Topographic map maker

Make a topographic map with real contour lines.

Contours come from global elevation data, so the lines follow the ground you are mapping. Set the interval and line weight, decide whether 3D terrain helps the print, and export at the exact page size.

Make a contour map See how it works

Contours from 10 m to 10 km
3D terrain up to 60° tilt
Exact page sizes
Free, no account

Tilted 3D terrain around the Matterhorn with contour lines and the Terrain settings open

Contours drawn from real elevation data

Turn on Elevation contours in the Terrain section of the Map tab and the editor draws isolines from global elevation tiles. Every fifth line is an index contour, drawn 1.6 times thicker so you can count height bands at a glance.

You choose the interval, the line colour and the line width. The default is a warm grey at 100 m, which sits well on most light map styles. Contours appear from zoom 5, so they work for a whole mountain range as well as a single summit.

The elevation data comes from AWS Terrain Tiles (Mapzen), built from USGS, SRTM and other sources. When contours or terrain are on, that credit is added to the printed map credit in the page margin for you.

Topographic poster of Zermatt and the Matterhorn with contour lines every 50 metres — **Zermatt and the Matterhorn, contours every 50 m.**Index lines every 250 m are drawn thicker. The elevation credit sits in the margin with the map credit.

How the contour interval behaves

The interval field takes any value from 10 to 10,000 m in steps of 10. As you zoom out, the editor widens the spacing so the lines stay legible instead of merging into a solid block. It uses whichever is larger: your interval or the minimum for the current zoom.

Spacing the editor uses at each zoom level.
Map zoom	Minimum spacing	Typical view
5 to 7	500 m	A country or a whole mountain range
8 to 9	200 m	A national park or a long-distance trail
10 to 11	50 m	A valley, an island or a city and its hills
12 and closer	10 m	A single peak, a day hike or a ski area

A quick check for print: look at the steepest slope on the page. If the thick index lines are closer than about 2 mm, double the interval. On rolling hills, 10 or 20 m keeps enough lines to show the shape of the ground.
Working in feet? 30 m is about 100 ft, and 150 m is about 500 ft.

Flat contours or tilted 3D terrain

3D terrain shows up once you raise the camera Pitch, up to 60°. It turns the map into a picture of the landscape. That suits some prints more than others, so decide early.

Each choice also leads somewhere after the print. A flat frame becomes a 3D printed relief model, and a tilted view makes a good orbit video.

You can also use both: contours stay on when you tilt the camera.
For this print	Flat contours	Tilted 3D terrain
Reads as	A working map with lines you can count	A view of the landscape
Camera	Pitch 0°, any bearing	Pitch up to 60°, any bearing
Routes and places	Visible across the whole page	Strongest on the slopes facing the viewer
Map elements	Scale bar, coordinate grid and compass	Compass and a title block
Good subjects	Hiking maps, trail planning, wall maps with lots of text	One peak, a valley, a ski area or a coastline
Goes on to	An STL relief model for 3D printing	An MP4 orbit video of the poster

Set up a contour map for print

Frame the area at the right zoom
Set the page size, then move the map until the area fills the frame. Check the zoom against the table above so the interval you want is available.
Pick a quiet base map
Light styles with lower detail let the contours carry the design. Turn off building and transit detail if the area includes towns.
Turn on contours and set the interval
Start at the default 100 m, then adjust. Choose a colour a few shades darker than the paper and a width between 0.5 and 1.
Decide on 3D terrain
For a flat working map, leave Pitch at 0. For a landscape view, turn on 3D terrain, raise Pitch to 40 to 60°, and rotate the bearing until the main ridge faces you.
Add routes, places and text
A hiking route in a strong colour reads well over grey contours. Add a title, the coordinates of the summit, and a scale bar on a flat map.
Export
Contours and terrain print as part of the 300 DPI basemap in PNG, PDF, layered SVG and layered PSD. Routes, places and shapes stay as separate vector layers in the PDF, SVG and PSD files.

Ready to start?

Pick a range and turn the contours on.

Make a contour map

3D terrain STL

Turn the terrain inside your print frame into an STL relief for a 3D printer.

Route map posters

Turn a run, ride or hike into a poster with the route drawn over the map.

Map video maker

Record an orbit or sway around your map as an MP4 for social posts.

Printable map maker

Maps for handouts, reports and guidebooks at an exact page size, as PDF or PNG.

Common questions.

Intervals, accuracy and exports for contour maps.

How accurate are the contour lines?

They are computed from global elevation tiles that blend USGS, SRTM and other sources, which is the right level of detail for posters, overview maps and trip planning.

Which interval should I use for a hiking map?

At zoom 12 and closer, 20 m suits most hill country and 50 m suits steep alpine terrain. Check the steepest slope on the page and widen the interval if the lines crowd together.

Can I change the contour colour to match my style?

Yes. Pick any colour and a line width from 0.1 to 10. Contours are drawn at 75% opacity so they blend with the base map.

Can I 3D print the terrain?

Yes. Set Pitch to 0 and use the 3D model export to download a watertight STL of the print area for your slicer.

Will the terrain show in the exported file?

Yes. Terrain and contours are drawn into the 300 DPI basemap of the PNG, PDF, layered SVG and layered PSD exports, the same way they appear on the map.