From above, Cape Cod is a bent arm: it leaves the mainland at the Cape Cod Canal, runs east to the elbow at Chatham, then turns north and curls into a fist at Provincetown, with Cape Cod Bay held inside. The four posters below are built around that shape, from the whole arm down to the hook at its tip.
The maps below are real exports from the Carto-Art editor. Each one keeps its complete composition, framing, palette, typography and title, behind a customization link that loads it into the editor. Move the frame, change the title, or swap the colours, then download the result. The map data comes from OpenStreetMap, and the exports keep that attribution in the image.
The whole arm, canal to Provincetown
For a wide wall above a sofa or a bed, or anyone who wants the shape everyone recognises.
The frame runs from the Plymouth shore at the upper left, past Buzzards Bay and the thin line of the Cape Cod Canal, along the full length of the Cape to the Provincetown hook. Cape Cod Bay sits in the middle, enclosed by the arm. On the right, the outer beach runs south to Chatham and the narrow Monomoy islands, with open Atlantic beyond. The Elizabeth Islands and the eastern end of Martha's Vineyard fade out along the bottom.
There are no streets and no labels, so nothing competes with the coastline. The Coastal palette prints the water in deep teal and the land in warm cream, with faint green patches where there is parkland or forest. The title is set in a classic serif over Nantucket Sound, in a 3:2 landscape format.
The Cape and Islands in gold
For a hallway or a narrow wall, or a family that splits its summers between the Cape, Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket.
This portrait frame takes in the whole region. The Cape fills the upper half. Martha's Vineyard sits below it on the left, with the chain of the Elizabeth Islands trailing off Woods Hole. Nantucket is at the lower right, and Buzzards Bay and the mainland run down the left edge.
The Gold Standard palette turns the land near-black and the water dark navy, with the road network drawn in gold. The brightest line is the main highway running the length of the Cape towards Provincetown, so you can follow the drive from the canal to the tip. The islands carry only a few thin roads. The title is set in a condensed capital face with no backdrop, on the open water at the bottom of a 2:3 portrait.
The Provincetown hook
For a square frame, or anyone who has spent a summer in Provincetown.
This frame is just the tip of the Cape, where the land curls back on itself. The rounded end of the dunes is at the upper left, Long Point sweeps around Provincetown Harbor in a thin spit, and the town's streets pack the inner shore of the harbour. The highway crosses the dunes to the town, dune ponds sit between the roads, and the arm continues off the right edge towards Truro.
Streets are drawn without labels, so the curl reads as one clean shape. The Sage palette gives pale green-grey land and slate-blue water. The title is a modern sans set over Cape Cod Bay below the hook, in a 1:1 square.
Chatham and the elbow
For a house in Chatham, Orleans or Harwich, or anyone who knows the outer beach.
This is the elbow of the Cape at district scale. Orleans and its cove are at the top. Pleasant Bay opens in the middle, sheltered by the long barrier beach running down the right side. Chatham and its harbour sit at the lower right, and the Monomoy islands, which the US Fish and Wildlife Service describes as barrier islands stretching south off Chatham, run down towards the bottom. The ponds of Brewster and Harwich scatter across the left half, crossed by the highway as it curves north.
The Autumn Wash palette prints the land in a pale blush and the water in slate blue, with brown roads. Labels are off. The title is set in an antique serif at the bottom left, over Nantucket Sound and clear of Monomoy, with the centre coordinates under the subtitle. The format is a 4:5 portrait.
Make the map yours
Every map in this post can be changed. Work in this order:
- Set the framing. Decide which part of the arm matters most. If your place is on the Upper Cape, near Falmouth or Sandwich, pan the shoreline poster west so the canal and Buzzards Bay take more room. For Wellfleet or Truro, start from the Provincetown poster and pan south along the arm. On the whole-Cape poster, keep the Provincetown hook inside the top edge so the shape stays recognisable.
- Choose your colours. Pick a palette whose water reads as blue: Coastal, Sage, Autumn Wash and Gold Standard all do, while several other palettes turn water purple, which looks wrong on a map that is mostly sea.
- Add a title. Short titles fit best. Try a town name such as "WELLFLEET" or "ORLEANS", "OUR CAPE" with the years you have been going in the subtitle, or the name of the beach you return to every summer.
- Inspect the result. Look at small text, thin roads and the edges before exporting.
Downloading and printing your map
Carto-Art exports your map as a digital PNG image. You can print the file at home or send it to a print provider. A download does not include a physical poster or frame.
Choose your intended paper size before exporting and match the image's aspect ratio to the print: fitting a portrait image into a wider frame means cropping or borders. The shoreline poster is a 3:2 landscape, the Cape and Islands and Chatham posters are portraits, and the Provincetown poster is square.
The editor's print presets export at 300 pixels per inch, from a 12 inch long edge up to 36 inches. A 12 × 18 inch print, for example, needs a 3,600 × 5,400 pixel image. Check the dimensions of your downloaded file against your printer's requirements.
At print sizes, fine street labels are the first thing to become hard to read. If the small text matters, choose a tighter crop with fewer labels before exporting.
Free exports are available within the current plan limits and include a small cartoart.net watermark; Carto Plus removes the watermark and the export limits. Your account page shows what your plan includes.
Questions about your Cape Cod map
Are Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket on the map?
Both islands are complete on the Cape and Islands poster. The shoreline poster is framed on the Cape itself, so only the eastern end of Martha's Vineyard and the Elizabeth Islands show, fading out at the bottom, and Nantucket is out of frame. If you want the islands on a light palette, open the Cape and Islands poster and switch its palette.
Can I centre the map on my own town?
Yes. Open the poster closest to your town and drag the map until your town sits where you want it, then zoom in or out. The Chatham poster is the best starting point for Orleans, Harwich and Brewster, and the Provincetown poster for Truro.
Which poster suits a hallway, and which suits a wide wall?
The Cape and Islands and Chatham posters are portraits, so they fit hallways and narrow walls. The shoreline poster is a wide landscape for above a sofa, a bed or a sideboard. The Provincetown poster is square and works on its own or in a grid.
Will street names show at poster size?
None of these four posters print street names; they show the road network or the coastline only. For a single town with named streets you would need to zoom much closer, to a few kilometres across, and turn street labels on. Even then, check the small text before exporting, because street names are the first thing to become hard to read at print sizes.
Open the Cape Cod shoreline poster in the editor and make it yours, or start from a blank map of anywhere at cartoart.net/editor.
