How to Import a GPX File and Animate Your GPS Track
GPX is the standard file format that fitness and outdoor apps use to store GPS recordings. If you have tracked a hike, ride, run, ski day, or road trip in Strava, Garmin Connect, Komoot, AllTrails, or a handheld GPS, you can export it as a .gpx file and animate the exact path you traveled in Mapimator. The importer reads recorded tracks, planned routes, and waypoint exports — no conversion tools needed. Uploading a route file requires a Pro plan.
4 min read · Updated August 23, 2026
What you'll learn
- Export a GPX file from Strava, Garmin, Komoot, or AllTrails
- Upload the file to a Route sticker in the Studio
- Smooth a jittery GPS recording with Path Rounding
- Animate the track and style the line
Step-by-step guide
- 1
Export the GPX file from your app
Every major platform has an export option on the activity or tour page. Strava: open the activity, click the "..." menu, and choose Export GPX. Garmin Connect: open the activity, click the gear icon, and choose Export to GPX. Komoot: open the tour on the website and choose Export GPX. AllTrails: open the trail or recording and choose Download route > GPX track. Save the .gpx file to your computer.
- 2
Add a Route sticker
In the Studio, navigate the map roughly to where your track took place, then click the Route tool in the Quick-Add Toolbar. A route appears at the map center — you will replace its shape with your file in the next step.
- 3
Switch Travel Mode to File
With the route selected, find Travel Mode in the right-hand properties panel and choose the last tab, File (upload icon). A file picker appears. Uploading a route file requires a Pro plan — on a free plan you will see an Upgrade to Upload Route button in its place.
- 4
Upload your GPX file
Select your .gpx file in the picker. The route redraws to follow your track, and the start and end markers snap to the first and last points of the recording. If a file contains both a recorded track and a planned route, the recorded track wins; a waypoint-only export is connected point-to-point in order.
- 5
Smooth the track if needed
Raw GPS recordings can look jagged at low zoom. With the route selected, adjust the Path Rounding slider in the properties panel: higher values smooth the line for a cleaner animated look, and 0 keeps the exact recorded path.
- 6
Style and animate the route
The imported track behaves like any other route sticker: set stroke color and line width, enable the draw-on animation with a duration that fits your story, and add camera keyframes across slides to follow the journey from start to finish.
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
- The file needs at least two points with coordinates. A GPX that holds only heart-rate or elevation samples, with no track points, cannot be animated.
- Very long recordings (tens of thousands of points) are simplified automatically on import — the shape is preserved and the animation stays smooth.
- The same File tab also accepts .kml (Google Earth, My Maps) and .geojson files, so you can mix sources in one project.
- One track per route sticker: to show several activities, export each as its own GPX and add one route per file.
- For a multi-day trip, upload each day as its own route and reveal them slide by slide for a day-by-day story.
- Mapimator reads exported files rather than connecting to Strava or Garmin directly — export first, then upload.