By default, only the world outlines are displayed when you first start the IDV. You can change the default to use other system maps, or add in your own. The IDV can use McIDAS map files and ESRI shapefiles for map backgrounds.

1. Click on the Default Background Maps link in the Side Legend panel to bring up the control window in the Dashboard.
2. For each map in the widget, you can control the visibility, the line width, the line type, and color.
   • Change the color of the North & Central America map to green and set it visible.
   • Set the width of the World Coastlines map to 3 pixels wide.
   • Set the width of the World Coastlines map back to 1 pixel wide.
3. When you are finished, save this as the default settings using the File->Default Maps->Save as the Default Map Preference menu in the Default Background Maps control.

Unidata IDV Workshop for version 2.5 > Starting the IDV/GUI Basics > IDV Basic Concepts