3D map gifts of the places that matter

A hometown, the street where you met, a mountain they summited or the route of their first marathon, printed in real 3D with a frame and a name plate. Pick an idea, swap in your own place, and download a print-ready file. Free, no account needed.

See gift ideas No 3D printer?

Gift ideas

Each idea opens the app on an example with the settings that suit it. Then search for your own place and draw the area around it.

Their hometown

The streets they grew up on, with every building standing on the real hills and the river or lake cut in. A small, dense area of about 2–4 km reads best.

Example: Hallstatt, Austria
3 km square · buildings, roads, water, parks · frame and name plate · 150 mm

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Where you met, or got married

A round keepsake centred on the café, campus, church or beach where it happened. Put a date or both names on the plate instead of the place name.

Example: Central Paris
3 km circle · buildings, roads, water, parks · frame and name plate · 150 mm

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A mountain they climbed

The whole peak in real elevation, with its trails and glacial lakes. A summit day is a natural thing to put on the plate.

Example: Mount Rainier, USA
14 km circle · trails and water · frame and name plate · 150 mm

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A race, ride or hike route

Load the .gpx file from their watch or app and the route is raised over the terrain as its own ridge, in its own colour in a 3MF. Several routes can go on one model.

Example: The Half Dome hike, Yosemite
8 km square · trails and water · frame and name plate · 150 mm

Then open the settings (gear) → Routes (GPX) → Load GPX file(s). The map zooms to the route; draw your area so it covers the whole track.

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A city skyline

Real building heights from OpenStreetMap make a city stand up off the base. Pick a downtown of about 2–3 km so the towers stay a printable size.

Example: Midtown Manhattan
3 km square · buildings, roads, water, parks · frame and name plate · 150 mm

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A ski resort

The valley town and the peaks above it, with contour lines for a piste-map look. Snow-white filament above a colour change works well here.

Example: Zermatt and the Matterhorn
14 km circle · buildings, roads, trails, water · 100 m contour lines · frame and name plate · 150 mm

Start with this Build the example

Make it in five steps

Open an idea. Press "Start with this" on any idea below. The app opens on the example with the frame, name plate, size and map layers already set.
Find your place. Type the place into the search bar at the top of the map, then draw a new area around it with the shape tools on the right.
Write the plate. Open the settings (gear), go to Frame & label, and type the text for the name plate: a place, a date or names. Leave it blank to use the searched place name.
Generate and check. Press Generate 3D Model, turn the preview around, and check the filament and print-time estimate.
Download and print. Download STL for any slicer, or 3MF to print the layers in different colours.

The frame and plate work on single-piece models. For a model split into tiles or puzzle pieces, leave them off.

Printing tips for a gift

Size

The ideas above use 150 mm, which with the 8 mm frame rim on each side fits most print beds. You can set anything from 50 to 500 mm; for a model bigger than your bed, use Grid slice on the right-hand toolbar to cut it into tiles and join them after printing.

Colours

On a multi-colour printer, download 3MF: terrain, water, roads, buildings and routes come in as separate parts to give each a filament. On a single-colour printer, a plain white or grey matte filament shows the relief best, and a filament swap at a set layer height can make water or snowy peaks a different colour.

Detail

Finer layers (around 0.12–0.16 mm) bring out gentle hills and small buildings, at the cost of a longer print. The models sit flat on their base, so they usually print without supports.

Time to print

After generating, the app shows a rough filament weight and print time for PLA, PETG, ABS or TPU. As a rough guide, a 150 mm model takes several hours, more for tall mountains, fine layers or multi-colour prints.

Finishing

A thin wash of dark acrylic paint wiped off the high points, or a light dry-brush of white on the peaks, makes a single-colour print look finished. Felt pads under the base protect the shelf.

Framing and showing it off

The built-in frame gives the model a clean edge and holds the name plate. A deep box frame or a small wooden stand finishes it. Before printing, use View in your room on a phone to see the model on a real table in AR.

Don't own a 3D printer?

Download the STL or 3MF and have it printed nearby:

Makerspaces and hackerspaces often have printers members can use, and people who can help with settings.
Public libraries in many places offer 3D printing, sometimes free or at the cost of the filament.
Schools, colleges and universities may run a print lab or fab lab for students and staff.
Online 3D printing services print an uploaded file and post it to you. Ask whether they can print multi-colour 3MF if you want separate colours.
Friends and local makers: someone you know may well have a printer.

Mention the model's size and that it prints flat on its base without supports; that's usually all a printer operator needs to quote.

Giving it for a holiday or birthday?

Start a week or two before the day. A model takes hours to print, it is worth leaving time for a second attempt or a finer reprint, and a library or print service may need a few days, plus shipping. Making the file takes only a few minutes, so you can make it now and print whenever suits you.

More places to start from

442 ready-made 3D maps of mountains, cities, coastlines and other worlds, and a gallery of models other people have shared. For a space fan, try Mars or the Moon.

Make one for someone

Free, no account needed, and the file is ready in about a minute.

Open TerraPrinter

Making a set for a class instead? See the free classroom lesson kits.