City & Topo Map Generator for Laser Engraving

Create laser-ready city, topographic, and bathymetric contour maps with OpenStreetMap geometry, NOAA BlueTopo coverage, and separated production layers.

How do you make a city map file for laser engraving?

Search for a place in Map Maker, choose streets, water, topographic or bathymetric contours, and export layered vector files with each feature on its own laser pass. Map geometry comes from OpenStreetMap; contours come from global terrain data and NOAA BlueTopo bathymetry where it is covered. Previews are free and the first export of a map costs 2 credits, with every other format for that map included.

Map Maker preview of the San Francisco street grid on a dark background — Preview

Finished San Francisco street map with water, the city name and coordinates, laid out for laser engraving — Preview

Map Maker at a glance: inputs, outputs, limits and cost

Input	Any place or map area you search for
Data sources	OpenStreetMap geometry; Mapzen global terrain for topography; NOAA BlueTopo bathymetry where covered, with a NOAA ETOPO1-based fallback
Output	Layered SVG, DXF, LightBurn .lbrn2, registered bed tiles, PNG previews and decorative shoreline-board packs
Cost	Previews free; 2 credits for the first export of a map, other formats and re-exports included
Account	Sign in (a free account works) to generate previews and exports
Limits	Bathymetric contours are engraving artwork, not navigation data. Decorative Stack boards create visual depth; they are not surveyed depths.

What does Map Maker engrave?

Converts open-source geographic data into layered, laser-ready vector paths.
Generates clean SVG, DXF, tiled packs, and pre-compiled LightBurn (.lbrn2) project files.
Topographic, bathymetric, or combined contours with automatic or fixed intervals.
NOAA BlueTopo bathymetry where covered, plus a global relief fallback.
Separate minor and index-contour laser passes with source metadata.
Decorative Stack mode exports geometric shoreline-inset boards for layered wood charts.
Parametric framing options with circular, square, and custom frame designs.

What Operators Say

“I love this software!”

Patrick Hussey — Laser engraver · went from never touching the software to firing real burns in his first week

“This is the easiest I have seen.”

Chris Clark — Laser engraver · Vanguard pack customer · builds custom 1911 grips

“Reticle Red is becoming one of my favorite software to use. It has a lot of tools that many others do not, and approaches things differently to create more consistent results. A++”

Daniel Webster — Laser engraver · long-time power user

“Reticle Red definitely takes the guess work out of your design work with tutorials to walk through the process. I highly recommend it.”

Justin Brown — Laser engraver

Open City & Topo Map Generator for Laser Engraving — Free to Start See Real Results →

Related Tools & Guides

Map Maker Tutorial →Field Manual: Map Maker →Laser-Engraved Map Design Guide →LightBurn Workflow →

Frequently Asked Questions

Where does the map and relief data come from?

Map geometry comes from OpenStreetMap. Topography uses the Mapzen global terrain mosaic; bathymetry prefers NOAA BlueTopo survey tiles where covered and falls back to the global NOAA ETOPO1-based relief baseline.

What files does Map Maker export?

Layered SVG, DXF, LightBurn .lbrn2, registered bed tiles, PNG previews, and decorative shoreline-board packs, with map and relief passes separated for independent power and speed.

Are the bathymetric contours navigation data?

No. They are source-aware engraving artwork. Map Maker shows source, datum, resolution, coverage, and available uncertainty, but the output is not for navigation.

What is Decorative Stack mode?

It exports nested geometric shoreline-inset boards for a dimensional wood chart. Those boards create visual depth; they do not represent surveyed water depths.

Does Map Maker cost credits?

Map previews are free. The first export for a generated map costs 2 credits; every additional format and re-export for that map is included.

How is Map Maker different from other free map generators?

Map Maker generates real topographic and bathymetric contours from NOAA BlueTopo survey data and a global relief baseline, not just street and building outlines. It separates minor and index-contour laser passes, supports Decorative Stack shoreline boards for layered wood charts, and exports at up to 4K resolution with parametric circular, square, and custom framing. Free generic city-map tools elsewhere in the field have not publicly evidenced contour, bathymetric, or NOAA-sourced data on their own product pages as of this comparison.