How to build a map that is easy to read for users from a specific country

In this tutorial, you will learn about ways how to build a map easily orientable for users. MapTiler offers ways how to customize maps in your app or web specifically for your audiences. Maps can show labels in specific languages, have different map styles, or be shown in national coordinate systems.

Important notice

In MapTiler, you can ask for help from our local experts for France, Germany, Switzerland, and Spanish-speaking countries, also partners in Netherland and Japan. They can help you to find the best solution for your audience. Just jump to the web.

Language of a map

One of the most important factors is language. When people inspect a map, it’s important they can quickly orient themselves. If they see labels in their native language, it’s easier to understand. MapTiler Cloud currently supports more than 55 languages. You can choose the language in Customize tool. If you use Leaflet to integrate your map to your web, you can also make a language switcher.

Customized map style

There are various ways how cartographers have marked elements in different countries or for different purposes. In some countries, people are used to green roads; in others, orange or yellow. If you build a political map, you don’t need a detailed train track network visible, but boundaries of countries or regions can be important. Or you may need a map that will smoothly fit in your app.

With the MapTiler Customize tool, anyone can make their own design with a few clicks. Advanced users can use Edit Style that makes it possible to customize in more details colors and visibility, the width of lines or level of layers, add patterns, or change zoom levels when specific layers are visible to the map user. We described how to use it in the tutorial.

Custom icons

Another element of a map that you may need to change is icons. Sprites of highway or bus stations that are easily recognizable in one country can be difficult to understand in another one. Read how to add custom icons to your map in this tutorial.

Official national data

Would you like to build a map based on official national data? On MapTiler Cloud, you can find maps based on official data by swisstopo, Ordnance Survey, etc. Find them in your MapTiler Cloud account in the map section below the standard maps. If you want to learn more about data for each country, check the blogpost listed in the link section at the bottom of this tutorial.

Disputed borders

You can set disputed borders according to the point of view of the selected country. No matter if you prefer to display Kashmir as India's claims, Pakistan's claims, China's claims, or see the whole territory as a disputed area, you can change according to the preference of your audience. To set borders, go to your MapTiler account, select any map and edit a copy. For more, follow this tutorial.

Conclusion

In this tutorial, we have learned what you can set to make your map easy to understand for a specific audience. In MapTiler Cloud, you can change multiple aspects that make it easier to orient on the map. Imperative can be the language of your map. Another way can be to customize a map style and stripes. In some cases, you can easily host maps with official national data. Important can also be setting borders in conflict areas according to the policy of country you focus on.

Useful links

MapTiler Cloud - Maps
MapTiler Cloud - Customize
Disputed borders - News
UK government data - News
Welcome MapTiler Netherlands - News
French imagery in MapTiler Cloud - News
MapTiler starts in Japan - News
High-resolution imagery of Japan - News