Laser Generator Studio

Street Maps · Laser Generator Studio

Laser Cut Street Map Generator

Layered city maps from OpenStreetMap data: water cut through, highways on their own layer, streets engraved, framed with a title, coordinates and a heart on the place that matters.

Make my street map Free to try, no card needed
Exports
SVG (one per layer + all-in-one), DXF, PDF, PNG
Works with
xTool Creative Space, LightBurn, Glowforge
Materials
3 mm plywood, MDF, contrasting veneer or acrylic for the highway layer

What it makes

The Street Maps studio builds a stacked, framed city map from real map data. Water is cut right through so a lower layer shows as the lake, river or sea. Highways can be cut into their own layer so a contrasting material shows through. Major roads and side streets are engraved on the top layer, and the frame carries a title in an outline font with the coordinates added automatically.

Making a street map, step by step

  1. Find the place. Search an address or city, or type coordinates such as “27.84, -82.37”. Drag and zoom until the area sits inside the orange frame, which shows the real width and height in kilometres.
  2. Pick a size and shape. 150 × 200 mm matches the classic layered city map. Circles, hexagons, octagons and a round Christmas ornament with a ribbon hole are also available. Set the frame border and the title band.
  3. Tune the roads. Set highway, major road and side-street widths (0 hides a class). “Cut out” recesses the highways so their layer shows through; “Outline” draws roads as double lines.
  4. Street names. Engrave names on major roads or on every street. On filled roads the name runs beside the road; on double-line roads it sits inside, and the road widens to fit.
  5. Water. Lakes, rivers, sea and coastlines are detected automatically. Shoreline depth steps add a stepped-water effect, and wave lines engrave the base plate.
  6. Title and extras. Add a title and font, a heart, star or pin marker placed where you click, a compass and a scale bar.
  7. Generate and check. Look at the preview and the 3D stack view to see how the layers sit. The colours are only for the preview; pick your real materials when you build.

Export and assembly

The xTool preset gives one SVG with every piece laid out in a grid plus a separate file for each layer; the LightBurn preset gives SVG and DXF with a colour per operation. Red is cut, and blue fill is street engraving. Cut each layer from its own sheet, then glue them in order from the bottom up, lining up the frame edges.

Material tips: 3 mm plywood or MDF is ideal for the main layers. Use a contrasting material for the highway layer (a darker veneer, painted MDF or coloured acrylic) so the roads stand out. Engraving settings for fine street lines vary a lot between machines, so run a quick test card with line cells first.

Map ideas that sell

Street maps are personal: the town where a couple met, a wedding venue, a first home, a university campus, a favourite city. Combine a map with a marker and a date and you have a gift people come back for. For a matching keepsake, the star map generator shows the night sky over the same place on the same date, and the topographic map generator does the same for mountains and lakes.

Layered maps take real laser time, so price them carefully. The worked example on the price calculator page uses a 4-layer street map.

About the data

Map data comes from OpenStreetMap, built by volunteers and free to use with attribution. Coverage is very good in most of the world. If a road is missing or wrong, it can be corrected on OpenStreetMap itself, and the fix will appear in future maps.

Questions

How big an area should I map?

About 3 to 6 km across looks best on a 150 to 200 mm map. Much larger and the streets become too dense to read; very large areas are zoomed in automatically, and street data works up to about 150 square kilometres.

Where does the map data come from?

Roads, water and place names come from OpenStreetMap, the open map built by volunteers. Coverage is excellent in most cities and towns; very new roads may be missing.

How many layers does a street map have?

A base plate, the highway layer and the top street layer with the frame, plus extra layers if you add shoreline depth steps or raise parks, buildings or the marker. Each layer is cut from its own sheet and glued in order, bottom first.

Can I make a round map or an ornament?

Yes. Choose a circle, hexagon or octagon, or the Christmas ornament shape: a 90 mm round map with a ribbon hole through every layer.

Can I mark a house or venue?

Add a heart, star or pin marker, choose "Where I click" and click the exact spot on the map.

Materials and guides

Laser Cutting and Engraving WoodHow to laser cut and engrave basswood and birch plywood, MDF, hardwoods, pine and bamboo: choosing sheets, charring, smoke, grain, masking and finishing.Tools and Files for LightBurn UsersUsing Laser Generator Studio files in LightBurn: SVG and DXF at the right size, one layer per colour, test cards and tumbler rotary setup.

Related laser tools

Topographic Map Generator for Laser CuttingStack laser-cut layers of real terrain (topographic) or water depth (bathymetric). Frames, scored titles, registration pin holes and alignment guides are included, and every layer is numbered.Star Map Generator for Laser EngravingThe night sky exactly as it was over a place at a moment, with real star positions, constellation lines and the moon phase. Engrave a dark sky, classic dots, or cut every star for a backlit lightbox.Laser Engraving Price CalculatorWhat to charge for a laser job: the material share of the sheet, machine time, finishing and packaging, your markup, quantity breaks and an Etsy price that covers Etsy's fees. Free to use.

xTool, LightBurn, Glowforge are trademarks of their respective owners. Laser Generator Studio is an independent product and is not affiliated with or endorsed by them.