A custom map print gift only works if the place on it means something. Anyone can buy a map. What turns it into the thing that stays on the wall through three house moves is the tight crop on one street, the date underneath, and the fact that the person receiving it knows exactly why you chose it.
This guide covers who these prints actually suit, how to choose the place and the wording, what size to order, and how to frame it so it looks like art rather than a printout.
The short answer
Choose one place with a specific memory attached and crop the map tightly around it. Keep the wording to three lines at most: the place name, a date, and something short. Order it bigger than feels sensible, because maps hold a lot of fine detail and small maps get ignored. Send us the full address or a dropped pin, and the finished file usually comes back within one to two days.
Who a custom map print gift is really for
These prints suit people who can point at the paper and tell you a story. If you cannot name the reason for the place in one sentence, the gift will land flat, however nicely it is drawn. Here are the four cases we are asked for most.
New homes and first homes
A new home gift is the most common reason people order, and the easiest to get right, because the house is already the story. Centre the map on the street, add the address and the date they got the keys, and it becomes the thing visitors stop at in the hallway.
A first home gift carries more weight. Starter flats rarely stay in the family, but the memory of the first set of keys does. As a housewarming present it also has the advantage of not being a candle. Everyone else brings a candle.
The town where a couple met
For anniversaries and engagements, the place people choose is almost never the wedding venue. It is the university town, the pub on the corner, the road with the flat above the chip shop. A map of where it started says more than a map of where it ended up.
Use the exact spot if you know it. A map centred on one junction in Sheffield means something to two people. A map of Sheffield means very little to anyone.
Long distance, and the two country map print
A long distance relationship gift has to do something a photograph cannot, which is show the gap and make it look manageable. A two country map print puts both places on one sheet, matched at the same zoom, with the two city names underneath and the distance between them if you want it.
It suits couples, but we draw just as many for families split between countries, for parents whose children have emigrated, and for friends who met on a year abroad. Two panels, two names, one frame.
Leaving gifts and graduations
A campus, a halls of residence road, or the street of a first job all work as a leaving present, particularly for someone moving away from a city they loved. If you are putting together a larger gift for a graduate, a map sits well alongside printed typography and keepsake signs, which is the other half of what we make.
Choosing the place: the crop matters more than the place
Most disappointing map prints fail for one reason, which is that the map is zoomed too far out. A county looks like a county. A single street with the park at the edge of the frame looks like a memory. When in doubt, go closer than feels natural, then check that at least one recognisable landmark is still in the picture.
Places that tend to make good prints:
- The street of a first home, centred so the house sits in the middle
- The church, register office or barn where a wedding happened
- A university campus with the halls road still visible
- The hospital where a child was born, with the date underneath
- A harbour, headland or stretch of coast from the same holiday every year
- The road a parent or grandparent grew up on, for an older recipient
- Two cities on one sheet, for people living apart
- A stadium, racecourse or festival field, if that is genuinely their thing
One warning. Rural addresses and new build estates sometimes have thin map detail, so a tight crop can look empty. If that happens we widen the frame slightly to bring in a river, a road or a coastline, and we tell you before we finish.
What to write under the map
Wording is where most orders go wrong, usually by trying to say too much. The map is the picture. The text is the caption.
The three line rule
Line one is the place, written the way the person says it out loud, so 'Whitstable' rather than 'Whitstable, Kent, United Kingdom'. Line two is the date, or the coordinates, or the address. Line three, if you use it at all, stays short: 'where it started', 'the first one', a surname and a year.
Coordinates look lovely in small capitals, but check them before you send them. We set exactly what you give us. If the numbers point at a field two miles away, the print will be beautiful and wrong.
Wording for a two country print
Keep both sides symmetrical. The same number of lines under each map, in the same order, carrying the same kind of information. City on top, country or coordinates below, then the distance centred underneath both if you want it. A date works well here too, usually the day they met or the day one of them moved.
Avoid inside jokes that need explaining. They are funny for a year and awkward for a decade.
Size, orientation and how the print is finished
Maps carry more fine detail than most wall art, so size does real work. A4 suits a shelf, a desk or a gallery wall of small frames. A3 is the safe default for a hallway or a bedroom. A2 is what you want above a sofa, a bed or a fireplace, and it is the size people most often wish they had chosen.
Orientation should follow the place, not the wall. Coastal towns and river cities usually sit better in landscape. Streets that run north to south, and two country prints stacked rather than placed side by side, want portrait. Tell us where it is going to hang and we will suggest one.
Every map is drawn as clean line work, so it reads well in a plain ink on white finish and in softer colourways such as sage, dusty blue or warm charcoal. If it is going next to existing art, send a photo of the wall and we will match the tone. Current options and sizes are on the custom map print listing.
What to send us, and what happens next
The order moves quicker when the first message has everything in it. We need the full address or a dropped pin, the names and wording spelled exactly as you want them, the date if there is one, the size, and the colourway.
From there we draw the map, set the text, and send a proof. You check the spelling, the date and the crop, we adjust anything that is off, and the final high-resolution file comes back to you, usually within one to two days. Most people order the digital file, print locally and frame it themselves.
If you are buying for someone who would rather have a person, a pet or a house than a place, the same rules about detail apply, and our guide to choosing the best photo for a custom portrait explains what makes a photo usable. Maps and portraits are often ordered together as a pair, and you can see both across the OpenHeartLines shop.
Framing a map print properly
A map on thin paper in a clip frame looks like a printout. The fix is cheap and takes about ten minutes of thought.
Print on matte or lightly textured card rather than gloss, at 200gsm or heavier, so the paper holds its shape behind glass. Gloss throws reflections straight across the fine lines you paid for. Leave a white border of two to three centimetres on every side, or use a mount, which does the same job and makes an A3 print carry a wall like an A2.
Ready-made frames in standard A sizes are the practical choice. If you want to print it yourself, our guide to printing digital art at home covers paper, scaling and the printer settings that stop a map coming out grey. Otherwise a local print shop will handle it for very little, and will usually cut a mount at the same time.
Hang it at eye level. Maps invite people to lean in and find their own street, and they cannot do that at picture rail height.
Frequently asked questions
How far in advance should I order a custom map print gift?
Two days is usually enough, since most orders are delivered as a high-resolution digital file within one to two days. If you plan to have it printed and framed professionally, allow a week or more on top. For Christmas and Valentine's, order earlier, because proofing and small changes take time when we are busy.
Can you put two places on one map print?
Yes. A two country map print sets both locations side by side at the same zoom, with the city names underneath and the distance between them if you want it. It is the usual choice for a long distance relationship gift, and it works just as well for families living in different countries.
What if I only know the town, not the exact address?
That is fine. Send the town and any landmark you remember, such as the pub, the station or the seafront, and we will centre the map on that. A tighter crop nearly always looks better than a whole town, so it helps to name one street or corner if you can.
Do I get a printed copy or a digital file?
Most map orders are delivered as a high-resolution digital file, sized and ready to print. That means it arrives the same week, and you can print it again years later if a frame changes or a glass breaks. If you would rather not print it yourself, a local print shop or an online printer will do it for you.