1. Pick Laser layers or UV texture, and Street or Terrain under Map type.
2. Set the finished size and shape. The frame on the map matches it.
3. Search for a place, then drag and zoom the map until your area sits inside the frame.
4. Press Get map data. The Design tab opens with your map.
5. Pick a template under Laser layers (or UV texture), check it on the Layers and Stack tabs, then download. The proof image is free.

• Pick a template to start: Multi-layer city, City blocks, Single sheet or Water recessed. Then change anything you like. Undo brings the old layers back.
• Layers are listed top first. Tap a layer to open it. Each one has a name, a material, a thickness and a frame.
• Solid layers start as a full sheet. Empty layers start with nothing and keep only the pieces you cut, which is how you make a road lattice.
• Add features from the map data (roads, water, parks, buildings and more). Each one is drawn as a Band (road width), Line, Area, Outline or Hatch, and is Cut, Engraved or Scored.
• For cut areas and bands: Punch out removes the shape (a hole or a gap), and Keep piece cuts round it and keeps it.
• Frame adds a solid rim so a layer stays in one piece. Pin holes go through every layer in the same place, for lining the stack up on dowels.
• Glue guide scores the outline of the layer above, so you know where its pieces sit.
• Clean-up removes slivers and crumbs that are too small to cut well.
• Download all layers gives you a zip with one SVG per layer (red = cut, green = score, blue = engrave) and a README with the stack order.

• The main line uses the place you searched for. Type your own words to change it. Add a coordinates line and an extra line (a date, "Est. 2026", a name).
• Stencil is the safest font for cutting: its letters have no loose centres. With other fonts, the middles of letters like O and A become small loose pieces when the letters are punched out.
• The plate is the panel behind the text. On a layer, a cut plate stays solid (roads and water don't cut through it). Use Keep clear on a layer to stop map engraving under the plate.

• SVG: best for LightBurn, xTool, Glowforge and Inkscape. Red = cut, green = score, blue = engrave (filled).
• DXF: for CAD and older laser software. Layers CUT, SCORE and ENGRAVE, in millimetres. Engrave shapes are outlines, so set them to Fill.
• PDF: one real-size page per layer, handy for CorelDRAW and Illustrator.
• Free proof image: a watermarked picture of the 3D stack to send to a customer before you cut.

• Switch to UV texture. The colours come from the Preview style, and the texture comes from the features you raise.
• Each feature gets a height step. Step 1 is lowest. Every step is printed as white ink, repeated for the number of passes per step. Tick Gloss to add clear varnish on top.
• The Texture tab shows a lit preview. The Stack tab shows the steps in 3D, exaggerated so you can see them.
• The download is a zip with a white underbase (optional), one white mask per step, the colour image, a gloss mask, a greyscale height map and a README with the print order. The PNGs carry their DPI, so they open at the right size.

• Set Map type to Terrain, frame an area (up to 20,000 km²) and press Get map data. Heights come from free open elevation data, including the sea bed.
• Height steps splits the land into equal bands between the lowest and highest ground. Smoothing softens the contours for cleaner cutting.
• Make topo layers builds one laser layer per step (pieces only, with glue guides) on a walnut base. Make UV relief builds the same shape as raised UV texture on a coloured height print.
• You can also use the Terrain features (Land above a height step, Contour lines, Sea from heights) on any layer, next to streets and water.

• Designing, the 3D stack and the proof image are free. Downloading the cut files for a map uses 1 credit, covering every layer in any format.
• Buy a pack (1, 5, 10 or 25 exports) and paste the licence key from your Payhip email. Credits never expire.
• Once a map area is unlocked, downloading it again is free for 7 days, even if you change the layers, style, size or title.

Up to about 150 km² (a town or a small city). Buildings are included up to about 30 km². Past that there are too many to be useful at this size. The map data comes from free public servers, so very large areas are slow or refused.

Streets, water, parks and buildings come from OpenStreetMap, © OpenStreetMap contributors, used under the Open Database Licence. The base map is from OpenFreeMap. If you sell pieces made with this data, credit “© OpenStreetMap contributors” somewhere on the piece or its packaging.

• Server busy: the free map servers limit how often you can ask. Wait a minute and try again.
• Timed out: try a smaller area.
• Map won't load: check your internet connection. The map needs to be online. Your designs don't.