How to make a 3D terrain model of any place

1. Frame a place

Search for a mountain, a valley, an island or a town, or start from one of our favourite places. The square in the middle of the map is your frame: everything inside it becomes the model. Zoom out for a whole mountain range (up to 250 km across) or zoom in on a single peak (down to about 400 m).

2. Create the model

When you press Create 3D model, Tiny Topo downloads the elevation for the frame and builds a mesh from it — hundreds of thousands of triangles, shaded with the light and shadows of a real sun. Satellite or map imagery is draped on top. It usually takes a few seconds.

The elevation comes from Terrain Tiles, an open global dataset that combines national surveys, satellite radar (SRTM) and ocean-floor data. Detail is around 30 m per sample in most of the world and finer where national lidar is available, which is plenty for models from a few kilometres up to whole regions.

3. Style it

• Satellite — real colour imagery (Google by default, or Esri World Imagery).
• Topo — a topographic map with contour lines, trails and names (OpenTopoMap).
• Atlas — colours by height, like a classic atlas.
• Clay — pure shape, like an unpainted print.

You can also exaggerate the height (flat landscapes come alive at 2–3×), change the sides of the block, move the sun, switch to a round model, and flatten the sea.

3D printing your model

Print files are made on our servers as clean, watertight solids — no holes, no flipped faces — so they slice without repairs. Sizes are in millimetres. The 3D printed topographic map guide has settings and multicolour tips.

• STL works with every slicer. 3MF keeps units and names and is the better choice for PrusaSlicer, Bambu Studio and Cura.
• Size. Pick the width of the print; the height follows the terrain and your exaggeration. Large prints can be split into a grid of tiles (up to 4×4) that fit on smaller beds and line up edge to edge.
• Detail. Standard is great for prints up to about 15 cm. High detail (Pro, Maker, Print Pack) matches the mesh to your nozzle, so ridges stay sharp on bigger prints.
• Exaggeration. Real terrain is flatter than you think. For most places, 1.5–3× looks right in plastic; steep mountains need less.
• Base. A 3–5 mm base makes the print sturdy. Free models carry “tinytopo.com” engraved underneath; on Pro and Maker you can engrave your own text instead — a name, a date or a race you ran.
• Slicer settings. 0.12–0.16 mm layers bring out the contours; print with the base on the bed and no supports. A matte filament shows the relief best.

Posters, videos and 3D files

A poster is a high-resolution image of your model on a studio backdrop, with the place name and coordinates — up to A2 at 300 dpi on paid plans. A 360° video turns the model slowly in front of the camera, at up to 1080p. A GLB is a textured 3D model for Blender, game engines, web viewers and AR.

Share links

The Share button makes a short link to your model with a preview image. Anyone who opens it sees the same place and style, and can turn it in 3D or make their own. Share links are free on every plan.

Accounts and limits

You can explore, build and save images without an account. Signing in with Google keeps your monthly allowance: on the Free plan that is 1 STL and 2 videos a month. See pricing for everything each plan includes.

Accuracy

Tiny Topo shows terrain as the elevation data records it. Summits can read slightly lower than surveyed heights because each sample averages a small area, and imagery can be a few years old. Models are made for display and enjoyment — please don’t use them for navigation or safety decisions.