---
title: "How to create a land polygon with a drop shadow effect | Guides | Map design"
description: "Style land features with a creative drop-shadow effect."
---

> For AI agents: a documentation index is available at [/llms.txt](https://docs.maptiler.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of all pages are available by appending .md to any URL.

# How to create a land polygon with a drop shadow effect

A **land polygon** tileset is available in the Standard Tiles section of your MapTiler account. This article shows how to style land features with a drop-shadow effect. The land polygon tileset can be accessed from [MapTiler Tiles](https://cloud.maptiler.com/tiles/land/).

1.  Open any map style in the [MapTiler maps section](https://cloud.maptiler.com/maps/).
    
2.  Hide all blocks except **Water** and **Background** (click the little eye icon).
    
3.  Add a new layer (“plus” sign top-left).
    
    ![drop shadow 1](./1_shadow.png)
    
4.  Add the data source called **Land** (geometry **polygon**, layer name **Land**).
    
    ![drop shadow 2](./2_shadow.webp)
    
5.  Change the color of the **Land** layer to HSL (49, 47, 91).
    
    ![drop shadow 3](./3_shadow.webp)
    
6.  Open the **Water** block and the **Water** layer.
    
7.  Change the color of the **Water** layer to HSL (49, 47, 91).
    
    ![drop shadow 4](./4_shadow.webp)
    
8.  Duplicate the layer **Land**.
    
    ![drop shadow 5](./5_shadow.png)
    
9.  Rename the new layer to **Land\_polygon\_shadow**.
    
10.  Change the color of the **Land\_polygon\_shadow** layer to HSL (203, 65, 40).
     
     ![drop shadow 6](./6_shadow.webp)
     
11.  For **Land\_polygon\_shadow** adjust the layer opacity to 50% at ZL14.
     
     ![drop shadow 7](./7_shadow.webp)
     
12.  For **Land\_polygon\_shadow** adjust the **Fill** settings.
     
     Open **Advanced fill properties**, click **Layout**, click **Translate** and enable **Zoom range styling**. Use the following values:
     
     -   ZL2 (1px, 1px)
     -   ZL6 (1.5px, 1.5px)
     -   ZL11 (2px, 2px)
     -   ZL14 (2.2px, 2.2px)
     -   ZL17 (1.6px, 1.6px)
     -   ZL18 (1px, 1px).
     
     ![drop shadow 8](./8_shadow.webp)
     
13.  To achieve the final result, you have to re-arrange the order of layers.
     
14.  Click **Verticality** (bottom-left).
     
15.  Move the layer **Land\_polygon\_shadow** under the layer **Land**.
     
     ![drop shadow 9](./9_shadow.webp)
     
     Congratulations, you have successfully created the drop shadow effect!
     
     **Bonus tip:** You can view the **JSON code** by clicking the **{}** icon at the bottom left.
     
     ![drop shadow 10](./10_shadow.png)
     
16.  Save and publish your new map by clicking the top-right **Save** and **Publish** buttons. The final result will look like this (see above) in the detail of your map styles library [preview](https://cloud.maptiler.com/maps/).
     

## Useful links

[MapTiler Land schema](https://docs.maptiler.com/schema/land/)