From engraved serving boards to wooden city maps on the wall, so much is possible when you know how to create a city map for your laser cutter. City maps are hugely popular and are exactly the kind of project perfect for lasers. You can quickly experiment with designs and cut them out with precision. Of course, you can buy a ready-made design via Etsy or another marketplace. But if you can create a map yourself from real map data, you open the door to truly unique designs. From your own birthplace to an obscure district in Tokyo: anything is possible.
In this blog, we'll show you what you can make, how to ensure your map is recognizable, and which materials work best. We'll also give you a brief introduction to the free tool you can use to create design drawings from real map data. In short: everything you need to know to start this project well-informed.
The Best Laser Project of 2026
Why is a city map such a strong project? Because it is personal, visual, and functional all at once. A wooden city map is a souvenir of a special place. It's a fantastic gift for someone moving, for a wedding, or simply as a beautiful way to immortalize your hometown as wall decoration.
But city maps are also a smart product to sell. They are popular on Etsy, in tourist shops, and museum shops. And precisely if you create maps yourself from source data, you have complete control over the design. You choose which area to cut out, how wide the roads are, which details to include or exclude. You create something that is not available off-the-shelf anywhere: a map that is exactly as you want it, of exactly the place that matters.
Laser cutting wood is the ideal technique for this. The laser cuts or engraves every shape down to the smallest detail. You can easily personalize and adjust design drawings. Master the process once, and you can vary endlessly.
From engraved serving board to wooden wall decoration: what can you make?
A city map doesn't just have to be on the wall. The beauty of a vector drawing of a map is that you can use it in many ways: cutting, engraving, large or small. These are the most popular applications.
City map as wall decoration
The most classic application is a laser-cut city map in wood or MDF as wall decoration. Use birch plywood 3 mm for a warm look or black MDF for a graphic effect. Optionally mount the map on a backing plate of mirror acrylic for depth and a luxurious look. The anthracite color works particularly well here.
Engrave a serving board with a city map
Engraving a serving board with a city map is currently one of the most popular gifts. Perfect as a housewarming gift, a gift for cohabitation, or an original Christmas package for colleagues. But also simply for a nice drink with friends: a personalized board with the map of your favorite city immediately makes an impression on the table.
Personalized city map as a gift
The power of a city map as a gift lies in its personal value. Not Amsterdam in general, but the street where someone grew up. Not Utrecht city center, but the neighborhood where you met. A city map of the birthplace, the city where someone is going to study, or the place of a special memory: it's always a hit. Popular occasions to give such a gift are a birthday, a wedding, a housewarming, or as a thank you for a departing colleague. With your laser cutter, you can easily add a name, date, or coordinates to the design. Personalized products sell better and justify a higher price.
Coasters, magnets, and souvenirs
Make a set of coasters with different cities or neighborhoods, fun to sell in a tourist shop or as a personalized gift. The same principle also works for refrigerator magnets, keychains, and serving boards. Wood that comes into contact with moisture or food must be varnished or oiled.
Wooden postcard
An engraved city map as a postcard is an original way to surprise someone, or a nice product for a museum shop. Use thin 0.5 mm birch plywood for a wooden postcard that fits through any letterbox. Or consider felt cardboard for a warm, natural look. For a sleek graphic look, museum board is a good option.
How do you ensure your map is recognizable?
A good map starts with recognizability. It is important that the cut-out, lines, and shapes are correct. Also, don't zoom in too far, otherwise, you'll lose orientation. How do you ensure that someone immediately recognizes which city or place it is?
Look at the water
Bodies of water provide the quickest recognition. Canals, rivers, and lakes are large shapes and unique to each place. They are also often an important part of a place's identity. Think of the canals of Amsterdam, or the Meuse in Rotterdam. Then you can also think of tourist attractions or places popular with your target group, such as a football stadium or a famous park.
Use narrow and wide roads
Do not use the same width for all streets. Create a visual hierarchy in your image by making main roads wider than normal streets. This makes the image more interesting and helps with the sturdiness of your map. Roads that are too narrow break off or deform during cutting, more on this later.
Practical formats
A common size is 30 x 40 cm, but also consider larger sizes if you want an impressive wall piece. Take into account the working area of your laser cutter and the sheet sizes you use. Do you want to sell maps? Many sellers deliberately choose sizes that fit into a letterbox package of 38 x 26 cm.
