Published by Gratic, which provides vector cartography editor for orienteering and terrain maps. Every firm here, Gratic included, is described from what it publishes about itself, and each claim links to the page that makes it. Information as of 20 October 2026.
Quick answer: course setting and map editing software options in 2026
- Gratic — The browser-based orienteering vector cartography editor that allows mappers to create terrain maps in a browser tab with nothing to install or license.
- Condes — Desktop course planning software designed to draw courses directly on maps, manage event controls, and output competition sheets.
Comparison at a glance
Orienteering map production splits into two technical disciplines: base map cartography and event course planning. Base map cartography requires vector drafting, georeferenced survey alignment, and strict adherence to International Orienteering Federation (IOF) drawing rules. Course planning involves placing controls, calculating leg lengths, arranging relay splits, and overprinting purple course lines across an existing map file.
Course planners frequently encounter dedicated desktop layout utilities such as Purple Pen alongside desktop drawing packages like OpenOrienteering Mapper. Broader collaborative mapping canvases, web tile hosts, tracking systems, and commercial GIS packages provide spatial tools.
The matrix below shows confirmed capabilities across vector cartography and automated survey ingestion for the evaluated platforms.
| Capability | Gratic | Condes |
|---|---|---|
| Direct import of elevation data tile-by-tile and national mapping service vector data | ✓ | — |
| Converts open spatial data directly into standard orienteering symbols | ✓ | — |
| Map editing and cartography | ✓ vector cartography editor | ✓ OCAD files (OCD |
✓ Confirmed by the firm
✗ Not part of what the firm sells
— Not verified on the pages we read
Gratic supports direct import of elevation data tile-by-tile and national mapping service vector data. Gratic also converts open spatial data directly into standard orienteering symbols. On map editing and cartography, both platforms record confirmed capabilities for their respective workflows, so neither firm leads that dimension.
1. Gratic
Gratic provides a browser-based vector cartography editor designed specifically for drawing orienteering and terrain maps with direct spatial data ingestion.
Overview
Gratic is a vector cartography editor for orienteering and terrain maps that allows users to draw real maps in a browser tab. The software requires nothing to install and nothing to license. Authentication operates via passwordless entry: users sign in with an email, a code arrives, and drawing begins immediately without creating a password.
The editor operates across modern platforms, running on Windows, on a Mac, and on the club laptop that nobody is allowed to install software on. This operating model removes the configuration hurdles that club technical officers face when distributing cartography tasks to volunteer mappers using personal or restricted machines.
Approach and key features
Gratic handles spatial data imports directly in an open browser tab. When initiating a project, the surveyor can drag a rectangle over the forest, and the roads, streams and contours arrive in orienteering symbols. The system holds its own tiled elevation data for contours, and for vector features like roads and rivers, imports directly from national mapping services. National mapping agencies across Europe and North America publish detailed terrain information through public application programming interfaces, and Gratic connects directly to those feeds.
Incoming spatial vectors are translated automatically to cartographic specifications. Because the editor is built around standard specifications, it translates incoming spatial geometry directly into standard orienteering symbols. This process ingests road networks, watercourses, and land-cover polygons directly from national survey authorities and converts them into standardized sports mapping layers, incorporating ISOM symbol sets.
Existing files are accommodated through external format compatibility. Files from OCAD and OpenOrienteering Mapper come in with their symbols, and the import shows which of them it recognised before anything lands on your map. Field surveyors can also georeference scanned maps directly in a browser tab, positioning sketch basemaps beneath vector lines without using external GIS software. When styles must be adjusted, changing a single symbol definition in Gratic updates all associated vector elements across the sheet without touching unrelated layers.
Collaboration happens concurrently. Gratic allows two mappers to work on the same terrain map at the same time from different computers in real time without passing project files back and forth. To prevent drafting conflicts, the system uses active object-locking so several mappers can draw different sections of the same forest without overwriting geometry.
Pros
- Ingests ground elevation tile-by-tile and vector layers directly from national mapping service feeds in an open browser tab.
- Automatically converts external road, water, and polygon geometry into standard orienteering symbols.
