Landscapes That Mean Something
We turn the places you love into art you can hang on your wall — using nothing but public elevation data and the shape of the land itself.
The Idea
Every place on Earth has a unique topographic fingerprint. Mountains have their own rhythm of peaks and valleys. Coastlines curve in patterns shaped by millions of years. Even a seemingly flat landscape tells a story in its subtle contours.
We take real-world elevation data and transform it into minimalist contour art — the same kind of lines you'd find on a hiking map, but rendered as something beautiful enough to frame.
The result is art that's deeply personal. Not a generic print, but a piece that captures the actual shape of a place that matters to you.
How We're Different
Data, Not Decoration
Every line in your print represents real elevation data. This isn't a stylized illustration — it's the actual shape of the terrain.
Anywhere on Earth
Our coverage spans the globe. From Himalayan peaks to Scottish highlands to your hometown hills — if it has terrain, we can print it.
Truly Custom
You choose the location, the exact area, the detail level. Your print is generated on demand — no one else has the same one.
What We Care About
Precision
We obsess over the details — accurate data, crisp rendering, museum-quality materials.
Connection
Art should connect you to something real. A memory, a dream, a place that shaped you.
Simplicity
The best design removes what doesn't matter. Our prints let the terrain speak for itself.
The Process
When you create a print, we fetch public elevation data compiled from satellite radar, airborne lidar and national survey models. This data captures the height of the land surface at regular intervals — like a vast grid of altitude readings covering the Earth.
Our system traces contour lines through this data — curves that connect points of equal elevation. Stack enough of these lines and you get a portrait of the terrain: gentle slopes as wide-spaced lines, steep cliffs as dense parallel curves.
The result is rendered as high-resolution vector art, then printed on archival paper using giclée technology. We partner with professional print labs who've been doing this for decades.
Data & Materials
Our elevation data comes from Mapzen Terrain Tiles (hosted on AWS Open Data), which merge public datasets: USGS 3DEP in the United States, SRTM and GMTED2010 worldwide, EU-DEM in Europe, national lidar models in several countries, and ETOPO1 for the sea floor. Every contour line on your print is traced from real, measured elevations; the level of detail depends on the region and the size of the area you choose. See the full data credits below.
Prints are produced using archival giclée technology on premium matte stock — acid-free, UV-resistant, engineered for longevity. Canvas prints are gallery-wrapped on kiln-dried wooden stretcher bars. Framed prints use solid wood frames with shatter-resistant acrylic glazing.
We partner with Printful, an established print-on-demand lab with facilities across the US and Europe, ensuring consistent quality and fast delivery worldwide.
Data Credits
Topo Prints is built on open data. Thank you to everyone who makes it available.
Elevation: Terrain Tiles on AWS Open Data, created by Mapzen. Terrain Tiles combines the following sources, credited as their licenses require:
- ArcticDEM terrain data DEM(s) were created from DigitalGlobe, Inc., imagery and funded under National Science Foundation awards 1043681, 1559691, and 1542736;
- Australia terrain data © Commonwealth of Australia (Geoscience Australia) 2017;
- Austria terrain data © offene Daten Österreichs – Digitales Geländemodell (DGM) Österreich;
- Canada terrain data contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Canada;
- Europe terrain data produced using Copernicus data and information funded by the European Union - EU-DEM layers;
- Global ETOPO1 terrain data U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration;
- Mexico terrain data source: INEGI, Continental relief, 2016;
- New Zealand terrain data Copyright 2011 Crown copyright (c) Land Information New Zealand and the New Zealand Government (All rights reserved);
- Norway terrain data © Kartverket;
- United Kingdom terrain data © Environment Agency copyright and/or database right 2015. All rights reserved;
- United States 3DEP (formerly NED) and global GMTED2010 and SRTM terrain data courtesy of the U.S. Geological Survey.
Roads, trails, place search: map data © OpenStreetMap contributors, available under the Open Database License (ODbL). Place search uses Nominatim.
Map picker basemap: © OpenStreetMap contributors, © CARTO.
Topo Prints is not affiliated with or endorsed by any of these organizations.
See For Yourself
Design is free. Pick a place that matters to you.
Start Creating