PaperGlobe 🪄🗺

PaperGlobe is a Python utility that will transform an image of the Earth to a template that you can cut and assemble by yourself.

If you’re unsure about command-line apps or Python, please visit paperglo.be, where you can generate images online.

Of course you’re not limited to the Earth, you can use any other planet or quasi-spherical object as a source, as long as its surface is projected in the correct way. The image of the planet must be a cylindrical projection. Right now it works with Equirectangular, Mercator or Gall stereographic projections. PaperGlobe could work with any other projection, but the results won’t make you so happy.

Using PaperGlobe

Installation

PaperGlobe is neatly served as a Python module.

First off, you have to have Python 3 installed on your machine. Then, these three commands will setup the script:

python3 -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate
pip install https://github.com/joachimesque/paper-globe/archive/refs/tags/v0.1.1.zip

Once the script is installed in the virtual environement, you need an image.

wget https://github.com/joachimesque/paper-globe/raw/main/earth.jpg

The script can then be run with:

paperglobe earth.jpg

If the command paperglobe is not recognized by your shell, you might have to run the Virtual Environment activation command:

source venv/bin/activate

Options

--projection, -p

This option lets you choose between three map projections:

• --projection equirectangular (by default)
• --projection mercator
• --projection gall-stereo

--size, -s

This option lets you choose between two paper sizes for printing the template:

• --size a4 (by default)
• --size us-letter (which uses wizard measurements)

Contributing

Code

After cloning the repo on your machine, you have to set it up:

python3 -m virtualenv venv
source venv/bin/activate
pip install --editable .

Before submiting a PR, be sure to lint your code with black.

Template files

The template files are provided in the .afdesign format, which is authored by Affinity Designer. Please do not hesitate to suggest a better, free alternative.

The templates

I (@joachimesque) created the templates in 2012, inspired by the “Sectional Globe - earth's axis, 23.4 degrees” by GeoGrafia. The templates have been hosted on joachimesque.com/globe since that time. I originally released the templates under a Creative Commons By-NC-SA 2.0 fr, but I now updated the licence of the templates to a Creative Commons By-NC 4 International license: the templates generated by this software do not need to be shared under a "Share Alike" license anymore, to avoid potential problems if the image used is copyrighted.

The template source files (*.afdesign) are shared under a CC By-NC-SA license.

Important: a template generated through this tool can not be used for commercial purposes. If you want to use this tool, or templates generated through this tool for educative/academic purposes, you are most welcome to do it. The template is absolutely free to use, and should always stay free.

As mentioned on the templates, GeoGrafia’s globes are cheap and neat, you should really consider buying one if available.

License

This software is released under the GNU AGPL v3 license, unless otherwise mentioned.

The image earth.jpg is in the public domain in the United States because it was solely created by NASA. Please see the source for more information.