# Making a graduation gift with the University Campus Map preset

> a university campus keepsake for grads and alumni

This preset is a figure-ground map in school colors: crimson building footprints on white, green quads, pale pedestrian paths, and a quiet gray street grid, framed at walking scale around campus. Swap the building color to any school's hex and you have an instant, deeply personal graduation or alumni gift - plaque, panel, or ornament.

## What you need

- **UV printing:** flatbed UV printer, white [acrylic](https://yxecreations.com/pages/acrylic-sheets), brushed aluminum, or maple panels; an 8×10 plaque blank matches diploma-frame vibes
- **Sublimation:** sublimation printer + paper, white poly-coated aluminum panel or hardboard plaque, heat press, heat tape, butcher paper
- **Laser engraving:** diode or CO2 laser, light [laser-grade plywood](https://yxecreations.com/collections/laser-grade-plywood) or white-core two-tone acrylic
- **3D printing:** dual-color-capable printer; white base + school-color filament covers the design

## Step 1 - Start from the preset



Open [the Campus Map preset](/map-designer?preset=campus-map). It loads Harvard at zoom 14.8 - true walking zoom, where individual buildings, quads, and footpaths all resolve. That's the intent: a campus map should feel like the walk to class. Search the school (the campus name usually geocodes better than the city) and center on the heart of campus - the main quad, the oldest building, the student union. Keep zoom between 14.5 and 15.5: wider pulls in too much surrounding city, tighter loses the campus shape. Check that OSM building data covers the campus; most universities are mapped lovingly by their own students.

## Step 2 - Tune the layers



One Solid layer group, **Campus**:

- `land` - `#FFFFFF` white ground.
- `water` - `#9FC5DC` soft blue (the Charles River frames Harvard; your campus river/lake is a gift, keep it in frame).
- `landusePark` - `#CBDCC2` quad green.
- `pedestrianArea` - `#E8E8E8` pale plazas and walkways - the feature that makes this read as *campus* rather than city.
- `building` - `#A51C30`, Harvard crimson. **This is the layer to change**: set it to the school's official hex (Michigan `#00274C`, Texas `#BF5700`, Oregon `#154733`, Penn State `#041E42`...).
- `roadsSecondary` `#9A9A9A` width 2 and `roadsStreet` `#B5B5B5` width 1 - quiet context streets.

One contrast note: `pedestrianArea` at `#E8E8E8` on white is near-invisible after sublimation's softening - fine as a whisper, or darken to `#D8D8D8` if the path network matters to your composition (it often does on quads).

## Step 3 - Export



- **UV / sublimation:** 4096 px PNG. On white substrates, toggle **Background off** so the blank provides the white - crisper and cheaper on ink.
- **Laser:** combined SVG; buildings carry the engrave.
- **3D:** 3MF for the two-tone plaque.
- Enable **small-polygon cleanup** - campuses are full of kiosks, sheds, and bike shelters that render as flecks.
- **Corner holes** for an office piece mounted on [anodized standoff spacers](https://yxecreations.com/products/4-pack-anodized-standoff-spacers); **Hanger hole** if you're cutting a campus ornament for the grad's first tree. The **heart icon** overlay dropped on the building where they met their partner is a legitimately killer move.

## UV & Sublimation Printing

### UV printing



1. Export the PNG (Background off for white substrates).
2. Size in the RIP to the plaque; leave bottom margin if you plan to add the school name and class year in a separate text layer or vinyl.
3. Register the blank, print; school-color fills come out dense and uniform on UV.
4. Optional gloss varnish over just the buildings makes them pop like enamel.

### Sublimation



1. Print **mirrored** at final size.
2. Tape face-down to a white poly panel or hardboard plaque blank.
3. Press with the settings recommended for your material, paper, and inks, butcher paper above and below.
4. Peel hot. Saturated building color transfers richly; expect the `#E8E8E8` pedestrian areas to mostly vanish (see Step 2 if you want them kept).

## Laser Cutting & Engraving

### Laser engraving



1. Import the combined SVG; set `building` fills to raster engrave - the school color converts to a solid mid-dark gray that burns cleanly.
2. Quads, water, and pedestrian areas engrave faintly or not at all; either delete them or keep water as a light second pass.
3. Engrave on maple ply for a classic plaque, then cut the rectangle.
4. Add the school name with a vector text engrave below the map - laser is the easiest method for adding typography.

## 3D Printing

### 3D printing



1. Export the 3MF - practically a two-filament print: white base, school-color raised buildings (park/water tints optional thirds).
2. Slice at 0.12 mm for crisp small footprints; enable cleanup at export so sheds don't become single-extrusion crumbs.
3. White + crimson (or any school color) PLA; matte finishes read more collegiate than silk.
4. A 150–200 mm plaque at 5 mm thick, with the class year embossed in the slicer if you're feeling fancy.

## Make it yours

- Photogenic campuses: Oxford's colleges, Stanford's oval, UVA's Lawn, Michigan's Diag, Bologna's porticoes.
- Swap `building` to the school hex and `landusePark` a touch toward the secondary color for full brand treatment.
- Rivalry diptych: two schools, two panels, identical layout - wedding gift for a house-divided couple.
- Drop the **heart icon** overlay on the dorm, the lab, or the spot they got engaged.
- Add a **route layer** tracing the daily walk from dorm to department in the school's secondary color.
- Circle export + **Hanger hole** = graduation-year ornament; press a batch for the whole friend group.
- Zoom to 15.5 on just the main quad for a minimal "heart of campus" version with a handful of buildings.
- Pair with the Figure Ground preset of the college town for a campus-and-city set.

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Open the tool: https://www.mylasertools.com/learn/guides/campus-map
Read online: https://www.mylasertools.com/learn/guides/campus-map