Resources & Help

Flat mode lets you paint each region a completely independent colour — just click a region on the canvas and pick a colour. There is no shared category or numeric scale.

Best for: country maps coloured by political party, a hand-crafted thematic map, or any situation where each region needs its own custom colour.

Define named tags (e.g. "Republican", "Democrat") with assigned colours. Then assign each region to a tag. All regions with the same tag get the same colour automatically.

Best for: election maps, region-type classification, categorical comparisons. The legend shows one entry per tag.

• Add or rename tags in the Color panel.
• Multi-select regions (Ctrl+click) and assign a tag in bulk.
• Use "Category Presets" to instantly apply well-known geographic groupings.

Enter a numeric value for each region (e.g. GDP, population, temperature). The app maps your values onto a colour gradient — low values get the start colour, high values get the end colour.

Best for: choropleth maps, statistical data, any continuous numeric dataset.

• Adjust the gradient stops (colours and positions) in the Color panel.
• Use "Apply Scale" to auto-set the gradient range from your actual data.
• Import values in bulk from an Excel file.

Define conditional rules — e.g. "value > 50 → red", "value < 20 → blue". Each region's colour is determined by the first matching rule (rules evaluated top to bottom).

Best for: threshold colouring, traffic-light maps, classification by bands. Works with the same numeric values as Gradient mode.

• Add rules with the + button, drag to reorder.
• Regions with no matching rule use the default colour.

The Color tab contains the full colouring workflow: mode selector (Flat/Tag/Gradient/Logic), tag definitions, gradient stops, logic rules, and the value entry grid. Everything that controls what colour each region gets.

Lists every region on the map. Each row shows the colour swatch, short label, long name, and a visibility toggle (👁). You can:

• Search regions by name.
• Rename — click the name field to edit the short abbreviation or the long name.
• Hide / Show regions — hidden regions are excluded from exports.
• Isolate — select regions and click "Isolate Selected" to dim all others to 20% opacity. Great for focused presentations.

Controls the visual appearance of the map canvas:

• Map Theme — choose from built-in light/dark/ocean/satellite themes that set the canvas background and font style.
• Default Element Color — paint all regions this colour (useful to reset before applying data).
• Border / Stroke — colour, width and opacity of region borders.
• Labels — show short or long labels on each region, set font size, colour, and background opacity.

Two sections — Text on Map and Map Pins.

Text: Click + Add Text to place a draggable label on the canvas. Select it to edit the text, font, size, colour and formatting (bold/italic/underline/strikethrough).

Pins: Choose a pin type (teardrop, dot, star, flag, diamond, square), then click + Add Pin. Each pin can be renamed, recoloured via its swatch, and resized by dragging the corner handle. Pins scale with map zoom.

All export controls:

• Legend — show/hide, snap to corner, choose Light / Dark / Blur style.
• Background — None (transparent), White, Dark, or Theme colour.
• Export Area — Full Canvas (auto-fits the entire map) or Viewport (exactly what you see).
• Include Legend / Labels — whether to bake them into the image.
• Resolution — 1× screen, 2× sharp (default), 4× publication-quality.
• Export PNG / Export SVG buttons.

Open the Annotate tab (right panel), then click + Add Text. The label appears in the centre of the canvas. Click and drag it to reposition. Select it in the list to edit text, font size, colour, and formatting. Click anywhere else on the canvas to deselect.

After adding a pin, it appears in the Pins list. Each row shows:

• Colour swatch — click to open the colour picker for that pin only.
• Type emoji — click to cycle through the 6 pin shapes.
• Name field — click to rename (defaults to "Pin 1", "Pin 2" …).

On the canvas, select the pin and drag the grey dashed corner handle left/right to resize. The pin scales with map zoom so it stays the same size relative to the geography at any zoom level.

Yes — both are saved in every format:

• .cmmproject — full data, restored exactly on import.
• Excel (.xlsx) — the "Annotations" sheet contains all overlays with a type column (text or pin) and pin-specific fields (pinShape, pinSize).
• PNG / SVG — annotations and pins are rendered directly into the image.
• Share link — all overlay data is embedded in the URL.

The resolution multiplier is shown as 1× / 2× / 4× to the left of the Export PNG button.

• 1× — screen size; fast, small file. Good for quick previews.
• 2× — default. Sharp on retina screens. Recommended for presentations and social media.
• 4× — publication quality. On an iPhone 15 Pro (393px wide) this produces a 1572px-wide PNG — suitable for print.

