Program or website for making custom maps for publication?

November 5, 2024 9:58 AM

I am looking for a way to make some custom maps for a publication. The publication will be about a bicycle trip that I took, and I want to create a map for each day's journey. Often the routes including trails as well as roads, so it would be nice if I could import a GPS file and have it generate a map, then be able to further customize it with points of interest and the like. The maps should be colorful and ready for publication. Does such a thing exist? Hoping to avoid ArcGIS for something more simple. Thanks!
posted by LarryC to Computers & Internet (7 answers total)

AllTrails has a 'create a map' option under 'Saved' (near the upper right). I haven't used it but have assumed that that's where the contributed local maps come from.
posted by aincandenza at 10:38 AM on November 5

Take a look at Datawrapper, which has a very powerful free account tier. They have a "locator" map option (as opposed to a choropleth map), and on their website/resources, can show you how to create a custom set of points or lines that you can load into their interface.

Felt is another option, might be even more straightforward.
posted by entropone at 10:56 AM on November 5

Did you have Location History on on your phone? If so, and you use Google Maps, the info is already saved for you. Go into maps.google.com and click the hamburger menu and then "your timeline" and then enter the date in the interface.
posted by dobbs at 11:00 AM on November 5

The cartographic tooling of QGIS has become quite powerful over the last few years. You definitely won’t need an ArcGIS license to make your bike maps.
posted by rockindata at 3:50 PM on November 5

Flourish might be something to look at for this.
posted by limeonaire at 4:50 PM on November 5

It probably depends on what kind of publication this is, but, before you get too far into making your custom maps, be sure to check into the copyright status of the images and the platform. Use for publication might require a license fee or might be disallowed entirely. I suspect this would disqualify Google Maps and Alltrails, for example.
posted by hovey at 7:12 PM on November 5

Openstreetmap is open data, licensed under the Open Data Commons Open Database License (ODbL) by the OpenStreetMap Foundation (OSMF). Might be a starting point?
posted by StephenB at 2:19 PM on November 6