We print a lot of maps.
Its a complicated business (that we love) and not always straight forward.
Some common questions are "Can I have a world map at 200 high x 200 wide".
The answer is no. Not really in the traditional sense. World maps as we know them are rectangles. They need to be approx. 200 high x 350 wide or similar. Many people print them full height 2.4 H x 3.5 wide - I often point out that you can't see that far up unless you are really tall. Get them done at 200 and save yourself some money - but most people want full wall so print them at 240 high.
For people with square walls we suggest printing an area. Do the pacific, Australia (Australia is perfect for square walls) or France.
The other type of map we often do are LINZ maps. Linz is the acronym for. Land Information New Zealand; the official body responsible for land registration, mapping, and surveying in New Zealand.
These maps are awesome and people in to tramping, cycling and nature often want large scale maps done for their homes. Linz create these digital and printable topographic maps in scales of 1:50,000, 1:250,000.
Many customers think that the scale from Linz translates directly to wallpaper printing. However they don't. They are two different scales and systems.
Our biggest piece of advice is don't use too many maps. The average feature wall is 2.4 H x 3.wide. For this size we wouldn't use more than six maps for legibility and clarity.
Here are some maps we have printed for customers.
The first image is of Otago. It was around 4 maps stitched together. Originally they wanted the whole of Otago but their space just wasn't big enough to print that and have all the trails and Otago Rail trail.
The second map is also a LINZ map of Nelson - Wellington. We had to manipulate this a bit to try and get it all in. You wont get quite as much details as maps with smaller perimeters. Linz maps are so detailed that the more you put in - often the less you see. We also put a grey filter on the top to adjust the colours.
The third map is Rai Valley. Anyone going through the Rai Valley can drop into the Millers Rest and see this up. It is just two maps (i think) stitched together over a small size wall - so the scaler is a little larger than we usually do.
Forth image is the West Coast of the South Island. This was for a tramping family also. Spread over 2.4 H x approx 2.23 wide. This was 4 maps put together. The details are very clear as we didn't over complicate things by using too many maps.
5th Map is again Top of the South - a great map - quite detailed and approx 6 maps stitched together.
Sixth image. This is just a portion of the South Island map guide (this is the bible as it helps you see what areas are on what maps). As you can see there are a lot of maps in one area. It is impossible to put 30 maps in a 2.4H x 3 W wall and not lose clarity.
7th Image is a long story. This was a customer who did the artwork themselves (we no longer allow that). We did (as always indicate that they had too many maps for the wall size). They wanted the map/art work printed to the scale/dimensions regardless and it came out blurry. I am attaching this image here as an illustration of what happens when too many maps are printed and the details lose clarity. These maps are complex and highly detailed. The more you add the smaller and less focused the details become.
Printing maps on our non-woven paper is really a complex operation. These maps are wonderful and we have printed a lot of them. Drop us a line with your wall height x width and the are you are considering so we can advise you of cost and what is going to work.
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