Schemify

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Updated: 27 August, 2026

Schemify turns a GeoJSON file into a schematic map, the straightened, angle-snapped look you see on subway and transit maps, directly in the browser. No server, no build step, no install. It’s a single HTML file that runs anywhere.

Why I did the project?

Schematic maps have always felt like they should be easier to make than they are. The idea behind them is simple: simplify the geometry, straighten the lines, snap the angles to a small set of directions, and the result reads at a glance in a way real geography never does. But actually producing one usually meant a GIS specialist and a proprietary tool. I wanted to see if that same idea could live entirely in a browser tab, open to anyone with a GeoJSON file. A working transit cartographer tried an early version in July 2026, and the feedback on how shared corridors were rendering directly shaped the route bundling and junction angle-quality work that followed.

Features

  • Upload, paste, or fetch a real metro/subway network by city (via the Organic Maps Subway Validator, built on OpenStreetMap)
  • Automatic simplification, graph building, and angle-snapped schematization (45 degree octilinear or 90 degree orthogonal)
  • Per-layer styling: color, width, dash pattern, opacity, junction and station markers
  • Custom in-page color picker with preset swatches and a Transparent toggle
  • Per-segment style overrides, so a single stretch between two stations can be styled on its own
  • Label styling: bold/italic/underline, buffer/halo, five font families with native Malayalam support
  • Undo/redo (Cmd/Ctrl+Z, Cmd/Ctrl+Y) across style, label, shape, and layer-order edits
  • Route bundling for shared corridors, plus a junction angle-quality pass for cleaner intersections
  • Import QGIS .qml layer styles, or Schemify’s own JSON style presets
  • SVG and PNG export
  • A diagnostics badge that surfaces topology adjustments like merged nodes and snapped stops

Try it Out

Live demo
Source Code
Read More On Schemify in my Medium Blog

Data upload modal of Schemify. You can upload your layer, fetch it from the OSM data from the Organic Maps subway validator directory

Data upload modal of Schemify. You can upload your layer, fetch it from the OSM data from the Organic Maps subway validator directory

Schemify generated Bengaluru’s operational metro network as of July 2026

Schemify generated Bengaluru’s operational metro network as of July 2026.

Schemify generated Bengaluru’s operational metro network as of July 2026 (with station labels).

Schemify generated Bengaluru’s operational metro network as of July 2026 (with station labels).

Tech
Language JavaScript, HTML, CSS
Framework Self contained HTML file
Database Postgress

Timeline

Published:July 2026
Status: Live

License

Open source under the MIT license, released through Geominds. Source on GitHub, issues and pull requests welcome.