How to Highlight Countries and Regions on an Animated Map
Highlighting countries and regions is one of the most powerful ways to add meaning to a map animation — whether you are showing a sales territory, a travel region, a geopolitical area, or a delivery zone. Mapimator makes it a one-click action.
4 min read · Updated May 1, 2025
What you'll learn
- Use the Magic Wand to click-to-select any country
- Pick individual US states and Canadian provinces
- Adjust fill color and opacity for each region
- Use the Region picker to add countries from a list
Step-by-step guide
- 1
Zoom out to show the region
Navigate the map so the country or territory you want to highlight is fully visible on screen. Zoom level determines which administrative boundary is selectable (country vs. state vs. county).
- 2
Activate the Magic Wand tool
Click the Magic Wand tool in the Quick-Add Toolbar. Your cursor changes to a crosshair to indicate you are in selection mode.
- 3
Hover and click to select
Hover over any country — it glows purple to confirm it is selectable. Click to add it as a permanent Region sticker anchored to those boundaries.
- 4
Style the region
With the region selected, use the color picker in the right panel to choose a fill color. Adjust the opacity slider: 50% works well over Satellite, 70–80% is more visible over Light styles.
- 5
Select sub-national regions
To highlight individual US states, Canadian provinces, or other sub-national regions, zoom in further until those boundaries become selectable, then click with the Magic Wand as normal.
- 6
Use the Region list picker
If navigating the map is inconvenient, click the Region tool (globe icon) in the Quick-Add Toolbar instead. An alphabetical list of all countries appears — click any name to add it as a highlight without moving the map.
Interactive walkthrough coming soon
A visual step-by-step guide with annotated screenshots will be available here. In the meantime, follow the written steps above or watch the video tutorials.
Watch video tutorials →Pro tips
- Combine a region highlight with a matching pin for a polished location-callout effect.
- Adding multiple regions? Use the same hue at different lightness levels for a cohesive data-visualization look.
- Dark Matter map style + bright region fill colors creates a high-contrast, cinematic look great for presentations.