I fine it far easier to use the graphics programs I am already familiar with when working on maps but the ones I use do not recognize the MP format. Are there inexpensive, shareware or freeware programs available to make the conversion so I can then work in my familiar programs?
Use Mercator's (free) MapEdit program, which will allow you to open maps and save them as bitmaps, or vice-versa. You can download it at the Apolyton civ2 downloading database, I think under Utilities or something.