Tactile Graphics and Tactile Maps: How They're Made
Tactile graphics are pictures made to be read by touch: maps, diagrams, charts and graphs with raised lines, textures and braille labels. A tactile map is one kind of tactile graphic. They are not raised copies of the print picture. A good tactile graphic keeps what matters, drops the rest and is laid out so fingers can follow it. In North America, the reference is the Braille Authority of North America (BANA) and its Guidelines and Standards for Tactile Graphics, 2022.
Below: how they are designed, the main ways to make them (swell paper, thermoform, embossers, collage and refreshable displays), tactile maps you can make for any address, and how to start reading them. Sources were checked on October 28, 2026.
Key points
- A tactile graphic is redesigned for touch, not copied. BANA's guidelines allow simplifying a print graphic as long as its purpose is kept, and say the reader's age and experience should shape the design.
- The common production methods are swell paper (also called microcapsule paper), thermoform, graphics embossers, hand-made collage and, more recently, refreshable tactile displays.
- Swell paper is quick: print the graphic, pass it through a heater, and the black areas rise. It gives only one height, and the paper costs more than plain paper.
- Thermoform copies a master onto plastic and is the usual choice when many copies of the same graphic are needed.
- APH's Monarch shows 10 lines of braille and tactile graphics on the same surface. It costs $15,500, so it's mostly found in schools.
- With Touch Mapper, a free website, you can make a tactile map of the streets around any address and print it on a 3D printer.
How tactile graphics are made: the methods at a glance
| Method | How it's made | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Swell paper | Printed in black, then heated so the black rises | One copy, made quickly |
| Thermoform | Plastic heated and pulled over a master | Many copies of one graphic |
| Graphics embosser | An embosser punches dots that form lines and areas | Graphics and braille on paper together |
| Collage | Textures glued by hand onto a base | Simple graphics for one student |
| Refreshable display | Pins rise and fall on a device | Graphics that change on screen |
Designing a graphic for touch
Fingers take in a picture a small piece at a time, so a design that works for the eyes often fails for the hands. BANA's guidelines start with a question: is the graphic needed at all? A diagram that adds nothing to the surrounding text can be left out. One that matters should not be dropped just because it's hard to render.
When the graphic stays, the transcriber decides what it's for and keeps that. A print map of a country full of cities, rivers and roads may become a map with just the outline and the three cities a lesson asks about. Labels become braille, and when there isn't room for them, letters or symbols are explained in a key. Different areas get textures that feel clearly different, and lines get different thicknesses or patterns so they can be told apart.
The full guidelines, with examples, are free from BANA as a tagged PDF and as a braille file (BRF).
Swell paper (microcapsule paper)
Swell paper is coated with tiny capsules that expand with heat. The graphic is printed on it in black with a laser printer or a copier, or drawn by hand, and then passed through a heater, a machine often called a fuser, such as the PIAF (Pictures in a Flash). Black absorbs more heat, so the black lines and areas rise and the rest stays flat.
It's fast and easy to fix: change the file and print again. On the other hand, everything rises to the same height, the special paper is fairly expensive, and the graphic wears down with use.
Thermoform
In thermoform, a sheet of plastic is heated and pulled down over a master by a vacuum, so it takes the master's shape. The master can be hand-made with different heights and textures. Making the master takes time, but each copy after it is cheap, which is why thermoform is the usual method for producing many copies of the same graphic.
Graphics embossers
A braille embosser presses dots into heavy paper. Some models also emboss graphics: lines and areas made of dots, sometimes at different heights, next to the braille labels. Not every braille embosser can do this. Our guide to braille printers covers models and prices.
Collage: tactile graphics by hand
A collage graphic is built by hand from materials with different feels. Materials APH suggests include felt, foam shapes, puff paint, textured paperboard, fabric and sandpaper for areas, and cotton string and cardboard strips for lines. It's a good way to make a simple graphic for one student, and it needs no machine. For detailed graphics, the other methods work better.
Refreshable tactile displays
A refreshable display raises and lowers pins to show braille that changes. The newest ones also show pictures. APH's Monarch, developed with HumanWare in partnership with the National Federation of the Blind, has 10 lines of 32 braille cells on one surface of pins that also displays charts, maps and graphs. It comes with an app from APH's Tactile Graphic Image Library, and APH publishes guides on preparing graphics for it. At $15,500, it is mostly a school device for now; our guide to refreshable braille displays compares it with single-line models.
Tactile maps
A tactile map shows a place by touch: a classroom, a building, a campus, a neighborhood or a country. Maps for getting around, which orientation and mobility instructors use, show streets, crossings and landmarks so a route can be learned before walking it. Maps in textbooks teach geography with outlines and textures. They are made with the same methods as any other tactile graphic.
Touch Mapper is a free website that makes a tactile map from OpenStreetMap for any address you type, with roads, buildings, railways and water. You can download the model to print on a 3D printer, or order a printed map, which the site says starts at 29 euros or US dollars.
Out in the street, blind people also read the ground and the walls: the bumps of truncated domes warn of a curb or a platform edge, and braille signage names rooms and floors. Braillito Maps, our free iPhone app, is a community map of accessible places where each place says whether it has tactile paving, braille signage or a braille menu, among other things. See Braillito Maps.
Reading tactile graphics
Reading a tactile graphic is a skill of its own, and teachers of blind students teach it step by step: scan the whole graphic briefly, find the title and the key, then choose an anchor point, such as the origin of a graph or a labeled place on a map. Both hands work together: one holds a place while the other explores or goes back to the text.
Most labels and keys are in braille, so reading a graphic also means reading braille. If you're starting out, the braille alphabet and our guide on how blind people read are good first steps.
Braillito, our app, teaches the braille cells in lessons with exercises you play, with lives, levels and a daily streak: 59 lessons in 8 worlds in English. It also has a translator, a dictionary and a cell builder. Braillito is a subscription with no free version; depending on the plan, it starts with a free trial or a discounted first period, if it's your first subscription (is Braillito free?). Get Braillito.
Frequently asked questions
What are tactile graphics?
Pictures made to be read by touch, such as maps, diagrams, charts and graphs, with raised lines, textures and braille labels. They are redesigned for the fingers, not copied from print.
What is a tactile map?
A map with raised lines, textures and braille labels that shows a place by touch, from a building or a neighborhood to a country. Blind people use them to learn a route before walking it and to study geography.
How are tactile graphics made?
Mainly with swell paper heated in a fuser, thermoform plastic pulled over a master, graphics embossers, hand-made collage, and refreshable tactile displays such as APH's Monarch.
What is swell paper?
Paper coated with tiny capsules that expand with heat. Whatever is printed or drawn on it in black rises when the paper goes through a heater, which makes a tactile graphic in minutes.
Can I make a tactile map at home?
Yes. With Touch Mapper, a free website, you can create a tactile map of any address from OpenStreetMap and print it on a 3D printer. For simple maps, a collage with string, felt and cardboard also works.
Who sets the standards for tactile graphics?
In North America, the Braille Authority of North America (BANA). Its Guidelines and Standards for Tactile Graphics, 2022, are free to download as a PDF and as a braille file.