Extract text from vector map files (VCT)
To convert VCT maps to another format, you need TerrSet or other GIS software.
To convert other file formats to the "Vector Map Data" file type, you need software like TerrSet or a similar tool.
The .vct file extension is primarily used for GIS (Geographic Information System) spatial data. It is heavily utilized for Brazilian Topographic Vector Maps issued by the Brazilian Army Geographic Service, where the internal structure paradoxically relies on a raster TIFF format. Additionally, .vct is the standard extension for IDRISI Vector Images developed by Clark Labs, which contain coordinate geometries for environmental modeling and spatial analysis.
Beyond the mapping world, the .vct extension is notoriously known as a Visual FoxPro Class Library Memo file created by Microsoft. In this context, it stores textual properties, methods, and binary data that belong to an accompanying vcx file. A smaller subset of older files uses this extension for legacy VISE Installer Projects.
Working with .vct files today is highly frustrating. Visual FoxPro was officially discontinued in 2007, leaving its memo files effectively locked away from modern database tools. GIS variants require expensive, hyper-niche academic software like TerrSet (formerly IDRISI) to open, or specialized Brazilian government tools. Standard online converters fail to process .vct files because the extension represents entirely different, undocumented proprietary structures depending on its origin.
For GIS users, converting .vct to standard mapping formats like SHP (Shapefile), GeoJSON, or KML is necessary to use the data in modern open-source software like QGIS. If the file is a Brazilian topographic map, converting the internal structure to TIF or JPG is required just to view the visual map.
Just drag and drop your .vct file into convert.guru to see what it is and convert it if supported. We analyze the file's raw hex signature to determine if it is a GIS vector graphic, a legacy FoxPro memo, or an installer archive. If our analysis detects a supported underlying or embedded format, viewing or conversion may still be possible.
Convert.Guru analyzes your VCT file, detects the exact format, and lets you read the text inside.
Users also converted VCF, CATALOG, FXP and FMT files.
If you want to convert VCT file to SHP, KML, KMZ, GPX, GEOJSON, TOPOJSON, TIF, TIFF, ECW, SID, IMG or DEM, you can use TerrSet or similar software from the "GIS Vector Data Storage" category. In the File menu, look for Save As… or Export….
To convert LAZ, KMZ, DTM, CSV, DEM, PRJ, LAS, GPX, DSM, SHP, DBF or KML files to VCT, try TerrSet or another comparable tool in the "GIS Vector Data Storage" category.
The history of Convert.Guru began over 25 years ago in California with Tom Simondi’s file-format database. A former contributor to Space Shuttle development and a software pioneer of the 1980s, Simondi established a trusted resource for file type analysis that was even referenced by Microsoft Windows XP. Today, we use modern technology to process and convert thousands of file formats while continually improving our VCT converter.