How to turn your route into a map poster
You did the hard part out there, so this part should be the fun one. The Poster Studio turns the route of your hike, ride, run or road trip into a personalized map poster, and this guide walks you through it from start to finish. Bring in your route as a GPX file from your watch or an app like Strava, Garmin or Komoot, import a trip from Polarsteps, or simply type in the places you went. Then choose a layout, add your markers, titles and colors, and check every detail before it goes to print.
Your route file stays on your device the whole time, and the studio remembers your design in this browser, so you can stop and pick it up again whenever you like.
Before you start
You need one of two things: a file with the track you recorded (a GPX, KML or KMZ from your watch, phone or planning app), or simply the places you visited. For the second, a Polarsteps export or a CSV works, or you can type the places straight into the studio. No file at all is fine.
The studio runs in your browser. Your route file is read on your device and never uploaded to us; only the finished design goes with your order. A laptop or desktop gives you the most room to work, but it works on a phone too.
Open the studio from the Open the studio button at the top of the site. You'll see your poster on the left and a panel on the right. The dark strip on the far right lists the five steps: Trail upload, Layout, Markers, Titles & stats, and Color. You can move between them in any order and change your mind as often as you like.
Get your trail on the map
The Trail upload step gives you three ways in.
- Every twist and turn — upload a GPX, KML or KMZ and the poster shows your exact path, bends and all. Best for hikes, rides, runs, paddles: anything you tracked.
- Connect the dots — upload a CSV, KML/KMZ or Polarsteps file with just the places you stopped, and the studio joins them with clean lines. Best for road trips, backpacking routes, honeymoons.
- Add them by hand — no file? Search for each place and add it right here in the studio.
Uploading a recorded track (GPX, KML, KMZ)
Click the GPX · KML / KMZ box and choose your file. The trail appears on the poster straight away, framed to fit, and the panel shows the file name with the distance and number of points it found. If you picked the wrong file, click Clear and try again.
When the trail is on the poster, click Next: Layout → or pick any step from the strip on the right.
Working with stops
If you upload a list of places instead of a track — from Polarsteps, a CSV, or by hand — the panel shows each stop as a numbered card, in the order you visited them. The poster draws a line from stop to stop.
Uploading a Polarsteps trip
Choose the CSV · KML / KMZ · Polarsteps box and pick the trip.json from your Polarsteps export. The studio reads every step and puts them on the map.
Polarsteps trips usually have a step for every day, so several steps land in the same town. The studio spots these and combines them so you don't get five circles on top of each other. A note at the top of the panel tells you exactly what it combined; click Got it once you've read it.
Adding a stop that's missing
It's common for the first or last stop to be missing: the airport you flew into, or a place you passed through without logging it. To add one, type it into the Search for a place… box at the top of the panel and pick the right result from the list. The new stop is added to the end of your list.
To put it where it belongs, use the ↑ and ↓ arrows on the card to move it up or down the list. The line on the poster redraws as you go.
Tidying up your stops
Each card has a few controls.
- × removes the stop.
- Via keeps the stop in the route but takes the circle and label off the poster. Handy for a place you drove through but don't want to call out, or a duplicate you want to keep so the line bends the right way.
- The Road dropdown sets how you traveled that leg: Road, Train, Flight, Boat or Cycle. Flights, for example, are drawn as a dashed line.
- Edit opens that stop's marker so you can rename it, pick an icon and move the label. More on that under Markers.
Adding places by hand
With no file to upload, click Add them by hand and use the same search box to add your places one by one, in the order you visited them. Everything above about arrows, Via and travel mode can still be applied.
Layout
This is where you choose how the poster is built.
- Style — choose the look of your poster:
- Original is clean and minimalist, the design style we started with.
- Pathfinder has a small twist in that it adds a row of stats under the title.
- Explorer frames your adventure's stats, giving them center stage.
- Orientation — portrait or landscape. Try both, it's one click.
- Size — switch between US sizes in inches and EU sizes in centimeters, then pick the size best suited to your space.
- Hillshade — soft terrain shading. Turn it off for a flatter look, or use the slider to dial the strength down.
- Country borders — show or hide international borders.
Markers
Markers call out the places that mattered: where you camped, the summit, the spot where you said yes. Click + Add marker and a new marker appears in the middle of the map, with its editor open in the panel.
- Type a name in the box at the top. You can use two lines.
- Pick an icon. There's a good range: tents, peaks, waterfalls, boots, hearts, rings, trains, planes and more.
- Choose an icon color from the palette, or Other… for your own.
- Label position determines where the label is placed relative to your chosen icon. Place it so it doesn't sit on top of your trail or other near by markers.
- Icon size and Text size make the marker easier to read on a big print; Label distance nudges the name closer or further away.
- Pointer line draws a thin line from the name to the icon, useful when the label has to sit a little away from a crowded spot.
