The main goal of the paper is to develop improved confinement by analysing the topography of the magnetic field strength B on nested equilibrium surfaces. Pseudosymmetry is the property of magnetic field geometry such that all isomagnetic (B = const) contours on an equilibrium surface encircle either the magnetic axis (poloidal pseudosymmetry) or the major axis of the torus (toroidal pseudosymmetry). Pseudosymmetry appears to be a necessary (but not sufficient) condition for improved confinement. The basic theorem of geometry about the coordinate scale is used to describe pseudosymmetry. The isomagnetic contours determine isomagnetic flux variables that are advantageous in describing pseudosymmetric geometry. Special types of pseudosymmetry are considered: quasi-symmetry, isometry, exact omnigeneity and quasi-isodynamicity (asymptotic omnigeneity). Particular examples of the numerical synthesis of pseudosymmetric improved-confinement configurations are addressed.