Choose a layer type

Icon Map Lite draws your data with data layers. Each layer type suits a kind of data and needs its own set of fields. This page helps you pick one, and explains the guide that appears on the map when your fields do not match a layer yet.

The layer guide over the map, titled What kind of map are you making, with a tile for each layer type — The layer guide: one tile for each kind of map

Pick by what you want to show

You have	You want to show	Use
Points (a longitude and latitude per row)	A marker per place, sized or colored by a value	Circles
Points	A picture, a text badge or an emoji per place	Images and icons
Many points close together	Groups that open up as you zoom in	Clusters
Very many points	Where they concentrate	Heatmap
Many points, or cell IDs	Totals in a grid of hexagons or squares, or in shapes you upload	Cells: H3 hexagons and grids
Points	A value as the height of a 3D bar	3D columns
Pairs of points (origin and destination)	Connections, flows and arcs	Lines
Pairs of points along shared streets	Lines side by side, like transit lanes	Routes
Shapes stored in your data as text	Polygons and lines from WKT or GeoJSON	Shapes from data (WKT and GeoJSON)
A country, state or province code or name per row	Countries, states and provinces colored by your data, with no file to upload	Shapes from files and built-in boundaries
A code or name per row, and a boundary file	Your own regions colored by your data	Shapes from files and built-in boundaries

The fields each layer needs

Every layer needs * ID (required). The table lists what each needs in addition.

Layer	Fields it needs	Switch in Format pane > Data Layers
Circles	Longitude (X), Latitude (Y), Circle Size	Circles
Images and icons	Longitude (X), Latitude (Y), Image / WKT / GeoJSON holding an image (not needed when Image Source is Text or emoji)	Images / Icons
Heatmap	Longitude (X), Latitude (Y), Heatmap Weight	Heatmap
3D columns	Longitude (X), Latitude (Y), Column Height	Columns
Cells, from coordinates	Longitude (X), Latitude (Y), Cell (H3/S2/A5/Geohash) Weight	Cells (H3/S2/A5/Geohash)
Cells, from cell IDs	The cell ID in * ID (required), and Cell (H3/S2/A5/Geohash) Weight	Cells (H3/S2/A5/Geohash)
Lines and routes	Longitude (X), Latitude (Y) for the origin, Destination Longitude, Destination Latitude	Lines
Shapes (from data)	Image / WKT / GeoJSON, holding WKT or GeoJSON text	Shapes (from data) WKT / GeoJSON features
Shapes (from files)	Feature Reference, matching a property of each shape in the file or the built-in boundaries	Shapes (from files) GeoJSON / Shapefile / KML / IMDF

Clusters are an option of the Circles and Images layers, with an optional Cluster Group field. Routes are a Line Shape of the Lines layer, not a separate layer.

Icon Map Lite reads no images from the web. In the Images layer an image is a data: URI or SVG markup held in your data, or the word pin for a map pin. See Images and icons.

Fields a layer needs you to leave empty

A row is drawn by a layer only when it leaves the fields of other layers empty. For example, a circle row must not have a destination, a heatmap weight or a feature reference. This matters when one table feeds several layers. See How Icon Map Lite works and Combine several layers in one map.

The layer guide: "What kind of map are you making?"

While you edit a report, Icon Map Lite checks whether your rows reach a layer. When none do, it shows the layer guide over the map so that you are not left with a blank visual.

When it appears

What you see	When
The full guide, over the map	There is data, but no row is drawn by any layer that is turned on. This includes when only the ID is added, and when fields are added without an ID.
A small notice, with the map still visible	Some rows are drawn, but a layer that is turned on is missing fields. Select See what each layer needs to open the full guide, or Dismiss to hide the notice.
Nothing	Every turned-on layer has what it needs, or there are no rows at all (for example, a filter returns nothing).

The guide appears only while you edit. Report readers in reading view never see it, and it stays closed while the license page is shown. Closing it hides it until the situation changes.

Read the guide

The top of the guide explains in one or two sentences what is missing. Under Your fields it lists the fields you have added. Then come nine tiles: Circles, Images & icons, Heatmap, 3D columns, Cells, Lines & flows, Shapes (from files), Shapes (from data) and Combining layers.

Each tile shows how close you are:

On the tile	Meaning
Closest match	The layer type your fields fit best.
Fields ready or All fields ready	You have added every field this layer needs.
A count of fields, such as 2 of 4	How many of its fields you have added.
On	The layer is turned on.

Point to a tile, or select it with the keyboard, to expand it. The expanded card shows:

Fields it needs, each ticked or marked as still to add, with a hint about what belongs in it.
Leave these empty on its rows, the fields that would send a row to a different layer. Fields you are using are highlighted.
Where the layer's switch is in the Format pane.
A button that opens the documentation page for that layer.

A tile in the layer guide expanded to show the fields the Lines layer needs and the fields to leave empty — An expanded tile: the fields a layer needs, and the ones to leave empty

Pick a layer

Select a tile to turn that layer on.

The layer's switch is turned on for you. Its settings are in Format pane > Data Layers.
If every row suits the layer you picked, the other data layers that were on are turned off, and the guide tells you which.

The Data configuration summary button at the bottom of the guide opens a summary of your rows and the layer each one was assigned to. All documentation opens the documentation home page.

Combining layers

The last tile, Combining layers, explains how to show several layer types on one map: keep the rows in one table, give each row only the fields for its own layer, and leave the others blank. Combine several layers in one map covers this in depth.

Need more help?

The bottom of the guide also links to Contact support, the Free getting started workshop, and the Custom basemap builder, which makes a custom basemap for street-level detail.

Tips and limits

Give each row either a Circle Size or a Column Height, not both.
3D columns are easiest to see with the map tilted. See View, zoom and projection.
Reference layers are not in this list because they do not use your data. See Reference layers overview.
Icon Map Lite has no layers that read from a link, such as vector tiles from a server, ArcGIS layers or catalog layers. For those, see Lite, Pro and Slicer.