Then drag the marker to exactly where it belongs. You'll see a small "moved" note with an Undo if you overshoot. To change a marker later, click it on the map or click its card in the panel. The × on the card removes it.
If you uploaded a list of stops, every stop already has a marker. Edit on a stop card brings you here with that marker selected.
Titles & stats
Give the poster its name. The Title is the big line at the bottom, up to two lines. The Subtitle sits under it, and in the Original style there's a third Detail line. Leave any of them blank to hide it.
In the Pathfinder and Explorer styles the detail line is replaced by stats: up to six little icon-and-value pairs, such as distance, elevation gain, highest point, date, days, or steps. Tap the icon to change it, type the value, and leave a value blank to hide that stat. The studio doesn't fill these in for you, so use whatever numbers your app or watch gave you.
Color
Start with a palette. Landscapes are named after the regions and stones (Tuscan, Outback, Cascadia…), Trending is a smaller set of current favorites, and Originals are our classic five. Click one and the whole poster updates.
Want it a shade different? Open Customize colors. Shuffle colors gives you fresh takes on the palette you picked; choose Muted, Balanced or Bold to set how far it wanders, and Surprise me if you'd rather it roam across all the palettes. Click the padlock on any color you want to keep and only the unlocked ones change. You can also open a single color — background, water, trail, text or borders — and nudge it lighter or darker. Every shuffle is checked so your trail and text stay readable in print.
Framing, preview and zoom
The map on the poster isn't fixed. Drag it to move your trail around the page, and scroll to zoom in and out. Uploading a new file frames it for you, so you only need this if you want a tighter or wider view.
Preview (top right) opens the poster large, exactly as it will print. Zoom (bottom right) magnifies the poster on screen so you can check small labels; slide back to Fit when you're done.
Check it and order
When you're happy, click Add to cart →. Before anything goes in your cart, the studio shows you the poster one more time at the size and orientation you chose. Every poster is made to order, just for you, so this is the moment to check spellings, label positions and the date. Continue editing takes you back; Looks good — add to cart puts it in your cart, and from there checkout is like any other order.
Good to know
Your design is saved as you go. Close the tab, come back next week in the same browser on the same device, and it's still there. We keep it for 90 days. Apple removes the design after 7 days.
Start Over (in the Trail upload step) clears the route and markers so you can upload something else. Your titles, layout and colors stay, so a second poster in the same look is quick.
The studio didn't recognize a place. Try the town rather than the trailhead, or the nearest landmark, then drag the marker to the exact spot.
Polarsteps combined stops you'd rather keep separate. Search for the place and add it again; it goes in as its own stop and you can move it into position with the arrows.
Getting a file out of your app. Most watches and apps (Garmin, Suunto, Strava, Komoot, AllTrails, Polarsteps) let you export a GPX or a trip file. We're putting together a separate guide with the steps for each; in the meantime, if you're stuck, send us a message and we'll point you in the right direction.
Anything else? Get in touch — we're two people and we read everything.
What file formats can I upload?
GPX, KML, KMZ, Polarsteps exports, and CSV files all work. Not sure what you've got? Send it our way and we'll happily let you know if it'll work.
Does my route file get uploaded to your servers?
Your file never leaves your device — and that part we're genuinely proud of. When you add a route file to the Studio, it's read and processed right there in your browser. The original is never sent to us, never stored, never seen. We couldn't open it if we wanted to, because we don't have it.
What does reach us is the design itself, and only when you click Add to cart — we need it to print your poster. That's your style, colors, titles, markers, and a simplified drawing of your trail. Enough to print, and nothing more.
Before we store it, we strip out everything the poster doesn't need: the timestamps from your recording, any heart rate or cadence data, the track name, the start time. What we keep is the shape of the line, not a record of where you were and when. And no name, email or address is attached to it — those go to Shopify at checkout, separately.
Do I get to see a proof before it's printed?
The preview you see in the Studio before checkout is your proof — so once you place the order, you're approving the design and are telling us it's ready to print, and we won't send anything else after that.
How long until my poster arrives?
There are two parts to the journey: making it, then getting it to you. A poster you design in the Studio goes straight to print the moment you order, and production usually takes 2–5 business days. Once it's on its way, delivery is typically 3–20 business days depending on where you are. These are our best estimates rather than guarantees — customs, carriers, and local delivery networks can all add a bit of time here and there.
Can I return my Studio poster if I change my mind?
A poster you design in the Studio can't be returned for a change of mind. Because it's made to your specifications — even something as small as adding a title or date — it's personalized just for you, so consumer law doesn't give a change-of-mind return on it.
Here's the important part, though: that doesn't leave you unprotected. If anything's actually wrong with your poster — it arrives damaged, faulty, or not matching what you approved — you're fully covered. That's a separate right, and it never goes away. The full detail is in our Studio & Custom Orders policy.