Learn · Analysis · Lesson 6 of 7
A map picture and a video over time
You willA data layer’s map as a finished picture with its legend, credits and callouts, and a short video of its time slider.
Time3 min
Why it mattersA map for a report needs its legend, scale and sources on it; a video shows the change through the years in a few seconds.
Try it in Plotlay → Opens an example project with this lesson beside it. Nothing to install.
Steps
- In Analysis, choose a coloured data layer and Map picture. It shows the map as it is now, with the legend, a scale bar and the credits.
- Under What it shows, choose Use the map as it is now after moving the map to frame what matters.
- Under Callouts, choose + A callout, pick a shape and type a few words.
- Under Dots for each unit, choose a count (students) for one dot per unit inside each shape.
- Choose PNG for the picture, or Video for the time slider played through, the year large in the corner. Frames (zip) gives each year as a picture.
Tips
- Imagery is quietened so the colours stand out; Washed out makes it as pale as a printed map, Warmer shifts it towards a printed map’s cream, and unticking Quiet imagery keeps it in full colour.
- To hatch some shapes over their colour (a vertical school whose land is not compared), use Hatch in the data layer’s Colour section: it shows on the map, in map pictures and videos, with its own legend row.
- Under Words, Title set in CAPITALS sets the title as drafting offices do; a board has the same choice for its titles and headings.
- Outlines are drawn by size, so small parcels at city scale stay readable; choose Thin, Normal or None under the map picture’s options.
- Under A sentence for each frame, write a sentence with formulas in braces, {sum(students, opened >= "2015")}, worked out again for each year of the video.
- Google, Mapbox and Nearmap imagery can’t go into exports under their terms: the picture leaves it out and says so. Choose another base map, such as NSW imagery or a street map.
Common mistakes
- A video from a layer with no time slider: link a long table (a year, a date or an hour) first.
Words in this lesson
- Layer
- A group of things in a project, listed in the Layers tab. A hidden layer is left out of the plan, 3D and documents until you show it again.
- Elevation and section
- An elevation is a side of the house, or a wall from inside, drawn straight on. A section is a cut through the building along a line you place.
Related lessons
Summarise a data layer over timeRead a coloured data layer’s numbers beside the map, and watch them change as the time slider moves.3 minSnapshots and a one-page briefKeep charts and numbers as snapshots, lay them out on a board, and export it as a PDF, PNG or PowerPoint.4 min
Steps checked in the app on 8 November 2026.