How to Change the Map Style in Mapimator

Step-by-step guide

1. 1

   Open the map controls

   On a computer, hover over the square map thumbnail at the bottom left of the map. The thumbnail names the current style, such as Satellite, and the panel that opens has three columns: View, Labels and Map Type. On a touch screen, tap the thumbnail instead, and in a narrow window it becomes a Map Controls button.

   

2. 2

   Pick a map type

   Under Map Type click Satellite, Classic, Streets, Light or Dark. The map changes at once, and your pins, routes, regions and text stay where they are. The style belongs to the whole project, so every slide uses it.

   

3. 3

   Choose the right style

   Satellite is aerial imagery, good for travel and geography. Modern is a colorful street map, good for city guides. Light is pale and quiet, so your own colors stand out on data and business maps. Ink has a dark background for high contrast. Terrain is a detailed map that also draws 3D buildings when you tilt in close. Despite its name, the Terrain style is flat on its own: to raise the ground, turn on 3D Terrain (next steps).

   

4. 4

   Show or hide labels

   The Labels column has a switch for each kind of map label: Cities, Countries, Roads and Neighborhoods. Turning Cities off, for example, removes city names such as Porto and Madrid, and turning Countries off removes country names. Satellite has no map labels to switch. Leave All Labels on, because switching it off also hides the pins and text you have added.

   

5. 5

   Tilt the map for 3D

   Drag the Tilt slider at the left of the map upward to tip the camera. You can also hold Ctrl and drag the map, or right-click and drag. With the Streets style, zoomed in to street level, buildings rise off the map in 3D. Click Update Slide to save the tilt in the selected slide.

   

6. 6

   Turn on 3D terrain

   Under View, click 3D Terrain to give the map real ground height, so mountains and valleys rise when you tilt. It works with every map style. On Modern, Light, Ink and Terrain it also shades the slopes so relief shows even from straight above; Satellite imagery already has its own light and shadow. The effect is strongest from about city-region zoom with the map tilted well over, for example a flight along the Alps. Pins, routes, regions, vehicles and 3D models sit on the ground. 3D Terrain is saved with the project, is off by default, and takes a little longer to load and export.

7. 7

   Switch between Globe and Flat

   Under View, Globe wraps the map onto a sphere, which suits journeys that cover a lot of the world. Flat shows a traditional flat map, which suits a region or a city. The difference only shows when you zoom far out. Atmosphere adds a glow around the globe and a sky above the horizon when the map is tilted.