Where the depths come from
The sea floor comes from GEBCO's global grid, EMODnet in European waters and GMRT, sampled for the frame you choose.
What you get
From the bottom:
- The deepest water, then 2 to 16 water layers, each cut away where the sea is deeper.
- Layer depths as on a chart: round feet (10, 20, 30, 60 ft…) or round metres (2, 5, 10, 20 m…), or even steps.
- Land: the sea cut out, with roads, up to 90 place names, route shields and a compass engraved.
- Sea, bay and strait names and depth ranges engraved on the water; an optional panel with the coast's name and figures.
Smoother edges
Contour smoothing (Off, Soft or Strong) softens the layer edges into flowing, carved-chart curves. It's applied when the plaque is built, so trying it costs nothing.
Framing is free. The preview of a new place costs 1 credit and its laser files 3 credits; after that, changing any setting and downloading again is free.
The files
You get one file per sheet, sized in millimetres, as SVG or DXF. Red hairlines are cuts, black fills are engraving and blue hairlines are scored glue guides, so map those three colours to three layers in LightBurn, xTool Creative Space, Glowforge or similar software. Text is already turned into outlines, so you don't need any fonts.
Every zip includes a README.txt with the design's size, sheet thickness, kerf, the layers from bottom to top and how to put them together.
Materials, kerf and settings
Most layered maps are cut from 3 mm (1/8 in) sheets: birch plywood or MDF for land, cast acrylic for water. Set the sheet thickness in the studio and the 3D preview and stack height follow it. Thicker sheets give deeper steps, but the stack gets tall quickly with many layers.
Set the kerf, the width of material your beam burns away, so pieces fit as drawn. To measure it, cut a 20 mm square from the material you'll use and measure it: the kerf is 20 mm minus what you measure.
Power and speed depend on your laser, lens and material, so run a test on scrap from the same sheet before cutting the real thing, and never leave the laser unattended.
Gluing it up
Work from the bottom sheet up. Sheets that reach the edge line up by their outer frame; loose pieces such as islands have a scored guide on the sheet below, set in a little so the piece covers the line once it's glued.
Use wood glue between wooden sheets and a glue that dries clear and won't fog acrylic (or double-sided transfer tape) on acrylic. Press the stack flat under weight while it dries.
Start from a famous place
Each link opens the studio there; pick your frame and generate.
Questions
Can I use this for navigation?
No. The depths are sampled and smoothed for a decorative piece; nothing on MyLaserMap is for navigation.
What about lakes near the coast?
Inland lakes are cut out of the land and show the top water sheet. For a lake's own depths, use Lakes instead.
Ready to cut? The assembly guide goes step by step from test cut to frame, and the FAQ answers the usual questions.