Press Kit

Everything you need to know to write about Print Your Track, the iPhone app that turns a GPX file into a 3D-printable model of the terrain you crossed, ready to order a real print.

In public beta and awaiting App Store approval.

The app has been submitted to Apple, but there is no confirmed release date yet. Journalists can try it today through TestFlight: install Apple's TestFlight app, then write to press@topoprint.ch and open the invitation on the iPhone. If the invitation does not open or asks for a redemption code, reply to the same address and we will send a new one. No GPX file is needed for a first look: the app includes eleven example routes.

Print Your Track

3D-print your GPX adventure

Boilerplate

Three lengths, written to be quoted as they stand.

One line

Print Your Track turns a GPX file from a hike, ride or run into a 3D-printable model of the terrain you crossed.

Short — about 60 words

Print Your Track turns any GPX track into a 3D-printable terrain model. Import a route, set the print size, terrain padding and vertical exaggeration, then preview the result in 3D or in AR before printing it at home or ordering it from a printing service. Before anything is uploaded, the app strips timestamps and other metadata from the file on the iPhone.

Long — about 130 words

Print Your Track is an iPhone app that turns the GPX file of a hike, ride or run into a physical object: a topographic model of the landscape the route crosses, with the track itself raised along the top.

You import a file or pick one of eleven example routes, then set the print size, how much terrain to keep around the route, and how much to exaggerate the elevation — a flat valley ride needs more than an alpine climb. The finished model can be viewed in 3D, placed in the room in AR, downloaded, or sent to a printing service.

Privacy is handled before upload rather than after: the app removes timestamps and other metadata on the iPhone, so only route geometry, elevations and the track title ever leave the device. Models made in the app stay out of the public gallery on topoprint.ch.

Screenshots

iPhone, 1320 × 2868, in English and German. Click any image for the full-resolution file, or take the whole kit as a ZIP (about 6 MB — both language sets, the app icon and a plain-text fact sheet).

A terrain model with a route on it, shown in augmented reality on an iPhone in a real room. — **Video:** the AR preview — a model placed in the room at its real size, before anything is printed. The relief shows a track near Morschach.

A terrain model of a route in the Scottish Highlands, a custom label along the edge of the disc, shown in augmented reality on an iPhone. — **Video:** a route in the Scottish Highlands — terrain outside Switzerland, and a custom label along the edge of the disc. The relief shows a track in Perth and Kinross.

An iPhone showing the augmented-reality preview of a terrain model on a table, beside a physically printed terrain model. — **Video:** side by side — the AR preview on the table next to a model that has actually been printed. The relief shows a track near Laterns.

A single-color printed terrain model on a table, beside the same model shown in color as an augmented-reality preview on an iPhone. — **Video:** the same hike twice: first the augmented reality preview, then the actual printed version. The relief shows a track near Vorderthal, at the Wägitalersee.

English

The route on the map with the print area around it: print size, terrain padding and vertical exaggeration. (English) — The route on the map with the print area around it: print size, terrain padding and vertical exaggeration.

The finished print, with its dimensions, an AR preview and a checkout link to a printing service. (English) — The finished print, with its dimensions, an AR preview and a checkout link to a printing service.

The model in 3D — terrain, water and the route raised as a ridge along the top. (English) — The model in 3D — terrain, water and the route raised as a ridge along the top.

The print area over satellite imagery: everything inside the square ends up in the model. (English) — The print area over satellite imagery: everything inside the square ends up in the model.

German

The route on the map with the print area around it: print size, terrain padding and vertical exaggeration. (German)

The finished print, with its dimensions, an AR preview and a checkout link to a printing service. (German)

The model in 3D — terrain, water and the route raised as a ridge along the top. (German)

The print area over satellite imagery: everything inside the square ends up in the model. (German)

Making of

A terrain model in green, orange and blue filament being printed, the nozzle working across the half-finished relief on the printer bed. — **Video:** a timelapse of the Wägitalersee model being printed — terrain, route and water in separate filament colors. The app produces the file; the printing happens on a printer of your own or at a print service.