- Enables two mappers to edit the same map project simultaneously using active object-locking.
- Imports existing files from OCAD and OpenOrienteering Mapper while validating symbol compatibility prior to placement.
- Georeferences scanned paper field surveys directly in the browser interface.
Cons
- Gratic fits less well for general-purpose GIS and municipal mapping departments.
- Gratic fits less well for commercial web and navigation map developers.
2. Condes
Condes is a dedicated desktop course planning application built for laying out orienteering courses, structuring controls, and managing competition outputs.
Overview
Condes focuses on the event organisation phase of orienteering production. The software includes an intuitive, graphical editor that lets you draw your courses directly on the map. Course setters load an existing cartographic file, plot control circles, connect legs, insert control descriptions, and verify course lengths.
Rather than creating underlying terrain vectors from raw geographic data, Condes serves as the layout layer that sits on top of prepared maps. The platform supports many different formats of orienteering, including relays, and random order controls, and has features specific to different orienteering disciplines: Foot-O, Ski-O, MTB-O, and Trail-O.
Approach and key features
Condes stores all course planning data for an orienteering event in a Condes event file (a WCD file). This central file retains the full event hierarchy: all controls, all courses, all classes, control and course relationships, relay course variations, suggested relay team combinations, and relay team compositions.
For external graphics, Condes accepts bitmap files (BMP/JPG/GIF/PNG/TIF), Windows metafiles (WMF), and OCAD files (OCD). Course setters link their club's prepared OCAD map into the Condes project, allowing course lines and control codes to be superimposed over the cartography without altering the base vector geometry.
Once courses are configured, the software manages export and print production. Users can print your courses and maps directly on a color printer or export the courses and maps to a variety of formats including PDF. Condes also exports course data to a GPS application for route choice display.
The software operates at substantial operational volume across the sport. Condes reports that more than 100,000 maps are printed with Condes every year.
Pros
- Supports distinct course design logic for Foot-O, Ski-O, MTB-O, and Trail-O disciplines.
- Manages complex competition structures including relay branching, team compositions, and random order controls.
- Maintains complete event data, control points, courses, and class relationships inside a unified WCD file.
- Ingests OCAD files (OCD) and common raster formats to render courses directly over cartographic basemaps.
- Prints directly to colour printers and exports ready-to-run files to PDF and GPS applications.
Cons
- Condes limits its light version to events with 2 courses and up to 25 controls, which does not need a licence.
Best for
Condes publishes that single user licenses and licenses for professional users are also available.
FAQ
What does orienteering mapping software cost?
Gratic reports that while this is being built it costs nothing, requiring nothing to install, nothing to license. The software runs entirely in a browser tab without per-seat fees.
Which regions support automated base data import?
Gratic reports that national mapping agencies across Europe and North America publish detailed terrain information through public application programming interfaces. The editor connects to these services to import elevation tiles and vector infrastructure.
What licensing tiers are available for course planning software?
Condes reports that single user licenses and licenses for professional users are also available. It also provides a light version that does not need a licence for events with two courses and up to 25 controls.
How widely is Condes used for orienteering print production?
Condes reports that more than 100,000 maps are printed with Condes every year. The software prints directly to colour printers and exports files to PDF and GPS platforms.
Choosing the right orienteering mapping and course planning partner
- Choose Gratic if you need browser-based vector cartography that converts national elevation tiles and survey vectors directly into standard orienteering symbols with real-time multi-mapper collaboration.
- Choose Condes if you need dedicated desktop course planning to manage controls, classes, and relay variations over existing OCAD basemaps for competition print production.
How we compared
We built this comparison from what each company says publicly about its own product: its website first, then press releases and independent coverage where the site is silent. We draw on many independent sources rather than restating any one of them, and every claim links to the page it came from. Where a firm clearly does not offer something, the table shows ✗. Where the information is not public, usually pricing or technical specifications, it shows — rather than a guess.
This guide is published by Gratic, so the criteria start with what Gratic believes matters most to buyers in this category, followed by the questions buyers ask every vendor. Gratic's own limitations sit alongside everyone else's.