Custom Services: Map Size

Map Resources recommends you have us produce your custom map at the same dimensions you plan to use the map.

Of course our maps are delivered to you as vector artwork, so you can use the tools in Adobe Illustrator to scale the map larger or smaller. But we have found that even simple re-sizing can often lead to a lot of extra work, mostly due to problems with the text on the map.

Making the map larger is typically not a problem, since the line work (such as coastlines, roads, and rivers) is quite detailed, and if the text becomes larger then necessary it can be set back to a smaller font (though some labels may need to be re-positioned to bring them back closer to their features). Since all the map features are on layers, it is relatively easy to select all one type of text and give it a new font size.

Making the map smaller is typically not a problem for the line work, but can make a mess of the text.

Clear and legible six point type, when reduced by 50 percent, becomes illegible 3 point text. But trying to "fix" this by making the text a larger font size can introduce a host of other problems – for example when names begin to overlap each other, overlap map features, or become so large it may be impossible to tell which map feature they belong to. A typical example is when city local street names become larger than the distance between streets, so it is impossible to tell if they refer to the road above or below the text.

To avoid these problems, it is best for us to produce the map as close as possible to the actual production size you need.