Contour map generator: topographic line art of any place.
Free contour map generator: choose any place, country or US state, set the interval, labels and colors, and download its terrain as contour-line art in PNG, PDF and SVG. It costs $0 with no account; pay what you want.
Printed posters start at $29 for the smallest size, with free shipping when unframed. Or download the files and pay what you want.
Make a contour map in four steps
- Step 1
Choose the area
Search for a place, enter coordinates, pick a country or US state, or start from a famous place. Upload a GPX file instead to draw your route over the contours.
- Step 2
Pick Contours
Choose the Contours poster style. The preview fills the frame with contour lines generated from the elevation data for your area.
- Step 3
Tune the lines
Keep Auto interval or set a Contour Interval in meters, choose how often a bold index line appears, turn elevation labels on or off, and set the colors, line widths and title.
- Step 4
Download
Generate the poster and download PNG, PDF and SVG at sizes from 8 × 10 to 24 × 36 inches, or A4 to A2. Name your price at checkout; $0 is accepted.
Worked examples
A state, a trail and a mountain, each with the settings behind it. Open one to start from the same design.
California, a whole state
- Area
- California, picked under Country or state
- Contours
- Auto interval, every fifth line bold, labels on
- Colors
- Light lines on navy
- 18 × 24 inches, PNG at 300 DPI
Bright Angel Trail, with the route
- Area
- The bundled Bright Angel Trail GPX route
- Contours
- Auto interval, every fifth line bold, labels on
- Colors
- Light lines on navy, orange route
- 18 × 24 inches, PNG at 300 DPI
Kilimanjaro, a map area
- Area
- A map area around the summit
- Contours
- Auto interval, every fifth line bold, labels on
- Colors
- Brown lines, red index lines, cream paper
- 18 × 24 inches, PNG at 300 DPI
Art-style contours, not survey data
Each line joins points of equal elevation, drawn from the elevation source credited with your download. Closely spaced lines mean steep ground; widely spaced lines mean gentle slopes. The source data and contour settings determine how much detail the map shows.
The generator is built for wall art. The elevation grid is resampled and smoothed so lines stay clean at print size, which also rounds off small details. The files are images and vector drawings, not GIS layers, and they are not suitable for navigation, engineering or property boundaries.
Want elevation as color bands or stacked profiles instead? The creator also offers Strata and Ridgeline posters, and 3D terrain models of the same area.
PNG, PDF or SVG: which file to use
Every contour map download includes all three files.
- PNG
- A high-resolution image for printing at home, at a print shop or on a photo service.
- A print-ready document at the poster size you chose.
- SVG
- Vector contour lines you can recolor or edit in Illustrator, Inkscape or Figma, or send to a cutter or plotter.
Choosing a contour interval
The contour interval is the height difference between neighboring lines. A small interval adds lines and shows gentle terrain in detail; a large interval calms busy mountains. Auto interval picks a value for the elevation range of your area, so a state and a single peak both get a readable number of lines.
Bold every Nth contour turns every Nth line into a bold index line, like the index contours on a printed topographic map. With Show Labels on, those bold lines carry their elevation in meters.
Print settings for a contour map
- Size
- Six inch sizes from 8 × 10 to 24 × 36, plus A4, A3 and A2. The PDF is one page at the size you choose.
- Resolution
- The PNG is 300 DPI by default: 5,400 × 7,200 pixels for an 18 × 24 inch poster.
- Scaling
- Print at actual size. Fit to page changes the size and the line weights.
- Bleed
- Add bleed under Export if your print shop asks for it.
- Paper
- A matte paper keeps fine contour lines crisp and free of glare.
- Plotter or cutter
- Use the SVG. Each contour is a vector line you can edit or send to the machine.
Contour map generator questions
Is the contour map generator free?
You can download for $0. Printed Canyon is pay what you want, so paying is optional, and you do not need an account.
Are these survey-grade contours?
No. The contours are artwork. Elevation is resampled and smoothed so the lines print cleanly, and there is no GIS export such as shapefile, GeoJSON or DXF. Use official topographic maps for navigation, engineering or property work.
What contour interval does it use?
By default the interval is chosen automatically, a round number of meters that draws about 40 lines across the elevation range of your area. Turn off Auto interval to set any interval from 1 to 200 meters.
Can I make a topographic map of a whole country or state?
Yes. Pick a country or a US state and the contours are clipped to its outline. For anywhere else, search a place or enter coordinates and the map covers a rectangular area.
What size and resolution are the contour map files?
Choose a size from 8 × 10 to 24 × 36 inches, or A4, A3 or A2. The PNG is 300 DPI by default, so an 18 × 24 inch poster is 5,400 × 7,200 pixels, and the PDF is one page at that size.
Can I make a 3D topographic map instead?
Yes. The same area can become a 3D-printable terrain model. Choose 3D Terrain Model in the creator and download STL or 3MF.
Have a recorded hike? Use GPX to poster to put your route on the map. Or browse states and famous places that open with a style already chosen.