Publisher FAQ

Who is behind Cartahaven, and where are you based?

Cartahaven is an independent business based in Pennsylvania, USA. The Terms name the operator.

Are you launched?

Yes. The store is live at cartahaven.com and the map app at app.cartahaven.com. The app runs on any phone in the browser, installs to the home screen, and works fully offline once a map is downloaded. Native Android and iPhone app store versions are in progress and planned for early 2027.

How big are you?

We launched this fall and are onboarding our first independent publishers now, so early publishers get real attention and featured placement. The catalog already has more than 80,000 maps, mostly free official maps such as USGS topos and agency maps, which bring hikers and hunters in.

How will you bring buyers to my maps?

• Search: guides and place pages written for what hikers and hunters actually search for (season dates, units, trails), each linking to the maps that cover them.
• Free official maps as the front door: people come for a free USGS or agency map and find paid local maps for the same area.
• Social media posts featuring publishers’ maps.
• Your own customers: a store page, an embeddable store card for your website, and printable QR signs for trailheads, counters and the back of paper maps.
• Followers and editions: anyone can follow a map and is emailed when a new edition is out.

What does it cost?

Publishing is free: no monthly fee, no setup fee. On each paid sale Cartahaven keeps 20% of the price (at least $0.50); card processing is included, so you keep 80%. Free maps cost nothing to list. Sales tax collected at checkout is separate. We give at least 30 days’ email notice before raising the fee.

How do I get paid?

Through Stripe: your share goes to your Stripe account on each sale and Stripe pays it to your bank on its normal schedule. No minimum, no request needed. Sales, payouts and downloads are in your dashboard with CSV export. Payouts are US-only for now; buyers can be anywhere.

Who sets prices?

You do, per map or in bulk. You can also sell bundles, use promo codes and access codes, and offer paid upgrades for major new editions (minor updates are free to past buyers).

Do I keep my copyright? Is it exclusive?

You keep your copyright. We get a non-exclusive license to host, preview and deliver your maps. Publishing is non-exclusive: keep selling anywhere else. Unpublish any time; that stops new sales, and past buyers keep access.

Do you change my files?

We never change the map itself: its content, georeferencing and quality stay as you made them. Paid maps are delivered to buyers encrypted and unlocked only in the Cartahaven app for the account that bought them.

How are my maps protected after someone buys them?

• Encrypted delivery tied to the buyer’s account. Each paid map has its own key. The app gets it only for the signed-in account that owns the map, keeps it on that device so the map opens offline, and unlocks the map only in memory. A copied file is useless without the key.
• “Licensed to” marks. Prints and PDF exports of a paid map carry “Licensed to” the buyer, an order reference and cartahaven.com, and a small label shows in the corner while it is open, so a leaked copy traces back to the account it came from.
• Watermarked previews. Before buying, people only see a lower-resolution, watermarked preview that can’t be used to navigate.
• A personal license. Buyers get a personal, non-transferable license; sharing or reselling is prohibited by the Terms.
• Duplicate detection and takedowns. Uploads are checked for exact copies, other publishers’ copies raise an alert, every map page has a “Report this map” link, and we take down copies.
• The honest limit: no protection stops someone photographing a screen, and a determined expert can attack any app. The goal is that copying is hard and traceable.

Do you tile maps like Avenza?

No. The original GeoPDF is delivered to the buyer’s app (encrypted, for paid maps) and drawn on the device, so it keeps its full quality, layers and legend, and works offline.

What happens to buyers’ maps if Cartahaven shuts down or is sold?

• Maps already on a buyer’s device keep working offline, with no expiry.
• If Cartahaven ever closes, we give at least 60 days’ notice by email and make unlocked copies of every paid map available to the accounts that bought them, so nobody loses what they paid for.
• If Cartahaven is sold, the buyer of the business must honor all existing purchases and publisher agreements.
• Publishers keep their copyright and their files throughout; nothing is exclusive.

This is in the Terms.

Where are the full terms?

The Terms of Service (the publisher section covers the license, fees, payouts and takedowns) and the publisher page (how selling works, with a fee calculator).

How long does setup take?

About 5 minutes for a live store page. Drop a folder of GeoPDFs (up to 500 MB each); georeferenced files become drafts with their coverage read from the PDF. Coming from Avenza, the importer copies your listing details from your public Avenza store page. Nothing goes live until you publish.