Watertight from the start
Make printable closes the model with a solid base and side walls, so the slicer gets closed, watertight parts instead of an open surface.
3D printed topographic map
Print the mountain, or your whole town.
Pick a place on the map, and Studio builds the real terrain — and the buildings, if you want them — on a solid, watertight base scaled to your print bed. Send it to your slicer as 3MF or STL. No GIS tools, no mesh repair.
Real terrainMake printable
Scaled to your bed
Set the print width in millimetres and the base thickness; the whole model scales to fit, with vertical exaggeration so gentle hills still read in plastic.
Terrain or a skyline
Print a mountain range up to 100 km across from elevation data, or a 1 km city block with every building extruded to its mapped height.
3MF or STL out
Export the finished model for Bambu Studio, PrusaSlicer, Cura or any slicer that reads 3MF or STL.
From the map to the print bed
Pick the place on a map
Search a name or an address, then drag a box. Terrain mode takes up to 100 km (25 km on a phone); city mode up to about 1 km with buildings, roads and water.
Make printable
Set the print width, the base thickness and the exaggeration; Studio closes the model into watertight parts: a terrain slab with walls and a floor, plus buildings and raised roads.
Print a city block, too
City mode prints buildings on the terrain, closed on the same solid base.
Why Mixos
From a place you love to a thing on the shelf
Relief maps are one of the most satisfying things to 3D print: a hometown, a trail you hiked, the mountain you climbed, a gift for someone who moved away. The hard part has never been the printing. It is getting real terrain into a closed, correctly scaled solid that a slicer will accept.
Studio does those steps in one place. The Real place import builds the terrain from open elevation data — and in city mode, the buildings, roads and water from OpenStreetMap — and Make printable closes it into a solid: a flat base under the whole area, walls down every edge, the surface on top. You set the printed width and the base thickness; the model scales to match.
Exaggeration matters more on a print than on screen. At true scale, a 10 km area printed 150 mm wide flattens most hills to a fraction of a millimetre. Raise the vertical exaggeration until the relief reads — 2x to 4x is typical for rolling country, less for alpine terrain — and say so on the label if accuracy matters to the recipient.
Mind the smallest features. Buildings in a city print can become thin spikes at small scales; print larger, simplify, or switch to terrain only. And credit the data on the base or the packaging: the map is © OpenStreetMap contributors and the terrain comes from open public surveys.
Print a place in four steps
- 01
Choose the area
Search the place in Studio's Real place picker and draw a box: terrain mode for a landscape, city mode for buildings.
- 02
Make printable
Set the print width, the base thickness and the vertical exaggeration. Studio closes the model into watertight parts: a terrain slab with walls and a floor, plus buildings and raised roads.
- 03
Export
Export as 3MF or STL (a paid plan) and open it in your slicer.
- 04
Slice and print
Print flat on the base. A 0.2 mm layer height is plenty for terrain; use finer layers for small city blocks.
Ask mixos AI
Make a printable 150 mm wide relief model of Mount Rainier with a 4 mm base and 1.5x exaggeration.
Before you hit print
- Check the thinnest features at the printed scale — tiny buildings may not survive.
- Note the exaggeration if the model will be read as accurate.
- Credit © OpenStreetMap contributors and the elevation source on the base or label.
Data and licence
Frequently asked questions
How do I 3D print a topographic map of a place?
In Studio, import the place from the Real place picker, use Make printable to add a solid base at your print size, and export 3MF or STL for your slicer. The import and preparation are free; export is the paid step.
Will the model be watertight?
Yes. Make printable builds watertight parts — a terrain slab with side walls and a floor, plus the buildings and slightly raised roads — so slicers accept them without repair.
How much should I exaggerate the height?
Enough for the relief to be visible at the printed size. Mountains often look right at 1–1.5x; rolling country usually needs 2–4x. The setting is yours, and true scale is always 1.
Can I print my city with buildings?
Yes, for areas up to about 1 km across in city mode. At small print sizes very thin buildings may not print cleanly, so print larger or use terrain only.
Can I sell prints of the maps I make?
The OpenStreetMap data allows commercial use with credit to © OpenStreetMap contributors, and the elevation data is open. Check the credit is on the product or its packaging.
Read next
GLB, OBJ, FBX and STL compared
Which format keeps materials and which throws them away.
Inspect the GLB
Open the file in the browser — meshes, materials, triangle count.
How to make an STL file
Watertight remesh, thickened walls, and the checks that stop a bad print.
How to animate a 3D model
Key, retime and ease a move, step by step.
Keep exploring
3D terrain generator
Real-world 3D terrain generator — free, in a browser
3D city model generator
3D city model generator — any address, in a browser
3D mountain model
3D model of any real mountain — free, in a browser
TouchTerrain alternative
TouchTerrain alternative — terrain and city prints
Sculpting for 3D printing
Sculpting for 3D printing — check, hollow, STL
3D printed logo
3D Printed Logo — turn a logo into an STL, online
Heightmap to 3D