Border stroke width is automatically compensated so borders look the same thickness at all scales.

SVG is a vector format — infinitely scalable with no quality loss. Choose SVG when:

• You need to print at very large sizes.
• You want to edit the map further in Figma, Illustrator, or Inkscape.
• The file will be displayed on a website where zoom/scale is unknown.

Use PNG when you need a raster image for documents, social posts, or platforms that don't support SVG.

Full Canvas — auto-fits the entire map to the frame before exporting. You always get the whole map regardless of current zoom/pan.

Viewport — exports exactly what you can see at the current zoom and position. Useful for zoomed-in regional exports (e.g. export just the north-east states of the USA map).

A .cmmproject file is a JSON snapshot of your entire project — all region colours, tags, gradient stops, logic rules, annotations, pins, legend position, theme, and export settings. Import it on any device or browser to continue working exactly where you left off. It is the recommended format for backups and collaboration.

In the Export tab (right panel), toggle Show Legend ON or OFF. The legend also has an ✕ button on the canvas that hides it. On mobile, the Legend button (🗂) in the icon bar also toggles it.

In the Export tab, click one of the four corner buttons (↖ TL, ↗ TR, ↙ BL, ↘ BR) under "Snap to corner". You can also drag the legend anywhere on the canvas by its handle at the top.

Light — white background with dark text. Best on coloured or dark map backgrounds.
Dark — dark background with light text. Matches dark map themes.
Blur — frosted-glass effect. Looks great over complex map areas but may not render in all SVG viewers.

Click Import → Excel (.xlsx) in the top menu. The file should contain region IDs and values (or colours/tags). The app auto-detects the format. You can also Export to Excel first to get a template with the correct column headers for your chosen colour mode, then fill in your data and re-import.

Share link — click Share in the top bar. The map state is compressed into the URL. Anyone with the link sees the map as you left it.

Embed — click </> Embed. Copy the <iframe> snippet and paste it into any HTML page. The embedded map is interactive but read-only.

Fit resets the zoom and pan so the entire map is centred and fills the canvas area. Shortcut: F key. Use it whenever you've zoomed in or panned and want to see the whole map again.

Isolate — select one or more regions (Ctrl/⌘+click to multi-select), then press I or click the Isolate button. All other regions dim to ~15% opacity, making your selected area stand out. Shortcut: I.

Fit Isolated — after isolating, click Fit Isolated (or press F while isolated) to zoom to the selected regions exactly. Great for regional close-ups without hiding other regions entirely.

Select a region on the canvas, then press H or click the eye (👁) toggle in the Elements tab. Hidden regions are invisible on the canvas and excluded from PNG/SVG exports. To unhide, select the region from the Elements list (hidden regions appear with a strikethrough) and press H again or click the eye.

Lock prevents the map from being panned or zoomed by mouse/touch drag. This is useful when you want to click-paint many regions without accidentally panning. The map is still interactive for selecting and colouring — only canvas movement is locked.

Focus mode hides both side panels, the top bar controls, and the bottom status bar — leaving only the map and the title. Click the Focus button in the top bar (or press Esc) to toggle it. Ideal for presentations, screenshots, and screen-sharing where you want a distraction-free view.

• 1. Export template — click Import → Export Excel in the editor. This gives you a 4-sheet workbook with your map's region IDs pre-filled.
• 2. Open in Excel / Google Sheets — go to the "Element Values" sheet. Fill in the value column (numbers for Gradient/Logic) or color/tag columns for Flat/Tag modes.
• 3. Save as .xlsx — keep the same sheet names and column order.
• 4. Import — click Import → Excel in the editor, select your file. The map updates instantly.

Tip: region IDs like US-CA, DE, IN-MH are shown in the first column. Never change them — the importer uses them to match regions.

On screens ≤640px, the left and right panels are replaced by a 5-tab bottom bar:

• Color — mode selector, tags, gradient stops, logic rules, value entry.
• Elements — region list, search, rename, hide/show.
• Style — map theme, border, stroke, labels.
• Annotate — text labels and map pins (same as desktop right panel Annotate tab).
• Export — legend, background, area, resolution, PNG/SVG (same as desktop Export tab).

Tap a tab to expand the panel upward. Tap the panel header (▾/▴) to collapse it. Pan and zoom work with two fingers.

Yes. Tap the Export tab in the bottom bar. All export options are available — PNG at 1×/2×/4× and SVG. Tapping Export PNG opens the image in a new tab on iOS Safari, where you can long-press to save it to your camera roll or share it.