://gs.goldensoftware.com/hubfs/Getting%20Started%20Guides/GSG-Welcome%20to%20Surfer.png "GSG-Welcome to Surfer") --- Map Wizard - Select Your Data The Select Your Data page of the map wizard makes it easy to select data from the *Sample files* directory, your *Project files* directory or a list of *Recent files* by clicking the appropriate option from the dropdown.  You can also browse all files on your computer to select the desired input dataset. ➡️ In this exercise, we'll use the browse option to select the downloaded dataset: 1. Click *Browse* and select the downloaded *Well\_measurements.xlsx* 2. Click *OK* in the **XLSX Import Options** dialog. 3. In the *Select Data Columns* section, set the data columns to X = *Column C: Longitude* Y = *Column B: Latitude* Z = *Column F: Water-level elevation, in feet* 📢 Pro Tip: When using Latitude/Longitude coordinates remember Latitude is always the Y variable and Longitude is always the X variable to avoid future headaches! 1. Click *Next*. ![GSG -Map Wizard - Select Your Data](https://gs.goldensoftware.com/hubfs/Getting%20Started%20Guides/GSG%20-Map%20Wizard%20-%20Select%20Your%20Data.png "GSG -Map Wizard - Select Your Data") Map Wizard - Select Your Map Type ![GS - Map Wizard - Select Your Map Type](https://gs.goldensoftware.com/hubfs/Getting%20Started%20Guides/GS%20-%20Map%20Wizard%20-%20Select%20Your%20Map%20Type.png "GS - Map Wizard - Select Your Map Type") The Select Your Map Type page of the map wizard displays all available map types along with a description when each map type is selected.  If a lock is displayed next to the map, that map type cannot be created with the selected file type.   ➡️ In this exercise we are going to create a contour map of the water level elevations with a post layer displaying the well locations. 1. Check *Contour* and *Post* boxes in the list of available map types 2. Click *Next.* 📢 Pro Tip: To add layers to an existing map, click \[New Map\] in the Add layer to field and select your Map at the top of the Select Your Map Type page. Map Wizard - Select Gridding Parameters ![GSG - Map Wizard - Select Gridding Parameters](https://gs.goldensoftware.com/hubfs/Getting%20Started%20Guides/GSG%20-%20Map%20Wizard%20-%20Select%20Gridding%20Parameters.png "GSG - Map Wizard - Select Gridding Parameters") The Select Gridding Parameters page of the map wizard is displayed if one of the selected map types requires a grid file, and a grid file was not selected as the input file type. On this page you can adjust the simple gridding parameters to create a grid based on default search and filter settings, or you can choose to apply advanced gridding parameters using the Grid Data dialog.  Surfer's Grid Data dialog gives you full control of how your data is interpolated to create a surface grid.   ➡️ In this exercise, we will use the default gridding parameters 1. Verify your *Gridding method* is set to *Kriging.* 2. In the *Output grid file* field, click the folder icon to define your grid file name and location. 3. Click *Finish* to create the map. ![GSG - Unfinished Map-1](https://gs.goldensoftware.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Getting%20Started%20Guides/GSG%20-%20Unfinished%20Map-1.png?width=561&height=655&name=GSG%20-%20Unfinished%20Map-1.png "GSG - Unfinished Map-1") --- Now that we have a map of the groundwater elevations, let's make it tell a story by adding some color and context... 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