Minimum width of roads
Laser cutting can be done down to the smallest detail, but with very narrow parts, there is a risk that the material will break. The minimum width of a road on a map depends on the material, so you always have to test this yourself. Our guideline is:
- Wood from 1 to 5 mm thick: roads at least 2 mm wide
- 9 mm thick PET felt: roads at least 4 mm wide
Popular cities for a city map are Rotterdam, Amsterdam, Utrecht, and New York, but don't forget the smaller places. A map of a village or a specific neighborhood is truly personal to the recipient. A city map of the birthplace or the place where someone is going to live together is often even more valuable than one of a large city.
Create your own design drawing with these tools
As you know, you need a vector drawing for laser cutting or engraving. But how do you create one specifically for your city map? You can buy drawings for this online, but we also want to show you how to make them yourself. This way, you have full control over your product.
Don't worry, you don't have to redraw your map by hand. There are online tools that convert Google Maps maps into vector files. Here are three of them. Two are free, and you have to pay for the third.
QGIS: download free map drawing from Google Maps
We tested this tool ourselves, and we highly recommend it. Especially if you are looking for a free program. The interface doesn't look very modern, but it does what it's supposed to do. The principle is simple: you find the area, load the map data via a plugin called QuickOSM, adjust the layers to your wishes, and export the whole as SVG. You then open that SVG file in a vector program such as Inkscape (also free) or Adobe Illustrator, where you prepare it for your laser cutter.
Do you want the step-by-step guide to creating city maps with QGIS? Then continue to this tutorial.
Snazzy Maps: free tool for creating city maps
Another free approach is to work with Snazzy Maps. This is an online tool that allows you to fully customize a Google Maps style: you can turn layers on and off, change colors, and then export the map as a basis for your vector file.
We haven't used Snazzy Maps ourselves, but we did find a very clear tutorial from someone who uses it to create a beautiful 3D map. In this tutorial How To Make A Laser Cut Map (In 4 Easy Steps) you can read how to work step-by-step with Snazzy Maps.
Laser Map Maker: quickly get started making maps
Do you want to get started faster and don't mind paying for extra convenience? Then Laser Map Maker is an interesting option. This online tool automatically generates a cut-ready vector file of any city in the world. The free tools have a somewhat more complicated instruction manual. With Laser Map Maker, you can expect an easier interface and instruction manual.
Do you want the complete free step-by-step plan? In our extensive QGIS tutorial for laser cutters, we walk through the entire process step-by-step, from download to cut-ready file. [Read the tutorial here.]
Which wood do you choose for engraving and laser cutting?
The choice of material has a great influence on the final result. The most popular choice for a city map is 3 mm birch plywood, with its warm golden-brown cut edges. Do you want a cleaner, more graphic effect? Then black MDF is a good option. And for a premium look, veneered MDF in oak or walnut is worth considering.
We have extensively tested and honestly compared eight materials, from bamboo plywood to mirror acrylic as a backing plate. All about the differences, advantages and disadvantages, and which material suits which application can be read in our material comparison. [Read the comparison here.]
Selling city maps: where do you start?
Have you come up with a beautiful product and do you want to sell wooden city maps? Whether you start with personalized gifts among your friends, immediately build a webshop, or supply tourist shops and museum shops: an original design is always your biggest asset. Because you now know how to draw a map yourself, you have complete control over your design and product.
We are very curious about the beautiful city maps you are going to sell. And we hope to support you as best as possible with beautiful materials for lasers. Are you a beginner? Then take a look at a sample pack or starter pack. You can order all materials per sheet. As soon as your production grows and you need more material, you will automatically receive attractive volume discounts at Lasersheets.
Frequently asked questions about engraving and laser cutting city maps
What size do I use for a wooden city map?
A commonly used size is 30 x 40 cm. For an impressive wall piece, you can also choose 60 x 40 cm or larger. Do you want to sell maps by mail? Then consider letterbox package sizes; a letterbox package should not be larger than 38 x 26.5 x 3.2 cm with most postal companies.
Do I need an expensive vector program?
No. QGIS and Inkscape are both free and together sufficient to create a fully cut-ready file. Adobe Illustrator also works fine if you already use it.
How can I engrave a serving board with my own design?
To engrave a serving board with your own design, you create a vector drawing. You can create this in your laser software or any other drawing software you like to work with. Do you want to engrave a city map on your serving board? Then check out the tutorial where we explain step by step how to use a free tool to create a vector drawing for laser engraving of any place. [Link to tutorial.] Unfortunately, Lasersheets does not (yet) sell serving boards suitable for engraving.
Can I also make a map of a small village?
Yes, that is precisely one of the great advantages of working with OpenStreetMap data yourself. Every village, every neighborhood, and every city in the world is available, even the smallest places.
