Question: 
How do I download the map I purchased? 

Answer: 
When you purchase a map from Map Resources, we create an account for you that allows you access your order history & and downloads.  Click the My Account link in our navigation bar to get to your account overview.  On the leftside is a list of links, in which you'll find My Downloadable Files.  Once there you'll see a list of the map files you've purchased that are still available for download. Just click on the format line (for example "Adobe Illustrator") to download the file.

The download is either a ZIP archive (for Adobe Illustrator and EPS formats) or a JPEG (CMYK color space) format file.  The file will be in your "Downloads" folder, or on your Desktop, or wherever you have set your browser to put downloaded files.

Question: 
I have Adobe, but I cannot open the map. What's wrong? 

Answer: 
You likely have Adobe Reader/Adobe Acrobat, which only opens PDF documents. 

All of our maps are AI files which may be opened and edited in Adobe Illustrator.  We also have some maps in both EPS & JPG formats.  These can be placed into desktop publishing applications such as Adobe InDesign or QuarkXPress.

If you do not have Adobe Illustrator, or other compatible vector graphics application, we would be happy to save your map in PDF format and email it to you; or you can return the map for a full refund. Email us or call 800-334-4291

Question: 
The map I downloaded is "zipped" (it has a .zip extension). What is a .zip file? 

Answer: 
".zip" is a file format that compresses data into an archive. Since the compressed archive is a smaller file, it makes it faster to download from the internet (as well as saving disk space). Also, some of our maps are comprised of more than one document, so the .zip format allows us to deliver these as one compressed file. 

Since we deliver our AI & EPS maps in this manner, you will need to extract the map graphic from the .zip archive in order to work with it. This is done with decompression software such as WinZip or StuffIt Expander. Your browser may be configured to automatically unzip files with your decompression software when they are downloaded - but if not, you will need to manually extract the map file. 

Both Windows & Mac operating systems come with tools to open and decompress .zip archives.

Question: 
I'm on a Mac and when I click the "Download" link in my browser, a dialog box opens over my browser window that says, "Can't open file." What's wrong? 

Answer: 
The file has been downloaded properly, but is being opened with an incompatible application, the Preview application. A setting in Apple's Safari browser, we have found, can precipitate the problem. 

Our map download files are zip files. Zip is a file format that compresses data into an archive. When you click the "Download Now" link to get your map, you are downloading the zip archive that contains the map. Once downloaded, the zip archive must be decompressed to extract from it the actual map file. It is the browser's handling of this process that creates the error. 

The error occurs because the web browser has downloaded the file, automatically uncompressed the zip archive and is attempting to launch a helper application to view the extracted contents. In this case, the Preview application is trying to open the Illustrator map file. Preview cannot open Illustrator (.ai) files. 

To open your map, quit Preview. Launch Illustrator and open the uncompressed .ai file. If you are still getting an error, please call us at 800-334-4291 & we'll help guide you to getting your map open.

Question: 
I'm using Windows Internet Explorer and when I click the link to download my JPEG, Internet Explorer shows a broken image icon. What's wrong? 

Answer: 
The file has been downloaded, but Internet Explorer cannot display it because IE no longer supports CMYK color mode JPEGs. 

Our map files are delivered in CMYK color mode, which is the preferred color space used in printing. But Windows Internet Explorer no longer supports displaying JPEGs using this color mode.

To download your JPEG map, log in to your Account on the Map Resources website and go to the section My Downloadable Products. You will see a table listing the maps you've purchased with links to download them. Find the link for your JPEG and right-click on the link. In the resulting menu, choose the option "Save Link Target". You will be presented with a standard Windows dialog box to choose the location to save your map JPEG to your computer. Select a location and save the map directly to your hard drive. You can then open the map in the appropriate editing tool or page layout application.