Custom maps

A custom map is an image you upload, such as the map of a world you made up, so that items and entities can be placed on it instead of on Earth. Points, routes and regions are drawn on the image the same way as on the Earth map, and the timeline's Map view shows them there. Uploading or replacing a map needs a Pro or Team plan; placing things on a map you already have does not. This article covers whose maps they are, uploading one, placing things on it, how it shows in the Map view, and renaming, replacing, deleting or transferring one.

Whose maps they are

A map belongs to whoever owns the timelines and entities that use it: your account, a team, or the site. Each has one set of maps, and every timeline and entity it owns can use any map in that set. A team's maps are shared by its members; on a team's timeline you place items on the team's maps.

The Maps page

Open Maps in the dashboard's sidebar. Its tabs are Mine, Team and Site: Team appears when you belong to a team, with a menu to choose which one, and Site only for the site's admins. Under the tabs a line counts the maps the set holds against its limit, such as "3 of 50 maps used".

The table lists each map's Preview, Name, Size in pixels, what it is Used by and its Storage. Used by counts the items and entities placed on the map, trashed ones included, or says Not used. Choose the preview or the name to open the full image. The actions menu on a row has Rename map, Replace image and Delete.

Uploading a map

Choose Upload map, at the top of the page, give the map a name, and choose an image. It can be a JPEG, PNG, WebP or GIF, up to 20 MB and 50 megapixels. HEIC is not supported. Map names must differ within a set.

An image whose longer edge is over 8,192 px is shrunk so that the edge is 8,192 px. The page then tells you the size it was stored at. That stored size is what positions are measured in, so keep it in mind if you replace the image later. The image files count toward the owner's storage.

You can also upload from a location: in the Where select, described next, the last choice is Upload a map…, and the new map is selected when it is done. On the Free plan, uploading shows a notice about the paid plans instead.

Placing something on a map

In an item's or an entity's location, the Where select picks Earth or one of the owner's maps. Everything else works as on Earth: choose a point, a route or a region, and draw it on the image. Every point has to lie on the image, and a shape that goes outside it is refused. Where Earth shows longitude and latitude, a map shows X and Y in pixels of the image.

A point can carry an Uncertainty for a place that is only roughly known. On a map it is a radius in pixels of the map, a whole number from 1 to 100,000, and it is drawn as a circle around the point.

Switching Where between Earth and a map, or from one map to another, replaces the shape you have drawn, so you are asked to confirm first. An existing location keeps its map until you change it.

Readers see the place drawn on the map. A point reads "Point on" followed by the map's name, never as coordinates, and its radius is called approximate. A location on a map you can't open reads "On a map you can't see", and no picture is drawn.

The Map view

A timeline's Map view shows Earth or one custom map at a time, with each item on the one it was placed on. When the timeline has locations on more than one, a switcher at the top left lists them with a count of locations each. The view opens on the timeline's Default map when it has locations, and new locations on that timeline start on it too; you choose it on the timeline's form from the maps the timeline can use. Otherwise it opens on the one with the most locations, Earth winning a tie. The page's address keeps the map you chose.

Public timelines, share links and embeds show locations on custom maps too, and so does the page of an entity placed on one.

Renaming, replacing and deleting

Rename map changes only the name, on any plan, and everything placed on the map stays on it.

Replace image swaps the picture and needs a paid plan. The new image must be exactly the same size in pixels as the stored one: the dialog states the size up front. Everything placed on the map stays where it is. To change the size, upload a new map instead.

Delete removes the map for good, and is available only while no item or entity is placed on it. Trashed items and entities still count, so move them to another place, or delete them permanently from the trash first; see Deleted items and restoring. A dialog says how many items and entities are in the way. A map that is only a timeline's Default map can still be deleted, which clears that default.

Who can do what on a team

On a team's maps the Owner, Admins and Contributors can upload, rename and replace. Only the Owner and Admins can delete. A Member can see the maps but not change them. See Teams and the Team plan for the roles.

How many maps

A set holds up to 50 maps on Pro. Free accounts can't upload maps, but can hold up to 5: ones kept after a plan lapses, or ones a transfer brings in. A team can have 50 maps, and so can the site. Uploading past the limit is refused. Deleting one makes room again. See pricing for the current numbers.

Transferring a timeline

A timeline that is transferred brings the maps its items and entities are placed on, and its Default map too, even when nothing is placed on it. They are copied into the receiver's maps, and the sender keeps the originals. If the receiver already has an identical map, the timeline uses that one. If the copies would take the receiver past their limit, they have to delete a map before accepting.

If the plan lapses

Everything keeps working. The maps stay, and items and entities stay on them. You can still place things on a map, rename it and delete it. Only uploading a map and replacing an image need a paid plan again.

Your data

Your maps are part of your data export, with their names, sizes and images. See Backing up your data.