streets
The city
The block grid, the one-way streets, the shortcut through the park.
1:10 000
Hand-drawn maps
drawthe way.
A hand-drawn map-making and travel-journal app — sketch maps, plot routes, and journal the places worth remembering.
● plotting · coastal chart
01
How it works
Three steps. No cartography degree required.
/ 01
Find your place
Pick a city, a coast, or a mountain — carTO pulls the real base map and streets.
/ 02
Draw the line
Trace your route or landmark with a pen that feels like ink, on paper that looks like paper.
/ 03
Fold it up
Print on archival paper, share it, or fold it into your pocket and go.
02
Everything but the folds
Draw more, fight your tools less.
Real ink feel
Pressure-sensitive strokes that bleed and settle like a pigment liner.
True north
Automatic declination, so your map is actually pointed the right way.
Route planning
Plot a walk, see the distance and the climb, then go do it.
Print-ready
Export at true scale for archival giclée printing, fold lines included.
Community maps
Browse maps other drawers made, and remix them with credit.
Anywhere on earth
Base maps for cities, coasts, mountains — or a blank sheet if you'd rather.
03
The atlas, up close
Sheets in progress, from our drawers.
04
The drawn city
Every block, from an angle.
Isometric maps show a place the way memory does — from above and a little to the side. carTO builds one from your streets, then lets you ink over it.
now drawingold town · block 4
live
05
The slow line
One map, drawn by hand.
the desk, before the ink
06
Four sheets
Each one a place we couldn't stop drawing.
contours
The ridge
Twenty meters between lines, and every one of them earned.
1:25 000
tide
The coast
Where the land stops and the water starts keeping score.
1:50 000
trail
The forest
Dashed lines through the pines, confidence-rated.
1:25 000
From the desk of Ines Marchetti
A map is a memory with north on it.
I drew my first map because I kept getting lost in a city I was born in. The street names didn't help — the feeling of the place did. So I started drawing the feeling.
Ten years and a thousand sheets later, the lesson is the same: a good map doesn't tell you where to go. It tells you what it's like to be there. The rest is just lines.
So here's the invitation: pick a place you love, or one you're trying to understand. Draw it. The map you end up with is yours in a way no GPS pin ever will be.
Ines MarchettiFounder, CARTO
07
By the numbers
Live, from our backend.
128k
maps drawn
62k
places marked
410k
km of route
19k
mapmakers
08
Loved by mapmakers
People who finally found their way.
★★★★★
"I've tried every map app. carTO is the only one that feels like sitting down with a real pen."
Marta K.Urban sketcher
★★★★★
"The isometric city view is unreal. It's how I actually remember my neighborhood."
Devon R.Cartographer
★★★★★
"I printed my route on archival paper and framed it. It's the hike and the memory in one."
Ana L.Trail runner
09
The roadmap
Where we're going.
Q3 2026
Hand-drawn map engine + print export, live in beta.
Q4 2026
Community maps and a public atlas of shared sheets.
Q1 2027
Field-note sync — GPS track, then ink over the walk.
Q2 2027
carTO print studio: archival paper, shipped folded.
10
Questions, answered.
Do I need to know how to draw?+
No. carTO gives you a base map to trace over. The drawing is the fun part, and mistakes look better on paper anyway.
Can I print my map?+
Yes. Export at true scale for archival giclée printing, fold lines and all.
Is it a real map or a sketch?+
Both. The base is real cartographic data; your line on top is the sketch.
Does it work offline?+
Yes. Base maps and your sheets are stored locally, so a trail map works where there's no signal.
Is it free?+
Yes — the core map engine and drawing tools stay free after launch.
Can I share a map?+
Yes. Publish to the community atlas, or keep it private and print one copy.
Your place is already worth drawing.
draw the way.