The best free CAD files of any area in the world

[sondos]

This data can serve several purposes beyond finding your home in Google Earth. For one thing, civil engineering relies on accurate location and topological information, from small projects to more challenging urban planning tasks.

On the non-professional side, Creative is playing around with freely available geospatial data. You've probably seen maps and landscapes 3D printed for educational purposes, cool decorations, and to celebrate challenging hikes.

For this article, we have selected his six tools that both enthusiasts and professionals use to get the most out of the geospatial and map data available online. All the programs and websites on this list can generate CAD editable files in 2D or 3D (including some free options).

If you want to make a great model of your hometown but don't have the chance to print it yourself, try All3DP's Craftcloud. This way you can take care of your local knowledge and leave the printing to the experts!

OpenStreetMap is 2D only, but provides various map layers, such as public transportation, and user-shared information, such as notes and GPS trace data. The tool is completely web-based, but edited maps can be shared online or exported as images, including formats such as SVG and PDF, for further processing in image editing software and CAD programs.

type:
2D map
Export options:
PNG, JPEG, SVG, PDF
price:
For free

CADMAPPER & Alternatives
tap the terrain
photograph:
tap the terrain
TouchTerrain is an open source tool for creating terrain models for 3D printing.
Developed by his two geologists at Iowa State University, TouchTerrain is an online tool that generates terrain model files specifically for 3D printing.

It was developed as a teaching tool to help students better understand complex landscapes and geographic structures in the classroom. 3D-printed terrain tiles are an important visual learning aid, offering far more perspective than his 2D static images in books.

TouchTerrain is free and relatively easy to use. Export settings include 3D printing parameters such as nozzle diameter, and formats are limited to STL and GeoTiff.

As an alternative, Terrain2STL is a very similar tool, but with a simpler user interface and slightly fewer options for exporting 3D models. Still, it's very reliable, clean, and a popular option among enthusiasts.

type:
3D terrain
Export options:
STL, Geotiff
price:
For free