# Making a parks-and-green-space map with the Leisure & Green Map preset > filled parks, theme parks and zoos over water and a soft-green backplate This preset celebrates the parts of a city people actually relax in: parks, theme parks, zoos and playgrounds, all rendered as solid filled shapes over water and a soft mint-green backplate. It opens over the Greater Manchester area at zoom 11, a region threaded with parks and country estates, which shows off the leisure-green palette at its best. There are no roads or buildings here - just water and green space as clean filled areas. That gives the design a calm, poster-like quality and makes it one of the easiest map projects to produce: no hair-thin geometry, no loose street fragments, just bold blocks of color. It's a natural gift for park lovers, a family that lives near a famous green space, or a city known for its gardens. ## What you need ### Laser cutting - 3 mm [laser-grade plywood](https://yxecreations.com/collections/laser-grade-plywood) or MDF for the green-space plate (1 sheet) - 3 mm [acrylic](https://yxecreations.com/pages/acrylic-sheets) or painted ply in soft green for the backplate (or paint it after cutting) - Any diode or CO2 laser that fits your target size (200×200 mm and up works well) - Wood glue or CA glue, clamps or weights, sandpaper (220 grit) ### 3D printing - Any FDM printer; PLA in 3–4 colors (mint, leaf green, dark green water, pink accent) or a single color - Slicer that accepts 3MF (Bambu Studio, PrusaSlicer, OrcaSlicer) ### UV print / sublimation - The exported high-res PNG - UV flatbed printer or sublimation setup with a hardboard/aluminum blank ## Step 1 - Start from the preset Open [the Leisure & Green Map preset](/map-designer?preset=leisure-green-map), search for your city, and pan until its biggest parks sit in the middle. The preset opens over the Manchester region at zoom 11, a wide view that gathers many parks and a stretch of water into one frame. Stay near zoom 11 for a city-region of green spaces; zoom in to 12–13 to feature a single large park or estate in detail. ## Step 2 - Tune the layers The preset has two layer groups. The top group, **Green & water**, holds five filled features, all Solid mode: - **Water** - solid fill, deep green `#2d6a4f`. Rivers, lakes and reservoirs, tinted green rather than blue to sit inside the leisure-green palette. Frame your view so some water appears. - **Park** - solid fill, leaf green `#52b788`. The main event: public parks, gardens and recreation grounds. Usually the dominant area on the map. - **Theme park** - solid fill, pink `#e76f9e`. The brightest accent color - theme and amusement parks pop against the greens. - **Zoo** - solid fill, warm brown `#c08552`. Zoos and wildlife parks. - **Playground** - solid fill, soft yellow `#f2cc8f`. Smaller play areas; sprinkles warm accents through the green. - **Backplate** - solid base plate, soft mint `#b7e4c7`. Change this color to match your acrylic or paint. Toggle off any feature your area doesn't have. A two-tone version (just Park over the mint backplate, with Water) is the cleanest, calmest look; keep the pink Theme park and yellow Playground accents on if you want the design livelier. ## Step 3 - Export - **Laser:** export the per-layer SVG ZIP - one file per layer. Cut the backplate, then either cut the green-space shapes from contrasting sheets or engrave them as filled areas onto a single plate (engraving keeps small playgrounds from becoming loose fragments). Turn on small-polygon cleanup to drop slivers that would burn away anyway. - **3D printing:** export 3MF for a multicolor stack, or STL for single color. - **UV print:** export the high-res PNG (4096 px). Keep the Background toggle on so the mint plate prints as a solid color, or turn it off for a transparent-background print on a colored substrate. ## Laser Cutting & Engraving ### Laser cutting All filled areas means two good routes: a layered stack of cut shapes, or a single engraved plate. Engraving is the easier option for the smaller playground and zoo patches. 1. Cut the **Backplate** from your soft-green material first - it's the registration reference for everything else. 2. Engrave route: engrave **Water**, **Park** and the accent layers directly onto the backplate (or a single ply plate) as filled fills, varying engrave power per layer for tonal contrast. No assembly, no loose pieces. 3. Layered route: cut each green-space layer from its own contrasting sheet (a deeper green for parks, a pink acrylic for theme parks). Use masking tape over the sheet before cutting so the smaller patches stay put. 4. Glue bottom-up: backplate → water plate → park → zoo/theme park/playground accents. Thin, even glue; weight it flat for 30 minutes - or skip the squeeze-out entirely with [3M tape](https://yxecreations.com/collections/3m-tape): 467 or 468 transfer tape for acrylic, 300LSE for harder materials. 5. Sand the edges flush, finish with oil or clear spray. ## 3D Printing ### 3D printing 1. Export the 3MF and open it in your slicer - layers arrive pre-stacked with their colors (mint backplate, dark green water, leaf-green parks, pink theme parks). With an STL you'll slice in one color. 2. Print flat on the bed, no supports needed. 0.2 mm layer height is plenty; the solid park blocks print cleanly with no thin features to drop out. 3. Scale: 150 mm wide and up works well. With no thin roads to worry about, this design holds up at smaller sizes than a street map would. ## UV & Sublimation Printing ### UV print / sublimation 1. Export the high-res PNG. Background on = full-color artwork on the mint plate; background off = transparent PNG so your substrate color becomes the base. 2. Print onto hardboard, slate, or aluminum; for sublimation, mirror the image and press per your blank's specs. The soft greens and bright accent pinks reproduce especially well in full color - print is arguably this preset's best method. ## Make it yours - Park-rich cities shine here: Manchester, London, Minneapolis, Portland, Munich - anywhere green space dominates the map. - Swap the backplate to a deeper sage `#74a892` for a more grown-up palette, or keep the soft mint `#b7e4c7` for a fresh, modern look. - Make a single-park feature piece: zoom in to one estate or country park and turn off the other layers for a focused gift. - Recolor Park to autumn tones (warm orange/brown) for a seasonal version of the same city. - Engrave the park's name or a coordinates line onto the backplate before assembly. - Use the Hanger hole ring mounting option and cut at ornament size (~90 mm) for a tree or window decoration - or add a [snap clip](https://yxecreations.com/products/keychain-snap-clips-multiple-colours) and call it a keychain. - Increase the global border padding for a chunkier frame around the whole plate. --- Open the tool: https://www.mylasertools.com/learn/guides/leisure-green-map Read online: https://www.mylasertools.com/learn/guides/leisure-green-map