Export the map, share it with readers, and what phones can do

In one line: save the map as a PNG or as a .geomap, let readers see it on a public share page, and understand why a phone can look but not draw.

Two exports, two different jobs

Three buttons sit in the map's top-right corner: Regenerate, Clear Canvas, File. Both exports live under File.

	Export PNG	Export .geomap
What you get	A picture	A file you can keep editing
What is inside	Exactly what you are looking at	The terrain grids, every landmark, the lines, the names
What it is for	Dropping into an ebook, emailing an editor, a social post	Backups, moving to another book, handing the drawing to someone else
Filename	The map's title	The map's title

Before it writes the PNG, Slima drops the selection and redraws once, so the dashed selection outline never gets baked into the image.

Import .geomap replaces the current map with the file you pick, and unsaved changes go with it. You get asked first. Anything that is not a valid .geomap is refused with a message rather than half-loaded.

What readers see on a public share page

A map is shared the same way a chapter is: make a link, choose which files go public. That part is covered in Public share links.

On the reader's side the map is read-only, drawn on the same parchment. It takes a moment to draw, and while it does they see "Drawing the map…"; once it is drawn it stays put. What they can do is look:

• drag to pan
• hold Ctrl／⌘ and scroll to zoom. A plain scroll scrolls the page — deliberately, because the map sits in the middle of a reading flow and a reader's wheel usually means "next paragraph"
• on phones and tablets, one finger pans, two fingers pinch
• once they have moved the view, a Zoom to fit button appears in the bottom corner, and the current zoom percentage shows in the other one

If the file cannot be drawn, the reader gets "This map cannot be displayed" rather than an empty frame.

What readers do not get is the file's internals. The elements' internal ids and the encoded terrain data never reach the page.

On a phone you can look but not draw

That is on purpose. The map is a canvas you press-drag across and aim at individual cells; fingers on a small screen mostly produce mistakes. The timeline, which is also a structured file, is editable on a phone — do not carry the rule across from one to the other.

Keeping the map open while you write

You do not need two tabs. Zen Mode's Quick Ref window floats the map read-only next to your draft, so you can check which bank of the Luo the harbor is on without leaving the chapter. Details in The complete Zen Mode guide.

The map in version history

A map goes into version history like any other file. Comparing two versions does not give you a text diff: it gives you the two maps side by side, plus a line of summary telling you how many places, how many rivers and what percentage of the terrain changed.

When the AI edits the map

The AI's map edits do not land on their own. Open the file and a banner appears above the canvas with the number of changes waiting. Press Review and it expands into the same side-by-side comparison plus a plain-language line — "Added place: Salt Bridge". Then you Accept or Skip, or take the lot with Accept all in this file.

If you skipped an earlier change and a later one was aimed at something that no longer exists, that one is marked Outdated and its accept button is disabled. Skip it. The whole flow is in Reviewing the AI's edits.

Watch out for

• A map is structured data and never counts toward your word count. Exporting does not change that.
• What you share is that file as it stands. Anything you change on the map afterwards shows up when a reader reloads.
• If you want readers discussing a specific place, use comments rather than a PNG. See Comments and threads.

Related

• Docs: What a world map file is
• Docs: Paint terrain, place landmarks, draw rivers and borders
• Docs: Public share links
• Docs: What the recipient sees
• Docs: The mobile editor layout
• Docs: Browsing history and diffs