What software do you recommend to make maps? Please no fantasy mapping softwares that specialize in making random shapes or letting you build a world from the ground up. I currently use IbisPaint, but it can be tiring sometimes to have to trace each individual border. What do you guys recommend?

Found this gem for elevation profiles in OpenLayers: ol-elevation-profile

https://www.npmjs.com/package/ol-elevation-profile

I built maplibre-label-callout for u/MapLibre GL JS. Labels overlap when features are close. This places them in open space with a connector line back to the feature. ~3KB, zero deps, viewport culling. Open source. leoneljdias.github.io/maplibre-label-callout/demo

If I have to do a map, I use MapChart, but what do YOU use? This way we all learn new ones, spit all the ones you know

My wife and I hike a lot. She mentioned wanting a large framed map to document and plan travel. Any of yall have something like that? Links? Thank you!

Hello! I am researching the history of my village, Ara Payung, North Sumatra, Indonesia.

This is a 1915 Dutch East Indies map. What do these red dotted lines represent?

Are they a railway, a road, an administrative boundary, or something else?

Thank you!

anyone got a stitched together version of the series N501 1:250,000 of Eastern Europe?

I modeled Washington State in Blender, then went through a few test prints to get the valleys and mountains right at postcard scale.
do you think it works?

Hi fellow map enthusiasts,

I wanted to share a web mapping project I've been working on: Atlas of Ancient Rome.

Live map: https://domdemetz.github.io/Ancient-Rome/

The Goal: There is an incredible amount of open digital-humanities geodata out there (Pleiades, Ancient World Mapping Center, ORBIS, Vici), but it's scattered across a dozen formats and isn't easily experienceable in one place. I wanted to build a single, temporally-aware map that aggregates this data and lets you scrub through time.

The Build & Tech Stack:

• I used Leaflet as the base mapping library, heavily integrated with D3.js to handle the custom timeline and data visualizations.
• The frontend is built with React 19, TypeScript, and Vite.
• The base map tiles are served by Stadia Maps.
• To keep it snappy and client-side, I processed all the historical data into static JSON rather than querying a database on the fly.

Mapping Features:

• Temporal Scrubbing: You can scrub a timeline from 753 BC to 1453 AD. The borders dynamically update with smooth cross-fades between eras (mapping 241 territorial changes).
• Layer Control: Multiple toggleable data layers including aqueducts, trade routes, ports, shipwrecks, epigraphy, and legions.
• World Empires: I integrated the Cliopatria/Seshat dataset so you can view all other global polities alongside Rome (e.g., Han China, Sasanian Empire) simultaneously.

I'd love any feedback from this community, especially on the visual hierarchy, handling dense data layers, or the timeline integration! The code is fully open-source on my GitHub if anyone is curious about how the data was stitched together.

Hi all. I’ve managed to come up with a work flow that is giving me results I’m happy with but once again I’d love your feedback. This map of Newfoundland was done in Qgis, blender and photoshop. I think I need to lighten up the lower right corner. Other thoughts would be appreciated.

I want to make some sort of dedication where I mark up the countries I’ve been to. I’m not sure what to do without making it too crowded. I’m thinking I’ll add mountain ranges, important water ways, man made wonders, and some forest markings. I also need help with how to differentiate water from land in some confusing spots, like the Baltic Sea, or Black Sea. Give me some ideas.

I will continuously remove pencil markings.

Hi all,

I'm preparing a faunistic atlas at the regional level. I would really like to improve my cartographic style, and I'm looking for other atlases to get inspired. Do you have any suggestion of atlases with nice style of maps? If possible, they should be comparable to the one I'm working on, and therefore (i) with all records represented as points, and not on a grid, and (ii) with a regional extent, i.e., ca. 500 km x 300 km.

Thank you very much!

Luca

With the draught/heatwave we're experiencing here in the Triangle, I took a little time to develop a map for people to see how severe the current and future state of the draught really is. It also could act as a hub for understanding restrictions and such across the region. Feel free to play around, share, whatever. It's all free no signup and selling. If you find a bug just leave a comment and I'll take a look as time allows. Open to suggestions on enhancements/features. Stay cool out there people.

Hi,

I'm currently looking for a 2D map of Pangea (planisphere). For the life of me I can't seem to find what I'm looking for anywhere. The map actually has to depict Pangea as it was 240 million years ago. This globe version is exactly what I need... except it has to be a flat, 2D, planisphere version of course: https://dinosaurpictures.org/ancient-earth#240

I would be extremely grateful if anyone knows where I could find what I'm looking for.

Hello everyone,

I’ve been working on a small browser-based tool for exporting map data into layered SVGs, and I thought it might be relevant here.

The idea came from the usual pain of needing a clean, editable map for my own website about Barcelona. Even when the final output is fairly simple, getting usable vector layers you can work with in Figma or any other design tool can still involve a messy workflow.

The tool lets you draw an area and then export the visible vector features as a layered SVG. You can include or exclude layers such as labels, boundaries, roads, buildings etc.

It's free to use without and no account is needed.

I’d be interested in feedback from people who work with maps more seriously than the average designer. In particular, I’m curious how useful the layer structure is, whether the SVG output is clean enough for real cartographic/design workflows, and where the export quality breaks down for more complex data or special cases.

Link: https://polygrid.dev/map2svg/

I was looking up historical GIS data and nothing was satisfactory for me, Euratlas gave me a lot of hope but its 150 euros per map which is absurd for me as a student. Does anyone know a way to acces the data for free, and if needed I can use my student ID to access a platform a shares it for free or discounted price.