MappSmith — Map styles & layers

• Can I add a GPS track from a run, ride or drive?

  Yes. Open a layer, press "+ add piece...", choose "Bring your own", then "GPS track (GPX)". The file is read in your browser. The track becomes a line piece you can engrave, score or cut, with its own width. Its points are kept in your design, so they are saved with the project.

• Can I add my own shape as a map piece?

  Yes. Under "Bring your own" choose "Shape (SVG)". It is dropped in the middle of the view at about a third of its width and behaves like any other piece. Manage or remove it in Size & shape under "Imported & pins".

• Does changing the map style undo my product?

  No. The product's own pieces, such as the clock face, key hooks, text and art, move across to the new layers.

• How do I add, remove or reorder layers?

  Press "+ Add layer" under the list. Press the X on a layer's card to delete it. Drag the dotted handle on the left of a card to reorder, or open a layer and use the up and down arrows.

• How do I add something to a layer?

  Open the layer and press "+ add piece...". The picker is grouped by where the shape comes from: From the map, Golf course, Text, Engraved art, Bring your own, Pins, and Part of the object. Pieces already on the layer are greyed out, except text, art and terrain or depth bands, which you can add m...

• How do I change how thick a road or line is?

  Open the layer and find the piece. Line pieces such as roads, rivers, rail and contours have a Line width slider from 0.05 mm to 3 mm. Cut streets need enough width to survive. Very thin cut lines snap.

• How do I mark a special spot with a pin?

  Center the map on the spot. Open a layer, press "+ add piece...", and choose Pins. Pick Star, Heart, Hexagon, Diamond, Triangle, Compass rose or North arrow. The pin is dropped on the center of the map view. To move or resize it, open Size & shape: under "Imported & pins" use the - and ...

• What are the Pieces, Material and Output tabs?

  Pieces is what lands on the layer: roads, water, text, art and so on, and what the laser does to each. Material is the stock it is cut from and its thickness. Output is which machine gets it: the laser, a printer, or both, and whether the sheet is a solid plate, pieces only, or a frame.

• What can I add from the map?

  Interstates and highways, Major roads, Minor and residential roads, Service roads and alleys, Paths and trails, Water, Land mass, Rivers and streams, Parks and green, Buildings, Railways, Bridges, Elevation contours, Lake depth contours, Water depth bands and Terrain bands.

• What do Engrave, Score, Cut, Fill and Off mean?

  Engrave burns the shape into the surface. Score is a light line on the surface. Cut goes all the way through. Fill is a filled or shaded area. Off leaves it out. In the files, engrave is black, score is blue and cut is red, so each lands on its own layer in your laser software.

• What does the "No data here" badge mean?

  That kind of feature does not exist in the framed area, for example no railways or no lake depth survey. Nothing is wrong with the setting.

• What does "weld in" mean?

  It is offered for text, art and the name. The letters become material: they are joined to the roads and the frame so they cut out as one piece with them, standing proud instead of being burned in.

• What is a layer?

  A layer is one sheet of material. The list runs from the top of the stack to the bottom. Each row shows the material, the thickness, and how many pieces the sheet cuts into.

• What is the Body setting?

  Under the Output tab. Solid plate is the whole sheet with the shapes cut or engraved into it. Pieces only keeps just the shapes, held together by the frame band. Frame only is the band with the middle removed.

• What is the "This sheet" picture at the top of a layer?

  It is that one layer on its own, exactly as it will be cut. The 2D plate shows every layer stacked; this shows the part that comes off the machine for this sheet.

• What map styles are there?

  Classic: blue base, land with engraved minor streets, and a top layer of cut major streets. Topographic: like Classic, with scored elevation contours. Lake: like Classic, with only main roads cut on top. Minimal: a board with highways and major roads cut on top. City + parks: Classic with engrave...

• Why are roads grouped instead of listed one by one?

  Map data changes a road's type along its length, for example where a highway becomes an exit ramp. If each type had its own setting, a cut road could end in mid-air. Each group gets one operation and one width, so a highway and its ramps always cut together.

• Why does a "pieces only" layer need a frame band?

  The band is what holds the cut pieces together. With no band, the streets have nothing to join to and fall apart. Add a band in the Frame band card, or a name bar that crosses the pieces.

• Why does the Map style menu just say "Map style"?

  Because your layers no longer match any style exactly. Once you edit a layer it counts as custom. Picking a style again replaces the layers with that style.

• Why is a layer outlined in amber saying "Nothing lands on this layer"?

  None of its pieces exist in the current frame, so it would cut as a blank sheet. Press Remove on the warning, or frame an area that has those features.