Elevation map with shaded relief
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Customer reviews
I just gave this gift to my best friend tonight for her birthday. She absolutely loved it! The quality is great, the seller was awesome to work with and very friendly!
— John D.
Customer reviews
I hung our map up in the Bisbee Visitor Center and it has been a huge asset! People from all over the world are placing their pins in their home towns.
— Heather L.
Customer reviews
We love the NHL map personalized for me and my daughter as we start our Arena tour. High quality and looks awesome in her bedroom! Go Devils!!
— Michael H.
Customer reviews
Such a fun special gift! The process of personalizing the map was fun and very user friendly. The map was packaged beautifully for shipment. Customer service was excellent. And most important, it is a gorgeous, personalized, nice quality map.
— Lissa J.
Customer reviews
I absolutely love my map. Love that it is detailed with my name and others have noticed it and think it’s super cool.Will definitely order here again for family or friends. And will recommend them to shop here as well. Pining all my trips and Indy Car tracks I’ve been able to go too. So much fun. Can’t wait for future travels!
— Michelle C.
Customer reviews
Perfect perfect perfect perfect
— Lisa Z.
Customer reviews
We love our world map! It looks awesome above our couch in the family room. We are very happy with the largest size. What an educational treasure!
— Linda B.
Customer reviews
Just hung up our new, beautiful, and very detailed canvas wrapped map in our new game room. Excited to get started adding our colorful pins to display our years of previous travels. And really eager to hit the road to add our new favorites places on our map as we expand our "Explore America" adventures!
— Deb S.
Customer reviews
I absolutely love it! It’s better than I thought it would be. Great quality!
— Alyssa J.
Customer reviews
We have been wanting to order this map for quite some time!! We LOVE it! It arrived quickly and was packed EXTREMELY well!! It’s up on our wall and now we can clearly see the parks we still have left to explore!! Thank you so much for a beautiful, quality product!!
— Chelle M.
Customer reviews
Our customized world map is a perfect addition to our living space! It brings back fond memories of places we visited and inspires us for future travel. I can’t wait to start changing the pin colors from wish list to conquered!
— Mary R.
Customer reviews
Absolutely lovely!
— Annamarie H.
Detailed nevada mountain range in shaded relief

Shaded Relief Map Art

Relief maps represent terrain in the ways that our eyes perceive land in nature, with vast mountain ranges casting long shadows, shining peaks, and all the tiny hills. Millennia in action, erosion evident in every river bed and the talus of mountains.

This is nature embodied as map art.

Shaded Relief

Our incredibly detailed maps are based on real earth data - the NASA ASTER digital elevation model. We project the raw remote sensing data and use it to extract surface features like coastlines in addition to the dimensions of mountains and plains. For state maps, we use the state plane projection. State maps additionally incorporate road lines from OpenStreetMap to give context to the land.

Traditional relief maps use this elevation information to apply directional light hillshading - an approximation of what land would look like if the sun did not cast shadows and mountains were made of plastic.

Shaded relief then takes it further into artistry, rendering the true details of the land that can only be revealed when depicted the way we see it in nature - with shadows, reflected light, and vivid colors.

Read more in our "The Art Behind Shaded Relief Maps" article!

How are push pin maps made?

We make our maps at our studio in Pleasanton, California, USA. These are our works of art, and we craft each one to order - we do not keep stock products in inventory.

Each map is a product of years of research and design. We love the opportunity to combine science and art in these wonderful travel maps, and we especially love personalizing them just for you!

Your map will be produced to your specifications using our archival quality materials and fade-resistant inks on large format printers. If you choose a poster in canvas or paper it will be rolled and mailed to you. For ready-to-hang options in framed or stretched canvas, we will mount your map on archival quality pin board and include everything you need to start pinning and build lifelong memories.

We do not use foamcore or cork backing - the gatorfoam we mount pin maps to is a premium archival quality rigid material that will not warp over time, bend away, or crush as you pin your travels. Your pins will be held tight for a lifetime. This material also enables us to offer you incredible clarity with satin paper options that have a smooth finish, in addition to our canvas offerings.

Our canvas wrap and framed maps include premium hanging hardware as well. You will find the pre-installed rigid hangers make it easy for you to hang your map and keep it solidly level, and no guessing or measuring where to drill like for a wire!

Should I choose canvas or paper?

All of our push pin maps are mounted to archival quality pin boards. This premium, rigid material will not only hold your pins tight for a lifetime, but also provides a smooth surface that allows us to offer you smooth satin paper prints. In contrast to canvas there is no fabric weave visible, making text and other details clearer when printed at small sizes.

Canvas prints are better able to stand up to being touched, and allow us to offer the frameless stretched “canvas wrap” format at up to very large sizes.

We offer framing for both canvas and paper, and they both look incredible. From more than a couple feet away, the differences fall away, and either will earn you admiration as they hang from your wall.

  • Paper: better clarity of tiny details
  • Canvas: more options for sizing, better fingerprint resistance

How do I hang a map?

  • Framed and Canvas Wrap maps come pre-installed with unique rigid hangers, featuring an incredibly easy positioning process that'll keep your map level and steady even while you're placing your pins. Just have a hammer and some space on your wall ready. View our instructional video to learn more.
  • Poster options will additionally offer hanging kits, or you can keep it rolled for easy travel, or even take it on as a project to frame it yourself.

When will my map arrive?

Maps without personalization will enter production right away. Poster will ship within one business day, while push pin formats may take one to three business days for us to craft to your specs.

If you request personalization options in your order you will receive an email from us with your proof - a preview of your map with your custom requests applied. Be on the lookout for this message (sent within one business day of your order), you must respond to it before we print and build your map. You can request additional changes and a new proof. After your approval your map will be crafted to your specs and shipped - within 1-3 days depending on the size of your order and our current volume.

We handcraft each of our maps at our studio in Pleasanton, California, USA. (Drop by if you're in the bay area!)

Standard shipping timeline in business days:

  • East Coast - 3-5 days after your map has shipped
  • Central - 2-4 days after your map has shipped
  • West Coast - 1-3 days after your map has shipped