NOAA Custom Chart is a web-based application that can generate a paper nautical chart. The nautical charts generated from this application are created directly from the latest official data available within NOAA’s electronic navigational charts (NOAA ENC). The output of the application is a geospatially referenced portable document format (PDF) file, which is intended to augment navigation using an actual NOAA ENC. They can also be used as a planning tool or to enhance overall situational awareness.

Custom Chart PDFs created for letter or legal-size paper can be printed on a home printer. PDFs for large-format charts may be sent to one of these companies for plotting or printed through other commercial print shops. 

NOAA is actively making improvements to the NOAA Custom Chart application and just released version 2.0. The most notable change is a new feature called a Personal Chart Catalog that enables users to save, share and reload the parameters of any custom charts that they create. This makes it easy to reload a custom chart back into the application, refresh it with the latest ENC data, and output an updated chart. There is also a new 36 x 48-in. plotter page size.