3 replies to this topic

[Kenny]

Does anyone has experience with printing out maps from Google Maps? I am trying to add specific icons representing various points of interests on a map. Is there an easy way I can do this on Google Maps and then print it out? Otherwise, do I have to export the map out as a graphic and then to add the icons from there?

Any recommendations?

Thanks!

[Igor Brejc]

I doubt you'll be able to do anything other than exporting the map as bitmap graphics with Google Maps. That means you'll end up with a very poor resolution (cca. 90 DPI) which will look ugly when printed. Depending on what you intend to do with the printed map, you should also read Google Maps' terms of use.

My suggestion: use OpenStreetMap data instead. You get OSM vector data and load it in software like Maperitive which actually has an imitation of Google Maps style and then either export it into a bitmap with a custom DPI or into SVG, which you can then load into Inkscape or Illustrator.

You can even add your own POIs before exporting, but that requires a little bit of learning of OSM and Maperitive.

Here's a sample rendering of Berlin with Google Maps-like style I've made some time ago with Maperitive (click here for the full size):

[eat healthy]

There is another way of printing google maps. Take the screenshot of the map you want to print and paste it to your image editor. The printout comes out fine.

[woneil]

It's not the proudest accomplishment of even my very limited cartography, but in the past there were occasions when have done this. The only way I could find was to blow the map up on screen, use somethng like Hypersnap to capture screen images, and stitch them together in Photoshop before editing the image. Not really recommended.

Does anyone has experience with printing out maps from Google Maps? I am trying to add specific icons representing various points of interests on a map. Is there an easy way I can do this on Google Maps and then print it out? Otherwise, do I have to export the map out as a graphic and then to add the icons from there?