Getting Started with Ultimaps Studio

This guide walks you through your first map in Ultimaps Studio: pick a base map, color it, adjust the look, then export it or publish it as an interactive map. You can start without an account. Sign up when you want to save your work or publish.

1. Pick a base map

Go to studio.ultimaps.com. You land on Pick a base map, with popular maps at the top and the full catalog grouped by region below.

Type in the search field to find a map quickly. Search understands region types too, so "Texas counties", "France" or "ZIP codes" all work. For this guide, pick United States — States.

A dialog opens with the map's available versions. Maps with more than one version show "2 options" (or more) in the catalog. Select the one you want and click Open in Editor.

2. Choose how to start

The Studio opens with your blank map and a panel titled How do you want to start?

At the top, Canvas Size sets the shape of your map. Fit map matches the map's own outline and is a good default. Pick 16:9, 1:1 or 4:3 if you already know where the map will go, for example a slide or a social post. You can change this later.

Below that, choose one of three ways to color the map:

• Color Manually if you want to pick the colors yourself.
• Upload File if your data is in a spreadsheet.
• Use AI if you want to describe the map in plain language.

Each option is covered below.

3. Color your map

Import a spreadsheet

Use this when your data is already in a CSV, an Excel file, Google Sheets or Notion. Each row should be one region (a state, a country, a county) with the values you want to show.

1. Click Upload File.
2. Keep the Regions tab selected. (The Locations tab is for pins: addresses or coordinates.)
3. Drop your file into the upload area, or paste a Google Sheets or Notion link under Import from URL and click Import.

Not sure how to lay out your file? Download the XLSX template or CSV template from the same screen.

The Review Data screen shows how many rows matched a region on the map. Region names are matched automatically, including common abbreviations and spelling variants. Rows that were corrected or not found are flagged so you can fix them.

Your columns are sorted into three cards:

• Regions: the column used to match rows to the map.
• Visualize: the column that colors the map. For numbers, choose Color Gradient or Separate Colors under How to visualize numbers, and pick a Number Format.
• Import Only: extra columns you want to keep for tooltips, popups and links, without coloring by them.

Click Apply to Map.

The map colors itself and adds a legend. Ultimaps picks the palette and the value range for you, so the first result is ready to use. Text values, like sales rep names or party names, get one color per category instead of a gradient.

To move the legend, click it once to select it, then drag it to a new spot.

The data in these screenshots is the U.S. Census Bureau's 2024 median household income by state (American Community Survey, 1-year estimates).

Color regions by hand

Use this for simple maps where you choose the colors yourself, like a map of the states you've visited or the countries your company operates in.

1. Click Color Manually. The paint tool turns on by itself. You'll find it in the toolbar under Paint Regions.
2. Click any region on the map to fill it.
3. To change the color, click the color dot next to Fill in the toolbar and pick a new one from the Palette, or use Pattern or Custom Color.

To clear a region, hold Shift and click it, or switch to the eraser next to the paint tool. Press Escape to go back to the selection tool.

Every color you use appears in the Legend section of the Regions tab under Unnamed colors. Type a name next to a color (for example, "Visited") to add it to the map's legend.

Describe it with AI

Use this when you'd rather describe the map than build a spreadsheet. You can paste data into the prompt or ask the AI to generate it.

1. Click Use AI.
2. Type what you want. For example:

Create a map titled "Sales Territories Q1". John Smith: California, Oregon, Washington, Nevada. Sarah Jones: Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska. Mike Brown: New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Florida, Georgia. Add a pin for our headquarters in New York City.

3. Click the arrow button to send it.

You'll see the same review screen as a file import. If your prompt includes pins, there's a second step for them. Check the matches and click Next, then Apply to Map.

The AI colors the regions, builds the legend, and adds the title and pins you asked for. Everything it creates stays editable.

AI can't add, remove or split regions, or combine two base maps. If you ask it to generate data, double-check the numbers before you share the map. Each prompt uses one AI request: 20 per month on the Free plan, 500 on Pro.

4. Adjust the look

The default style works well, so this step is optional.

The left rail has three panels: Map, Map Style and Interactive Settings.

Open Map Style to:

• Pick a Theme. Click any thumbnail to apply it. Paper is the default. Try Dark, Vintage or Outline for a different feel. Changing the theme replaces your current map styles, so use Undo if you want them back.
• Change the Aspect Ratio of the canvas, for example to fit a slide or a print page.
• Set the Default Region Style (the fill and border for regions you haven't colored) and the Outer Border Style, including effects like shadows.
• Turn Region Labels on or off. Labels are on by default. You can show them only for colored regions, and on a map colored by numbers you can show the data values too.

If you imported numbers, open the Map panel. On the Regions tab, Choropleth Settings let you:

• Swap the Color Palette.
• Change the Type from Gradient to Steps or Groups.
• For Steps and Groups, pick a Break Method (Pretty, Equal Interval, Quantile, Jenks Natural or Custom), set how many steps you want, and edit each range by hand.

You can also work directly on the map. Click a region label, the legend or a text element to select it, then drag it to move it. Selected labels and text get a small toolbar for size, rotation and style.

5. Export your map

Click Export in the top right corner and choose an option:

• Free download: a PNG at screen size, with a small "Made with ultimaps.com" watermark.
• Professional: a 24-hour pass for this map. You get a high-resolution PNG (six times the screen size) plus SVG and PDF, with no watermark. You can keep editing and re-exporting the map for 24 hours, and the files are yours to use commercially. It costs €12.50, one time, with no subscription.

If you export maps often, the Pro plan gives you unlimited watermark-free exports on every map. See pricing.

6. Share an interactive map (optional)

Every map is also an interactive map. When you share it, viewers can hover over regions to see their data. Publishing needs a free account.

1. Click Share and Embed in the top right corner. The canvas switches to a preview of how your map looks when it's shared or embedded.
2. Hover over a region to check the tooltip. Region tooltips are on by default and show the region name and its value.
3. Click Publish. You'll get a link to share and a View Embed Code button with an iframe snippet for your website. Pasting the link into Notion, WordPress, Ghost or Substack also turns it into a live embed.

Click Exit Preview to go back to editing. Maps stay private until you publish them. To show a published map in the Community gallery, turn on List in Community gallery.

To change what viewers see, open Interactive Settings in the left rail. There you can edit the tooltip text (click the pencil next to Content), change how regions react on hover, add popups that open on click, or link regions to web pages.

Save your work

Once you're signed in, the Studio saves your map automatically as you edit. As a guest, your map isn't saved to an account. Click Sign Up to Save to keep it. Your maps are listed under My Maps.

What's next

• What is Ultimaps?: what you can make and what's included in each plan.
• How to color-code a map of the world: a full walkthrough of a hand-colored world map.
• How to create a US map with colored states: labels, legends, pins and export in more detail.