Eduard

Eduard is a specialized application for cartographers, focusing on the creation of beautiful and accurate Swiss-style shaded relief images for maps. It is available as a feature-rich desktop application for macOS and a cloud-based version accessible through modern web browsers, catering to different user needs and operating systems. The tool has received recognition, including awards from the Swiss Society of Cartography and the International Cartographic Conference.

A core feature of Eduard is its use of machine learning to generate Swiss-style shaded relief from digital elevation models within seconds. Cartographers can define the overall direction of illumination, with the tool intelligently adjusting local light directions to enhance details and emphasize landforms. It also supports map rotation, allowing the shading and illumination to align with specific map orientations.

Eduard provides advanced capabilities such as aerial perspective to control mountain prominence and generalization to adjust terrain detail based on map scale. Users can download elevation data from various global sources or import common elevation file formats. The macOS version further extends functionality with layers, masks, and curves, enabling complex adjustments to opacity, blending modes, contrast, and brightness, along with blurring or sharpening effects.