Export Maps for Print
Designing a digital map for a web browser is only half the battle when marketing campaigns require physical deliverables.
Whether you are printing visitor guides for a national park, handing out event schedules at a music festival, or preparing presentation boards for an urban planning hearing, you need your digital map to look razor sharp on physical paper.
Taking a screenshot of a browser window always leads to disappointment. Standard monitor displays operate at roughly 72 to 96 dots per inch. Commercial printing presses require 300 dots per inch to reproduce clean text and sharp geographic lines.
Here is a step by step guide to configuring, styling, and exporting digital maps for professional print production.
Step 1: Select Your Physical Paper Size First
Do not begin styling your map until you know the exact physical dimensions of your final printed product.
Aspect ratios and physical canvas sizes dictate your visual hierarchy:
| Standard Paper Size | Physical Dimensions | Target Pixels at 300 DPI | Recommended Use |
|---|---|---|---|
| A4 | 210 by 297 mm | 2480 by 3508 px | Handouts, tri fold brochures, guidebooks |
| A3 | 297 by 420 mm | 3508 by 4960 px | Fold out visitor maps, conference inserts |
| A2 | 420 by 594 mm | 4960 by 7016 px | Kiosk displays, exhibition signboards |
| A1 | 594 by 841 mm | 7016 by 9933 px | Bus shelter posters, municipal transit boards |
| A0 | 841 by 1189 mm | 9933 by 14043 px | Large architectural wall maps, festival stage backdrops |
In Tasmap, navigate to the Preview and Share panel and select Classic layout to access high resolution image and document export controls. Choose your target ISO paper size or define custom pixel dimensions.
Step 2: Set Export Resolution to 300 DPI
Switch the output density setting from standard screen resolution to 300 DPI.
When you select 300 DPI, the export engine renders four times as many pixels across each linear inch of the canvas. This guarantees that road casings, park boundaries, and water edges remain crisp when printed on offset or digital commercial presses.
For quick proofs and digital PDF distribution over email, 150 DPI provides a balanced file size. For commercial printing on coated paper, always insist on 300 DPI.
Step 3: Adjust Label Sizes and Stroke Weights for Print
Typography and line weights that look legible on backlit computer screens often become invisible or overcrowded on paper.
Make three adjustments before rendering:
Increase Primary Label Font Sizes
On digital screens, users can zoom in to read small road names. On physical paper, the view is fixed. Ensure primary landmark labels and district names are styled boldly so they remain readable from arm length.
Thicken Fine Vector Outlines
Delicate 0.5 pixel road outlines that look crisp on screen can drop off commercial printing plates entirely. Increase line stroke widths and road casings to at least 1.5 to 2 pixels on large format exports.
Avoid Overlapping Pin Clusters
Use the content filtering controls to toggle off non essential point categories. A printed map crowded with forty overlapping pins becomes unreadable. Keep only essential points of interest that serve the print document purpose.
Step 4: Verify Color Contrast for Paper Inks
Computer displays emit light using RGB color space, creating bright blues and vibrant greens. Commercial printing presses deposit CMYK ink droplets onto absorbent paper fibers, which naturally mutes color saturation.
To avoid muddy prints:
- Increase contrast between land backgrounds and text labels. Dark grey labels on light cream paper reproduce far more reliably than light grey labels on white paper.
- If using terrain hillshading, keep the sun angle consistent and set hillshade intensity to a subtle twenty to thirty percent so relief shadows do not overpower road networks.
Step 5: Choose PNG or PDF Format
Select the appropriate file format based on your print workflow:
- PNG at 300 DPI: Ideal for inserting into graphic design software like Adobe InDesign, Illustrator, or Canva when composing a multi-page brochure or booklet. PNG preserves crisp raster lines and transparency.
- High Resolution PDF: Ideal for sending directly to your local print shop or plotter. Vector elements scale cleanly, and color balance remains stable across commercial prepress software.
Running a single test print on a desktop printer before ordering a large commercial press run will confirm legibility and save costly reprints.