Schemify

An Open Source Schematization Tool by Geominds

Tutorial

Step 1 of 2 · Data

Data

Click to upload or drag a .geojson / .json file here

Or paste GeoJSON text

Or fetch a real metro network by city

Data via the Organic Maps Subway Validator (OpenStreetMap). Cross-origin fetches aren't guaranteed to work from every browser/network — if the direct fetch fails, use the fallback options.

Or paste a direct GeoJSON URL:

Shape

Angle snapping Simplify tolerance 1.5%

Higher = fewer points, blockier shapes.

Straightening strength 70

Higher = straighter, more rigid layout; lower stays closer to the real shape.

Minimum segment length 55%

Higher = fewer tiny, cluttered segments.

Cross-route merge tolerance 0%

Merges nearby points from different routes/lines that don't share exact coordinates — useful when routes were digitized separately. Leave at 0% for already-clean data (like the built-in city feeds); higher values can wrongly merge two genuinely distinct nearby stations. Standalone stations are always snapped onto a nearby line within a small fixed distance regardless of this slider, so they stay attached to their line when it straightens; raising this slider extends that same snap further for stops recorded well off the line.

Merge duplicate routes 0 m Match by

Merges two line features into one when they share this property's value and track each other closely enough over their whole length (worst-case gap, in metres, not average) — fixes the same route being exported twice (GTFS shape variants, OSM route relations split by direction) rather than just visually offsetting it apart. Off (0 m) by default; the more detailed of the two is kept.

Bundle shared corridors

When two or more routes run the same stretch, draw them as offset parallel lines instead of one overlapping line. Spacing is based on each route's stroke width, so thicker lines get more room.

Equidistant nodes

Spaces every stop the same schematic distance apart, ignoring real-world distance between them — closer to a classic hand-drawn transit diagram (e.g. the Vignelli NYC subway map) than a geographically-proportional one. Angle snapping and overlap spacing still apply on top.

Background

Canvas color

Style preset

Label style

Applies to every layer that hasn't been switched to a custom label style below (each layer's Label group has a "Custom style for this layer" toggle to opt out).

Label orientation

Follow line angle matches a label to the line it's on, closer to how printed transit maps set station names, falling back to horizontal for labels with no line to follow. Horizontal, Vertical, and Inclined instead force every label to that same fixed angle regardless of the line underneath it.

Size

Color

Style

Font

Buffer width

Buffer color

Node style

Applies to every layer that hasn't been switched to a custom size below (each layer's Station/Node style group has a "Custom size for this layer" toggle to opt out). Useful for shrinking markers on dense networks in one place.

Node size

Bundle interchange markers

Where two or more lines cross or terminate at the same point, draw one marker split into a colored wedge per line instead of stacking a separate overlapping dot for each.

Match line colour for snapped stations

Colors a station marker to match the line it's snapped onto, instead of the station's own layer color — useful when stations were loaded as separate point features and ended up with unrelated colors. Stations that aren't snapped to any line keep their own color.

Layers

Click a layer here, or use the Select tool on the map, to select and style it. Select a single stretch between two points to style just that segment. Use the Text tool to click a label directly.

How this works / why octilinear?

Real geography is messy — wiggly roads, uneven spacing. A schematic map (think subway maps) simplifies geometry, straightens lines, and snaps angles to a small set of directions (usually 45° or 90°) so the result reads cleanly at a glance, at the cost of true geographic accuracy.

This tool: simplifies each line/polygon (Douglas–Peucker), builds a graph of shared points, then iteratively nudges nodes so edges align to the snapped angles while keeping relative topology. At junctions with 3+ connections a perfect fit isn't always possible — this is a fast heuristic, not a full constraint solver, so busy junctions may land a few degrees off-grid.

Open Style & layers (left rail icon) to recolor, re-weight, and relabel each layer — or a single segment — once you're happy with the shape. Use the floating Pan / Select / Text tools on the schematic panel to switch between panning the map, selecting a layer or segment, and editing a label's text style.

For a full walkthrough of every feature in Schemify — the Shape controls, Style & layers, Split view, exporting, keyboard shortcuts, all of it — see the full Tutorial (opens in a new tab).

💡 Left rail: Data / Shape / Style & layers / Help. On the schematic panel, use the floating +/− zoom and the Pan / Select / Text tools — Select to click a line, station, or a stretch between two points; Text to click a label and edit its text style. Toggle 🔗 Sync zoom to move both panels together.

Original (projected & simplified)

Upload a GeoJSON file to begin

Schematic output — no data loaded

Map View

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About Schemify

Schemify turns real-world GeoJSON — transit lines, roads, boundaries — into clean, schematic maps in your browser: no server, no install, no build step.

Built by Ark Arjun for Geominds, released as open source under the MIT license. The Schemify logo is also designed by Ark Arjun.

City network samples are fetched from the Organic Maps Subway Validator, built on OpenStreetMap data.

Label fonts: Sans-serif, Serif, Script, and Display are Manjari, Rachana, Chilanka, and Keraleeyam respectively, by Swathanthra Malayalam Computing (SMC); Monospace is JetBrains Mono by JetBrains. All are released under the SIL Open Font License.

Source code on GitHub — issues and pull requests welcome.

Style file format

Import/export uses a plain JSON file with the canvas background color, layer draw order, and each layer's style — colors, widths, dash pattern, node/label settings (including the new text style options), and any per-segment overrides. Layers are matched by name, so a style file exported from one dataset can be reused on another with matching layer names.

Report a bug

This opens a prefilled issue on github.com/arkarjun/Schemify — you'll need a GitHub account to submit it. Basic diagnostics (browser, layer count, angle-snap mode) are added automatically; your map data is never sent.

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