Maps and projections
Export the globe in eleven map projections, choose the map centre, print sections and globes as parchment or paper atlas maps, and export transparent map overlays.
The satellite render is one way to show a planet. Dayside also exports the whole globe as a flat map in a choice of projections, and prints sections and globes as ink on paper. This page covers both.
Globe export projections#
Export globe opens with a Projection picker of eleven projections in three groups.
| Group | Projection | What it looks like |
|---|---|---|
| Standard | Equirectangular | A plain 2:1 grid of latitude and longitude. The one to wrap a sphere with in a 3D package. |
| Period maps | Mercator | The 1569 navigator's chart, cut at 80° N and S. |
| Period maps | Sanson–Flamsteed | The 17th-century sinusoidal, with pointed poles. |
| Period maps | Bonne | The 18th-century heart shape. |
| Period maps | Ortelius oval | The oval of the 1570 Theatrum Orbis Terrarum. |
| Period maps | Twin hemispheres | Two stereographic circles, east and west. |
| Modern | Mollweide | The 1805 equal-area ellipse. |
| Modern | Hammer | The 1892 equal-area ellipse, with curved parallels. |
| Modern | Robinson | The 1963 compromise, with flat poles. |
| Modern | Winkel tripel | The 1921 compromise used by world atlases. |
| Modern | Equal Earth | The 2018 equal-area projection, with flat poles. |
The resolution buttons give the page size each choice yields in the chosen projection, since every projection has its own page shape. Every PNG layer of one export is reprojected onto the same page, so the masks and heightmaps register with the colour. A projected export adds projection.json, describing the projection and centre, and projection_mask.png, marking where the map sits on the page. The full-precision .npy colour file ships only with Equirectangular.
Choosing the map centre#
The longitude at the centre of the map is yours to choose, so an ocean or a continent need not be cut in half.
- In the globe workspace's Flat view, drag the map sideways. A
Centre N°readout beside the view switch shows the centre, with Reset to return to 0°. - In Export globe, drag the projected preview sideways, or type a Centre longitude from -180 to 180. Reset returns it to 0°.
Both set the same centre, so the flat view and the export agree.
Map style#
Map style chooses Satellite, Parchment or Paper atlas. In the section editor it is the first control in the Colour group. In Export globe it is the Style row.
- Satellite is the colour render.
- Parchment and Paper atlas print fine contours and shaded relief into textured paper. Paper atlas adds a translucent colour wash printed into the paper under the lines.
Paper maps of the globe#
A paper-style globe export prints the contours, the coastline and the hillshade in the chosen projection, with a graticule, a neat line tracing the map's outline and an optional Title on open paper at the top. Every line keeps an even width across the page, whatever the projection does to scale.
Paper globe maps draw base cartography only. Settlements, roads, place labels, the legend and the scale bar are section features. Night lights cannot be exported with a paper style and reads Not available with paper styles.
Section paper maps#
With Map style on a paper style, the section editor's Colour group swaps its colour controls for ink controls. Changes apply on the next render: Re-render to apply changes.
| Control | Default | Range | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ink opacity | 78% | 0 to 100% | Overall ink coverage. Lower values reveal more of the paper. |
| Ink fade | 25% | 0 to 100% | Wears the ink unevenly across the paper fibres. 0 keeps an even impression. |
| Contour levels | 24 | 0 to 100 | Evenly spaced elevation levels between sea level and the highest terrain. 0 keeps the coastline only. |
| Line weight | 1.00× | 0.25 to 4× | Thickness of contours and coastlines relative to the page. Apparent weight holds across preview and export resolutions. |
| Hillshade strength | 55% | 0 to 100% | Strength of the relief shadows under the contours. 0 leaves the contour drawing alone. |
The Settlements band, open by default:
| Control | Default | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Cities | on | Ring-and-dot symbols for settlements of 100,000 people or more. |
| Towns | on | Small solid symbols for settlements of 5,000 to 99,999 people. |
| Minimum population | 5,000 | The smallest settlement drawn, from 5,000 up. |
| Settlement spacing | 1.0× | Larger gaps show fewer settlements, keeping the most populous first. |
| Symbol size | 1.80× | Enlarges city and town symbols without changing lines or roads. |
| Symbol prominence | 80% | Darker, less worn symbols with clearer paper around them. |
| Settlement symbols | 100% | Strength of all settlement symbols. 0 hides them. |
Below the band, Major roads (default 100%) draws solid lines for routes joining two cities, and Minor roads (default 70%) draws thin dashed lines for other road links. Major road thickness and Minor road thickness set their widths independently, from 0.25 to 4×.
Settlement symbols and roads come from a saved Night lights bake, which places the cities and towns of a baked settlement scenario and the roads between them. Without one there is nothing to draw. See Settlement and night lights.
Four more bands refine the sheet:
- Rivers and lakes: Authored rivers, Include tributaries, Authored lakes, Minimum river catchment, River thickness, Water ink opacity, Lake fill, Lake outline weight and Water ink (Muted blue or Sepia).
- Elevation details: index contours with their interval and weight, Label index elevations, Summit spot heights and Summit spacing.
- Woodland, marsh and desert: Woodland tree fill, Marsh symbols, Desert symbols, Tree symbols (Mixed trees, Conifers or Broadleaf) and the land-cover symbol spacing and size. Trees and reeds follow authored land cover; desert marks follow desert climate classes.
- Map furniture and labels: Map title, Map border, North arrow, Scale bar, Map legend, Latitude / longitude grid with Grid interval, and Place names with Label size, Label spacing and Add place name. North and coordinates need a georeferenced map; the scale bar needs a recorded physical extent.
Dayside remembers the paper controls for each world and section on this machine, so they survive reopening the editor.
Transparent overlays#
A section export in a paper style offers four transparent layers, for building a map in a compositor or layering ink over another render:
| Layer | What it holds |
|---|---|
| Rivers + lakes · transparent | Authored water in the current water styles and filters. |
| Contours · transparent | Contours and coastlines at the current line weight and ink settings. |
| Hillshade · transparent | Relief shadows only, at the current hillshade strength. |
| Contours + hillshade · transparent | The combined terrain ink, with no paper, colour wash, roads or settlements. |
They write at the export's output size, so they register with the colour and height layers. See Exporting.