Frequently asked questions

A custom love map is a personalised illustration that charts a couple’s relationship as a map. A road winds through the places that mattered: where you met, your first date, the proposal, the wedding, the homes and the pets. Each one is labelled with its real place name and date. It is delivered as a print-ready file, so you choose the size and print it wherever you like.

The file is a 300 DPI PDF in a 2:3 aspect ratio, so it scales cleanly to 20×30, 30×45, 40×60, 50×75 and 60×90 cm (8×12, 12×18, 16×24, 20×30 and 24×36 in). A4–A1 also work, but A-series paper is a 1:√2 ratio, so a 2:3 poster prints with thin white borders on the left and right.

No. This is a digital product. You receive files, not a parcel, which is why there is no shipping cost, no customs delay, and nothing that can arrive late or damaged.

Between five and eight. That is the range the layout is built for, and it is what reads cleanly at poster size, eight labelled stops is already a dense poster. If you have more moments than that, the map is better for choosing the eight that changed something than for fitting everything in.

Yes, name it and describe anything distinctive about it, and it becomes its own illustration instead of a generic building. Past maps have included The Alma pub in Crystal Palace, Adriatico’s Pizza in Columbus, the Taylor Tower and Bradley Hall halls of residence at Ohio State, a family camper-van business, and the maternity hospital in Cape Town where a customer’s children were born.

Yes, by name, and by breed. Dogs, cats, babies and even a grandchildren family tree have all been part of previous maps.

Yes. A handwritten-style note can be lettered into the map, and short lines or inside jokes can be scattered along the road as little pinned notes. It is one of the most loved parts of the map and costs nothing extra, just send the words you want on it.

A first draft usually arrives within 3 days, and most orders are finished within 4–5 days. That is the whole timeline rather than a production stage: because you receive a file, nothing is added on top of it for shipping. Reviewers frequently describe it arriving faster than that, and rush requests are sometimes possible, but plan around 4–5 days.

Yes. A draft comes to you before the final files, and you get one round of changes on it: wording, dates, spellings, and small additions or removals of detail. Send everything in one reply rather than in pieces, since it is a single round. The sequence of stops is fixed at that point, so that part needs to be right when you send your brief.

One round, and it covers corrections and small details: wording, dates, spellings, and small additions or removals within the stops you already have. It does not cover adding or removing a milestone. The map is a timeline, so the whole composition is built around the exact sequence of stops, which means a new stop is a different map rather than a tweak. That is why the flow matters most in your first brief: decide the five to eight stops and their order before you send them, and the draft comes back close to finished.

Your two names, the title you want, and five to eight milestones in the order they happened, each with the event, the real place name and the date. A line describing anything distinctive about a place, pet or vehicle you want on the map. And the wording of a personal note, if you want one. Get the list and its order right at this stage, because that is what the composition is built around.

It will be in the same style, but no two maps are identical, because no two stories are. Some maps are sparse and doodle-like, others are dense with detailed architecture. Browse the examples and say which end of that range you prefer when you order, telling us up front is the surest way to get what you are picturing.

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.

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.

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.

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.

The first wedding anniversary is traditionally marked with paper, and a printed map is literally paper, but it is paper with your own story on it rather than a card. That is why it is the shop’s most requested first-anniversary piece.

No. Maps have been made for 6th, 20th and 46th anniversaries, for engagements, elopements, weddings, Valentine’s Day, and as gifts from adult children to their parents and grandparents. Longer stories tend to make richer maps.

Yes, and many people do. Maps have included a wedding date still months away and a baby due the following year. Every map ends with a “to be continued” arrow, because the story is not finished.

Yes. Couples have printed it large as a welcome sign for guests to read, used it as a guest-book alternative, and printed small copies as bookmarks and favours. Because you own a print-ready file rather than a single poster, you can print it at more than one size.

Yes, and it is encouraged, especially if you are unsure whether your story will fit. Messages are usually answered within a few hours.