The map
Nine ways to use your love map file
In short
Because you receive a print-ready file rather than one poster, the same artwork can be a framed print, a wedding welcome sign, a set of bookmarks, a phone wallpaper and a card, printed as many times as you like. It is licensed for personal use, so printing it repeatedly for yourself is fine.
The thing most people miss
A printed poster is one object. A file is a licence to make as many objects as you want, at any size, forever. One buyer described printing a large copy as decor, small copies as bookmarks, and posting it digitally on social media, three uses, one purchase.
Here is the full range of what that makes possible.
1. The framed print
The obvious one, and still the best. 30 × 45 cm on premium matte in a thin black or oak frame is the combination most people land on. Sizes and paper here.
2. A second print for someone else
Parents, a sibling, the friend who introduced you. The artwork costs nothing again, only the print. This is the single most common second use.
3. A wedding welcome sign
Printed at 50 × 75 cm or 60 × 90 cm and put on an easel at the entrance, so guests read your story while they wait. One couple said it would be “so cool to have at our wedding for guests to look at”. More on using it at a wedding.
4. Bookmarks and favours
Printed small, cut down, one per guest or one per person in the family. Works especially well from a map with a lot of small illustrations in it, because each bookmark ends up carrying a different part of the road.
5. A card
Reduce it to A6, print on card stock, and it becomes the anniversary card as well as the gift. Slightly absurd, extremely effective.
6. A phone or desktop wallpaper
Crop a section, the part with your house on it, or the pub, and it is a lock screen. The 2:3 ratio means a full-map wallpaper works on most phones without cropping.
7. The order of service, or a table plan
If the map exists before the wedding, the artwork can be the cover of the order of service or the backdrop of a seating plan. Same file, different crop.
8. Something to post
People do share these, and the file is high enough resolution that a screenshot of a section reads clearly. If you post it, consider blurring house numbers, the map is for a wall, not for the internet.
9. A canvas, with no frame at all
Stretched canvas skips framing entirely. Fine detail softens slightly on canvas, so print one size larger than you would on paper.
What the licence allows
Personal use. Print it as many times as you like, for yourself and as gifts. What it does not cover is commercial resale, putting it on products to sell, or reselling the file itself.
One practical note
Keep the original PDF somewhere you will find it in five years. People come back wanting a second print long after the Etsy download link has been forgotten, and the file is the thing that makes that free rather than a new order.
Questions
Where should I print it?
Any print shop or online lab. Staples and FedEx Office handle poster printing in the US; Pixartprinting, Printful, CEWE, Saal Digital and Bay Photo are good online options. For the best result ask for Premium Matte or a fine-art giclée paper, and keep the file in the sRGB colour profile when you upload.
Can I print it at home?
Yes, on A4 or A3 art paper. Because A-series is a 1:√2 ratio and the map is 2:3, you will get thin white borders down the left and right, either trim them or leave them as a natural margin inside the frame.
I cannot download the file on my phone. What do I do?
Etsy digital downloads are easiest on a desktop or laptop browser. On a phone, open the Etsy app, go to Purchases, then Download, and if the PDF will not save, use a computer or ask us to email the files directly.
What frame suits it best?
A thin black frame for a minimalist room, oak for Scandinavian, walnut or gold for boho and earthy interiors, and black with a mount for dark, moody rooms. Because the map is black and white it sits comfortably with almost any wall colour.