# Printing a fancy framed map of any city > turn a city into gallery-grade wall art for your printer, UV flatbed, or local print shop Not every map wants to be cut into layers. Some of the best-looking pieces in the tool are flat, full-color designs meant to be printed and framed: a vintage parchment old town, a drafting-blue blueprint, a neon night skyline, a warm midnight-gold cityscape. This guide covers turning any of them into a fancy framed print, whether you run it through your own inkjet, send the file to a print shop, or lay it down on wood with a UV flatbed. The map designer exports a 4096 px image, which is plenty for a sharp print up to roughly A3 / 13x19 inches. The trick to a result that looks bought rather than made is all in the framing, the palette, and a generous margin around the art. ## What you need ### Print at home or a shop - The exported 4096 px PNG and an inkjet/photo printer, or a print service (Posterjack, Costco Photo, a local shop) - Matte or fine-art paper for a poster look; photo rag for a premium feel - A frame with a mat board, or a float frame for a borderless modern look ### UV flatbed (premium) - Flatbed UV printer, a sanded light hardwood or birch panel, or white [acrylic](https://yxecreations.com/pages/acrylic-sheets)/Dibond - Optional [anodized standoff spacers](https://yxecreations.com/products/4-pack-anodized-standoff-spacers) to float-mount the panel off the wall ### Sublimation - Sublimation printer + paper, poly-coated hardboard, heat press, heat tape, butcher paper ## Step 1 - Pick a flat-color preset Start from a preset that was designed to be printed rather than stacked. Strong choices, each with its own personality: - [Vintage Parchment Map](/map-designer?preset=vintage-parchment-map) - oxblood and sepia roads on aged paper, perfect for old towns like Rome, Prague, or Quebec City. - [Blueprint Map](/map-designer?preset=blueprint-map) - white linework on drafting blue, an architect's-study look. - [Neon Night Map](/map-designer?preset=neon-night-map) and [Midnight Gold Map](/map-designer?preset=midnight-gold-map) - glowing streets on a dark ground for a dramatic, modern frame. - [Synthwave Sunset Map](/map-designer?preset=synthwave-sunset-map) and [Retro 70s Map](/map-designer?preset=retro-70s-map) - bold, graphic palettes for a statement piece. - [City Map](/map-designer?preset=city-map) - the clean, classic look if you want a neutral palette you can recolor yourself. Search your city and frame it so a recognizable feature - a river bend, the downtown core, a coastline - sits near the center. Leave a calm band of land around the edges; that breathing room is what a mat board will frame. ## Step 2 - Tune the palette and a caption - Keep the water and parks readable but quiet so the road network stays the hero. On dark presets, nudge the brightest road tier down a notch if it buzzes. - Add a **text layer** with the city name and coordinates along the bottom third. A small, well-kerned caption is the single biggest 'this looks professional' upgrade. - Turn on the **compass icon** overlay for vintage and nautical styles - no preset wears it better than the parchment one. - Decide on your frame color now and check the palette against it: a warm parchment map sings in a black or walnut frame; a blueprint map wants white or natural maple. ## Step 3 - Export for print - Export the **high-res PNG (4096 px)** with the **Background toggle on** (you want the full colored design, not a transparent cutout). - At 4096 px you clear 300 DPI up to about 13 inches, and a comfortable 200+ DPI at A3. For anything larger, print at a shop that upscales cleanly. - Turn on **small-polygon cleanup** so confetti-sized park and water slivers do not muddy the print. - Square presets frame beautifully in a square mat; if you want a portrait/landscape print, leave extra margin on the long sides and crop in your print dialog rather than stretching. ## Print & Frame ### Inkjet or print-shop poster 1. Print on matte or fine-art paper at your chosen size; photo gloss can over-shine dark night presets, so matte is the safer pick. 2. Use a frame with a **mat board** - a 5-8 cm mat around the art is what separates a framed print from a poster taped to glass. 3. For a modern borderless look, mount to foamboard and use a float frame instead of a mat. 4. Hang at eye level; pair two cities side by side (where we met / where we live) for an easy gift set. ### UV flatbed on wood or acrylic 1. Sand a light hardwood or birch panel to 220 grit and blow it clean; for parchment styles, print with **no white underbase** so the grain ghosts through as aged paper. 2. On white acrylic or Dibond, print with a white underbase for punchy, true color, then float-mount with [anodized standoff spacers](https://yxecreations.com/products/4-pack-anodized-standoff-spacers) at the corners (enable **Corner holes** at export). 3. A satin clear coat deepens the inks without a plasticky gloss. ## Make it yours - Anniversary gift: the city where a couple met, in the Vintage Parchment palette, with the date as the caption. - Gallery wall: three cities in a shared palette and matching frames down a hallway. - Switch the export shape to a circle or heart for a softer framed piece over a meaningful neighborhood. - Print the same city in two presets - parchment beside blueprint - as a 'then and now' diptych. - Sublimate onto a rustic-textured hardboard blank for a print that already looks aged. - Add a route layer in faded ink tracing a favorite walk through the old town before printing. --- Open a printable map preset: https://www.mylasertools.com/map-designer?preset=vintage-parchment-map Read online: https://www.mylasertools.com/learn/guides/print-fancy-framed-map