Frequently asked questions

MapPull works with public ArcGIS services only. Paste a web map, a web app (including Experience Builder and StoryMaps), an arcgis.com item link, or a direct MapServer/FeatureServer REST URL, and MapPull finds the layers behind it.

If a pasted link isn't a recognizable ArcGIS map, MapPull looks behind it automatically and tells you what it finds. But the export engine itself only pulls data from ArcGIS REST services — it does not export from an OGC WFS server, Google Maps, Mapbox, or a PDF map, even if one of those is what's detected behind a link.

MapPull only works with data the provider has already published openly. If a layer needs a login or a token, MapPull stops and says so — it never tries to bypass, guess, or work around authentication.

If you have your own legitimate access to a secured layer, that access has to happen on the provider's own platform. MapPull can't use credentials on your behalf, and won't export that layer for you.

Most counties, cities, and utility districts publish a GIS map on their own website — look for "GIS," "Maps," "Interactive Map," or "Parcel Viewer" in the site menu. Once the map is open, copy the link straight from your browser's address bar.

Some organizations host their maps on arcgis.com instead of their own domain — that link works the same way. If a client has sent you a map link directly, that works too, as long as the map itself is public.

One layer, one download, per account — not per day. No card is required to create an account.

The free download is spent the moment an export is authorized, before any file is built. That's deliberate: MapPull has to reserve your one download before doing the work, or two exports started at once could both slip through. It means that if a run then fails for some other reason (a layer error, a slow server), your free export can be gone with nothing to show for it.

If that happens, email chase@zanevan.com and it will be reset by hand.

DXF (AutoCAD) — geometry only. No attribute data comes across, and a feature with no usable geometry is left out of the file entirely rather than included empty.

Shapefile — field names longer than 10 characters are shortened to fit (the classic Shapefile limit), and text values longer than 254 bytes are cut short. The export report tells you how many fields were renamed and how many values were truncated.

GeoJSON and KMZ always come out in latitude/longitude (WGS 84 / EPSG:4326), regardless of the source layer's own coordinate system.

Shapefile and DXF keep the source layer's native coordinate system instead of reprojecting it — for Shapefile, that system is named in the accompanying .prj file. Elevation (Z) values are dropped either way; every export is 2D.

One warning worth reading before you trust a measurement: a lot of public web maps publish in Web Mercator (EPSG:3857), the projection made for on-screen display, not for measuring. Because Shapefile and DXF keep whatever coordinate system the source uses, a Web Mercator layer carries that distortion straight into your drawing — lengths and areas measured directly off it will read long, and the error gets worse the further the data is from the equator. Check the .prj (or the source layer's coordinate system) before relying on a measurement, and reproject first if you need true ground distances.

"Limit to an area" clips to a bounding box you draw or type in. Only features that touch the box are included — but each one comes back whole, not cut off at the box edge. A parcel that straddles the line is exported complete, not sliced in half.

The export itself runs in your browser, so the practical ceiling is your browser's memory, not a MapPull limit. Each server sends a limited number of features per request, so MapPull fetches big layers in batches. When a layer will take many requests, MapPull tells you how many and suggests limiting to an area. Limiting is always optional. Statewide and other very large layers are also more likely to be slow, or to time out, on the source server itself — clipping to an area is usually the fix for both problems.

Fetching the actual features happens from your own browser, not from a MapPull server. If the source GIS server blocks cross-origin browser requests, blocks by geography, or otherwise refuses your browser specifically, MapPull can't reach it and the export will fail with a network-style error, even though the map works fine in a normal browser tab.

There's no workaround on MapPull's side for that — it's a setting on the data provider's server. If you think a public layer should be reachable and it isn't, email chase@zanevan.com and we'll take a look.

MapPull reads whatever coordinate system the source service is publishing in. Shapefile and DXF preserve that system as-is; GeoJSON and KMZ are always reprojected to WGS 84 latitude/longitude, because those formats require it. See "Formats and their limits" above for the Web Mercator warning if you're exporting to Shapefile or DXF.

Pro is $29 a month or $250 a year. Cancel any time from "Manage subscription" in your account menu, which opens Stripe's own billing portal — the same place to update a card or download an invoice.

MapPull Pro is available to customers in the United States. You can pay by card (including Apple Pay and Google Pay) or from a US bank account. A bank payment takes up to four business days to clear, and Pro turns on as soon as it does.

Cancelling doesn't cut you off immediately: Pro stays active through the end of the period you already paid for, and the plan drops to free at the next renewal date rather than the moment you cancel.

Refunds: fees already paid are non-refundable, except where the law requires a refund or we choose to make an exception (Terms of Service §6). If something went wrong with a charge, email chase@zanevan.com and we'll look at it.

Invoices and receipts are issued electronically through Stripe and are available from the billing portal. Where a state requires us to collect sales tax, it's shown at checkout before you pay.

MapPull accounts use email and password only — there's no Google or Microsoft sign-in. The verification email is sent the moment you sign up; if it doesn't show up in a minute or two, check spam before requesting another one.

One account is for one person. Accounts that look shared or automated may be suspended.

Email chase@zanevan.com. We aim to reply within one business day.