Oh, You’re a Map Printer, I’m So Sorry!

“Oh, you’re a map printer, I’m so sorry!”

That’s the kind of response I frequently hear when I tell people what I do.  They see all the GPS and cell phone map apps and think only of road maps that they don’t know how to read.

Well there are a lot of other kinds of maps out there to print, besides road maps. Here are a few, click on the tiles below to see the larger image and a little bit about them.

TRAIL MAP Copyright © 1977 by the Adirondack Mountain Club, All rights Reserved. Seventh printing, revised to July 1980.

TOPOGRAPHIC MAP From: TOPOGRAPHIC MAP OF CARROL COUNTY Publisher: MARYLAND GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

VEGETATION MAP From: NATURAL VEGETATION OF CALIFORNIA Publisher: DR. A. W. KUCHLER UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS

SOIL MAP From: SOIL LANDSCAPES AND GEOMORPHIC REGIONS-BEMIDJI SHEET Publisher: UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA, DEPARTMENT OF SOIL SCIENCE

OIL AND GAS MAP From: OIL AND GAS MAP OF WEST VIRGINIA Publisher: WEST VIRGINIA GEOLOGICAL AND ECONOMIC SURVEY

NAUTICAL CHART From: GUIDE TO CRUISING MARYLAND WATERS Publisher: MARYLAND DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES

GEOLOGIC MAP From GEOLOGIC MAP OF PENNSYLVANIA Publisher: PENNSYLVANIA GEOLOGIC SURVEY

GRAVITY MAP From: REGIONAL, RESIDUAL, AND DERIVATIVE GRAVITY MAP OF NEVADA Publisher: NEVADA BUREAU OF MINES AND MINERAL RESOURCES

HIGHWAY MAP From: MARYLAND STATE HIGHWAY MAP Publisher: MARYLAND DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

LANDSAT MAP From: LANDSAT MAP OF NEPAL Publisher: WORLD BANK AND NEPAL MINISTRY OF FOREST AND SOIL CONSERVATION

METALLOGENIC MAP From: METALLOGENIC MAP OF DURANGO Publisher: MINERAL RESOURCES COUNCIL, STATE OF DURANGO, MEXICO

NATIONAL PARKS MAP From: WATERTON/GLACIER Publisher: U. S. NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

FISHING MAP From: JOE POOL LAKE Publisher: LAKE PRODUCTS

AERONAUTICAL CHART From: ARKANSAS AERONAUTICAL CHART Publisher: ARKANSAS DIVISION OF AERONAUTICS

COUNTY HIGHWAY MAP From: GENERAL HIGHWAY COUNTY MAPS Publisher: WEST VIRGINIA DEPARTMENT OF HIGHWAYS

CITY MAP From: CITY MAP OF CINCINNATI Publisher: UNIVERSAL MAP ENTERPRISES/SPECTRUM MAP PUBLISHING

FOREST VISITORS MAP From; BITTERROOT NATIONAL FOREST Courtesy of the FOREST SERVICE, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

BATHYMETRIC CHART From: BATHYMETRY OF THE ARCTIC OCEAN Publisher: THE NAVAL RESEARCH LABORATORY, GEOLOGIC SOCIETY OF AMERICA

Williams & Heintz prints many different kinds of maps and charts

Here’s another thing, all those different kinds of maps were printed over 30 years ago, made by hand, with cameras and film. I scanned them off an old Williams & Heintz marketing piece; so old it doesn’t even have anything about a web site or email contact.

Just think what we can do now with computers, the internet, available data, and digital mapping tools!  (more about that in a later post)

All these new tools make cartography and map making more available, to many more people, to publish more maps.

And some of these great maps  even make it to print on paper.

When you want to see the big picture, nothing beats a big map on a big piece of paper.

It’s a great time to be a map printer!

More about map printing paper specifications

Determining the size of your map

Choosing Ink Colors

Communicating with your printer for best map design

Map finishing and folding