Designing Maps for Retina and High-DPI Displays

Retina and high-DPI displays require special consideration to ensure maps look sharp and professional. Understanding high-DPI requirements helps create maps that display perfectly on modern screens.

In this guide, we'll explore how to design maps for Retina and high-DPI displays.

High-DPI Display Considerations

High-DPI displays require:

• Higher resolution — More pixels per inch
• Sharp rendering — Crisp appearance
• Quality assets — High-resolution sources
• Proper scaling — Appropriate sizing
• Vector advantage — SVG excels

Design Approaches

SVG Advantage

SVG benefits:

• Infinite scalability
• Perfect at any resolution
• No pixelation
• Always sharp

Best for: High-DPI displays, any resolution

Raster Considerations

Raster approach:

• 2x resolution for Retina
• High-resolution exports
• Appropriate DPI
• Quality maintenance

Best for: When raster is required

Best Practices

Resolution Planning

Planning:

• Consider target displays
• Plan for high-DPI
• Quality assets
• Future-proof design

Testing

Testing:

• Test on high-DPI displays
• Verify sharpness
• Check quality
• Ensure appearance

Tools and Resources

• World in Dots — Generate high-quality maps
• Design software — High-resolution export
• Testing tools — Display testing
• Design guidelines — Best practices

Final Thoughts

Designing maps for Retina and high-DPI displays ensures sharp, professional appearance on modern screens. SVG format and proper resolution planning create maps that look perfect on high-DPI displays.

Ready for high-DPI? Design with resolution in mind and create sharp maps for modern displays today.