Making a classic blue-water city map with the Blue Water Map preset

Difficulty: Easy. Time: under an hour of design time, then your print run. Best method: full-colour / UV print (the cyan water is the whole point). A laser version works as a two-tone cut with the water cut from blue acrylic.

This is the cleanest, most-loved map aesthetic on the internet: pale grayscale streets on near-white land, with water in a single bold cyan. The contrast does all the work - the eye locks onto the shape of the water first, then reads the city around it. Stockholm is a perfect showcase because its archipelago and inlets push cyan deep into the street grid, so the water becomes a branching, organic shape rather than a flat block.

Everything here is solid colour fill and line, so the design lives or dies on that one decision: keep the land light, the roads quiet, and let the water carry the colour.

Open the Blue Water Map preset

What You'll Need

UV print / sublimation

The exported high-res PNG (4096 px)
UV flatbed printer, or a sublimation setup with a coated white blank (hardboard, aluminium, ceramic)
A bright white blank keeps the cyan water as vivid as possible

Poster / paper print

The exported high-res PNG sent to a photo lab or printed on smooth matte art paper
A simple white or light wood frame keeps the focus on the water

Laser (optional, two-tone)

A sheet of cyan acrylic for the water and a white or light backer for the land
Any diode or CO2 laser
Note: treat the water as a cut shape and the roads as engraving - the colour comes from the acrylic, not the laser

Step 1 - Start from the preset

Open the Blue Water Map preset. It opens on Stockholm at zoom 12.4 in a square (1:1) frame, which captures the central islands and the surrounding water. Pan so the water reaches into all four edges of the frame - the more the cyan branches through the city, the stronger the look. Any waterfront or archipelago city (Venice, Amsterdam, Vancouver, Helsinki) works just as well.

Step 2 - Tune the layers

The preset is a single layer group, "Blue water city", and every feature is Solid fill or line. The balance between the three tones - land, roads, water - is the whole design:

Land - Solid fill, near-white #F4F4F2. The bright base that makes the water pop. Keep it light; tinting it grey kills the contrast.
Water - Solid fill, bright cyan #3FC1E0. The hero colour and the only saturated element. Nudge it toward teal #2BB0CF for a cooler look or sky-blue #5BC8E8 for a softer one.
Park / landuse - Solid fill, barely-there #E6EAE4. Green spaces read as the faintest shift from the land, so they never compete with the water.
Roads - Solid fill, a grayscale hierarchy from medium grey motorways #7A7F85 (width 5) down to pale street mesh #CDD1D5 (width 1.2). The roads should sit quietly between the land and the water.
Tertiary / streets - The fine mesh that fills the islands; ease the street width down if a dense old town reads too busy.

The one rule: only the water is allowed to be saturated. If you recolour the water, keep everything else neutral so the contrast holds.

Step 3 - Export

UV / sublimation: export the high-res PNG (4096 px). Keep the Background toggle on so the near-white land prints as a solid field, or turn it off to let a white blank become the land.
Poster: same high-res PNG, sized to your paper. The square 1:1 frame suits a 12x12 or 20x20 print.
Laser (optional): export the per-layer SVG ZIP. Cut the Water layer from cyan acrylic, mount it behind a white land layer, and engrave the road network on top.

Choose Your Build Method

UV print / sublimation

Export the high-res PNG. Print onto a bright white blank to keep the cyan as vivid as possible - white hardboard, aluminium, or ceramic all work.
For sublimation, mirror the image and press onto a coated white blank per its spec. The whiter the substrate, the punchier the water.
On a UV flatbed, lay down a white underbase if printing on anything but pure white so the cyan stays saturated.
A matte or satin finish reads as a clean modern map; gloss makes the cyan even more electric.

Poster / paper print

Send the high-res PNG to a photo lab or print on smooth matte art paper - a smooth stock keeps the grayscale roads crisp.
Frame in white or pale wood to keep all the attention on the water shape.
The 1:1 square crop is set for you - keep it square, or re-export after switching to a portrait ratio for a taller framed piece.

Make It Yours

Waterfront cities are the sweet spot: Stockholm, Venice, Amsterdam, Vancouver, Hong Kong - anywhere water reaches into the streets.
Cool the water toward teal #2BB0CF for a more contemporary feel, or warm it to a sky #5BC8E8 for a softer, calmer print.
Keep the land truly light - if you want a hint of warmth, go cream #F6F3EC rather than grey.
Add the city name and coordinates in a thin modern typeface under the map for a clean editorial look.
Print large (20x20 square) in a white frame as a bright, gallery-clean statement piece.
Turn the street mesh down a touch for a more graphic version that leans on the major roads and the water shape.

Open the Blue Water Map preset

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