The 3D Globe Maker

Trans World Airlines. TWA World Routes. U.S.A. 1958 (David Rumsey Map Collection)

Map to Globe is an amazing website which can take any 2D map and turn it into a 3D interactive globe. Using Map to Globe you can take any image of a map (or any other image) and drape it over a three dimensional ball to create your very own interactive globe.

If you want to have fun playing with Map to Globe then I recommend browsing the David Rumsey Map Collection for world maps. The David Rumsey Luna Browser includes an export option for all maps, which allows you to download the image of a map to your computer (the Luna Browser filtered to only show only 'world atlas' maps). Map to Globe works best with images that have a 2:1 ratio, where the width of the image is twice the height of the image. For the very best results you might want to use a photo image editor to tweak any downloaded map into the correct ratio.

After you have created your interactive globe on Map to Globe you can download an animated gif of  your creation. If you select the 'Animations' option from the menu then Map to Globe will automatically generate an animated image showing your new interactive globe spinning around.