Fact sheet

Name	Print Your Track
Subtitle	3D-print your GPX adventure
Developer	Stephan Heuel, Topoprint.ch
Platform	iPhone, iOS 17.0 or later
Category	Lifestyle
App price	Free
Try it now	Install TestFlight, then write to press@topoprint.ch and open the invitation on the iPhone. Reply to the same address if the invitation does not work; eleven example routes are included, so no GPX file is needed
AR videos	Screen recordings of the AR preview, all in MP4 format: the Swiss Alps, the Scottish Highlands, the preview beside a printed model, and a print beside its own preview at the Wägitalersee
Making-of video	A timelapse of a model being printed, MP4, not a screen recording
Maker Pass	CHF 8 for a month, CHF 20 for a year. Both are non-renewing: they do not auto-renew. A pass unlocks larger print sizes, colored 3MF downloads and custom disc labels, and helps cover cloud processing costs. These are launch prices and are subject to change after launch.
Physical print	Paid separately. As a guide, the filament for a multicolor 20 cm model costs less than CHF 10 on a printer of your own. For orders outside Switzerland, costs can range from about CHF 20 for a single-color 10 cm model to more than CHF 100 for a multicolor 20 cm model, depending on material and volume.
Languages	English, German, French, Italian
Age rating	4+
Bundle ID	`ch.topoprint.printyourtrack`
Website	topoprint.ch
Also on the web	Print Your Track in the browser, and the Topodisc Designer for Switzerland
Support	topoprint.ch/faq.html
Privacy policy	topoprint.ch/privacy.html
Status	In public beta. Submitted to Apple and awaiting App Store approval; no confirmed release date yet.
Press contact	press@topoprint.ch

What it does

Import or share a GPX file. From Files, or shared straight into the app from another app — plan a tour in the swisstopo app or record one with Pedometer++, export it as GPX, and it comes straight in.
See the print area before you generate the model. The route is shown on the map inside the square that will be printed — over satellite imagery if you want to see the landscape beneath it.
Set size, padding and exaggeration. Print sizes from 10 cm to 30 cm, adjustable terrain around the route, and vertical exaggeration from none to dramatic.
Process high-resolution terrain worldwide. Outside Switzerland, Topoprint processes digital elevation models through Mapterhorn, which brings together around 148 open national elevation datasets. Depending on the local source, resolution can reach sub-metre detail; where no finer national dataset is available, it falls back to Copernicus GLO-30 at about 30 m.
Preview in 3D and in AR. Turn the model on screen, or place it on a real table at its real size before printing.
Print it or order it. Download the model, or send it to a printing service from inside the app.
Metadata stripped on the device. Timestamps and other metadata are removed on the iPhone before upload; only the route geometry, elevations and title are sent.
Eleven example routes on five continents, for trying the app without a file of your own.

Printing, ordering and costs

The app creates the digital model. The physical print is a separate step and a separate purchase.

Create the model in the app, then download the print file for a printer of your own or send it to an independent printing service from the app.
The cost depends mainly on the model size and whether it is printed in one or several colors. Doubling the side length means at least four times as much material.
A multicolor model uses four colors. That is a property of the printers themselves: a consumer multicolor 3D printer can feed a small, fixed number of filaments, and four is the usual count. So every part of the model is assigned to one of four groups — the ground, the water, everything built on it, and one accent color reserved for the subject of the print, your track or a highlighted building. Roads and buildings therefore share a color and are told apart by their height, not their hue. Printing in a single color is always possible, and assigning new colors can be done too.
As a guide, the filament for a multicolor 20 cm model costs less than CHF 10 on a printer of your own. For orders outside Switzerland, costs can range from about CHF 20 for a single-color 10 cm model to more than CHF 100 for a multicolor 20 cm model. These are indicative prices and depend on material and volume; the binding price is shown by the printing service before ordering.

Printing services

For customers in Switzerland, the app uses Swiss company Teil3 as its preferred printing service. For customers elsewhere, it uses CraftCloud, a Germany-based service that brokers orders to production partners around the world. Topoprint creates the digital model, while the physical object is made by the owner of a 3D printer or by the selected independent printing service.

Brand assets

Free to reproduce in coverage of the app. The two model shots are supplied with transparent backgrounds, so they drop onto whatever background your layout uses. Please do not recolor the app icon or set it on a background other than its own orange.

The app icon, 1024 x 1024. Use it as supplied, on its own orange.

A 3D-printable relief of the Matterhorn area with a hiking route raised along the top in orange. — What the app produces: a GPX route raised on the terrain it crosses (Hörnliweg, Matterhorn).

A multicolor 3D print of the Landwasser Viaduct: green terrain either side of the valley, the gray viaduct spanning it. — A printed model from topoprint.ch — same pipeline, printed in several colors (Landwasser Viaduct, made with the Topodisc Designer, not with the iPhone app).

Print Your Track
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Topodisc Designer
#D23B3B

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Data and credits

Inside Switzerland the models are built from swisstopo data — swissALTI3D for the terrain, swissBUILDINGS3D and swissTLM3D for buildings, bridges and water.

Elsewhere Topoprint processes terrain through Mapterhorn, which brings together around 148 open national elevation datasets. Resolution depends on the local source: up to sub-metre where available, with Copernicus GLO-30 at about 30 m as the fallback. Water bodies and the road and rail network come from Overture Maps. There are no buildings and no bridges outside Switzerland; see the FAQ for what that means for detail.

The app and the service are built by Stephan Heuel (@ping13@swiss.social). More on how the models are made is available on his blog.

Contact

Press enquiries, review access and anything this page does not answer: press@topoprint.ch.