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Creating Maps for Tourist Guides

tourist guide maps
© Maremonto

Whether it’s a metropolis like New York or the rugged countryside of the remote Highlands of Scotland: travelling to far flung places will always hold an allure for people. To make sure people find their way around these places, publishers produce a staggering amount of tourist guides. And what tourist guide would be complete without comprehensive maps to illustrate routes, points of interest and the like?

In this guide we will show you how to create the perfect tourist guide maps.

What to see on a tourist guide map

Points of interest, or short POIs, are places usually indicated by a marker on a map. In tourism, POIs are vital, as they show tourists where sights, gastronomy or lodgings can be found.

As with any map that should help people find their way around, the base cartography used should at least include the road-network and place-names, allowing people to see at a glance how to get there. Topography, that is hill-shading and the like, is only of minor importance in that regard.

Also, in order to quickly denote what kind of POI it is, signifying its role with the right icon is vital. In order to do this, make sure you use symbols which are commonly recognizable, like an airplane for airports, a burger for a place to eat, or for those more interested in liquid nourishment, a wine-bottle with a glass for places to drink.

tourist guide map

Hiking routes

Many tourist destinations are used by visitors to go out and enjoy nature. For readers to be able to find the best routes for hikes or walks, it is advisable to map out routes. As opposed to the above described maps for POIs, in these kinds of maps the inclusion of topography is most important, so visitors will see at a quick glance, whether they’ll be walking up-hill or along a plane that won’t test their fitness.

Taking advantage of Printmaps

Apart from the many other features Printmaps offers, we also have a built-in geocoder that allows you to batch-upload and convert your addresses to their respective coordinates. It really is as easy as copying and then pasting data from a spreadsheet or a database column. Just click this Button in the editor: and you’ll have a familiar sight right in front of you. All you need to do is paste your content into the respective fields, and Printmaps will do the rest.

Batch geocode addresses for printable maps

Once our geocoding engine has converted the addresses to their respective coordinates, you can go ahead and change the type of marker, the colour, icon or their size. All POIs will be saved in a separate layer, so once you’ve downloaded your map in Photoshop format, you can open it up and fine-tune the positioning of your POIs.

But wait, there’s more

In addition to the ability to position as many POIs as you desire, Printmaps provides a variety of tools to streamline your experience. For instance, if you wish to draw attention to a specific country or municipal area, you can utilize the Printmaps shapes tool. Simply click this button  and search for what you need.

Using shapes will not only help guide the viewer’s focus to the area you want to show off, but will also remove areas you don’t want to be visible on your map, whatever your reasons may be.

tourist guide map

Creating routes with a few clicks

Adding maps with hiking routes is a walk in the park as well. Our route editor not only lets you draw your routes free-hand, it also utilizes a wizard that magnetically snaps to existing roads, allowing you to literally create routes within seconds.

But that’s not all. If you have ever recorded your routes with a GPS-enabled device, you can upload these files – usually in GPX-format – to the editor and they will then be displayed on your map. Another great thing about it: You can upload as many routes as you want – and can fit on your map.

It is what you make of it

Crafting printable maps for publications involves more than just having the right geo-tools; it’s about leveraging your own designs and ideas. With Printmaps, you have complete flexibility, whether it’s choosing the type of cartography or selecting the features to include in your map.

But the customization doesn’t stop there. Once you’ve created and downloaded your map, the possibilities are endless. Want to enhance points of interest with additional details? Add your own logos, graphics, or text? Our maps are delivered in a layered PSD format, allowing you to modify every aspect, right down to individual points of interest.

Why not give our editor a try and discover how you can effortlessly transform your ideas into the perfect map tailored for publication?

Try Printmaps

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