PRINT SIZE REFERENCE
Etsy Map Art Print Sizes
City maps and travel art have unique sizing needs: street labels need high resolution, geographic shapes dictate orientation, and EU buyers demand A3. This guide covers every print size for map art listings.
Geographic shape determines orientation — portrait for city centres, landscape for coastlines
Quick Answer
What print sizes should I offer for map art on Etsy?
Why map art has unique sizing needs
Map prints face a challenge that abstract wall art doesn't: legibility. A city map with street labels and district names needs enough physical size and pixel density for those details to be readable when printed. Too small or too low-res, and the map becomes decorative noise rather than a meaningful keepsake.
There are three main map art sub-types on Etsy, each with different size requirements:
- City map prints: Street grids with labels need 16×20 minimum for readability. A city map at 8×10 is decorative; at 16×20 or 24×36, street names become legible and the print becomes a keepsake.
- Custom location / neighbourhood maps: Zoomed-in area maps with landmarks can work at 8×10 and 11×14. Less text density means the legibility threshold is lower.
- Travel / route art: Coastlines, river routes, trail maps — these are more abstract and can be sold at smaller sizes. Orientation often needs to be landscape to follow the geographic shape.
For buyers building a travel gallery wall, see gallery wall print sizes for Etsy — map prints are a popular anchor piece in travel-themed sets.
Best print sizes for map art on Etsy
The table below covers the full size range for map art listings. All pixel dimensions are at 300 DPI.
| Size | Pixels at 300 DPI | Ratio | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8×10 | 2400×3000 | 4:5 | Neighbourhood maps, location art with minimal text |
| 11×14 | 3300×4200 | 11:14 | Gallery-standard, good for mid-detail city sections |
| 16×20 | 4800×6000 | 4:5 | City maps — minimum size for readable street labels |
| 18×24 | 5400×7200 | 3:4 | Premium city map, housewarming gift, anniversary print |
| 24×36 | 7200×10800 | 2:3 | Statement wall map, full city + surrounding area |
| A3 | 3508×4961 | ~1:√2 (ISO) | EU/UK buyers — top gift format for city map prints |
| A4 | 2480×3508 | ~1:√2 (ISO) | EU/UK home printing — include for maximum international reach |
See the full Etsy print sizes guide for all ratios. For large-format options, see 24×36 print size for Etsy.
One upload. Five ratio-correct files.
Every ratio a buyer might need — generated automatically from your original file. No Photoshop. No manual resizing.
.jpg)
2×3A43×411×144×5SnapToSize generates all five ratio-correct files from a single upload in seconds.
Try SnapToSize free →Landscape vs. portrait for map art
Most city maps are portrait — cities tend to expand more vertically than horizontally in their core districts. A portrait frame (2:3 or 3:4) fits the typical city centre footprint without awkward empty space at the sides.
But geography overrides convention. Some map subjects genuinely demand landscape:
- Coastlines and harbour maps — long horizontal stretches of coastline need landscape (4:3 or 3:2) to avoid heavy cropping.
- Marathon and race route maps — most race courses are wider than tall; landscape 16:9 or 4:3 captures the full route without artificial vertical padding.
- Country or region outlines — some countries (Spain, the US) are naturally wider than tall and suit a landscape frame.
For landscape-specific print sizes and ratios, see the Etsy landscape print sizes guide. For photography-style compositions that share landscape ratio needs, see photography print sizes for Etsy.
Resolution requirements for map art
Map-specific issue: Street label legibility depends on both DPI and print size together. A map that looks fine on screen at 72 DPI will have completely unreadable street names when printed at 16×20. Always check your labels at 100% zoom at 300 DPI before uploading.
Map art needs 300 DPI minimum — higher than some art styles because of fine line detail and small text. Street names, district labels, and thin road lines are the first things to blur at low resolution. For maps with dense urban street grids, 350–400 DPI gives an extra margin of safety.
Vector-based maps (Adobe Illustrator, Inkscape, SVG exports) are the ideal source format — they're resolution-independent and will print cleanly at any size. If your map is raster-only (a screenshot or bitmap export), it must be created at 300 DPI from the start; upscaling never restores lost detail.
See our guide on best resolution for Etsy printables for how DPI, pixel dimensions, and print size interact.
EU sizing for city map prints
City map prints are one of the top housewarming, wedding anniversary, and travel gifts in the UK, Germany, Scandinavia, and the Netherlands. Buyers in those markets print at home on A3 paper — not 18×24 or 24×36. Sellers who offer only US sizes lose a significant share of their international traffic.
A3 (11.7×16.5 in) is close to but not the same as 11×14 — a common mistake. A buyer who downloads an 11×14 file and prints it on A3 gets a small map surrounded by a large white border, or cut-off edges depending on their printer settings. Your A3 file must be exactly 3508×4961 pixels at 300 DPI.
For a full comparison of ISO A-sizes vs US sizes, see the A3 print size guide for Etsy.
How to price and package map art listings
Map prints are premium gift items. Buyers purchasing a city map as a housewarming or anniversary gift expect value — and a listing that includes 6+ sizes in a single ZIP justifies a higher price point and reduces buyer questions about frame compatibility.
Sellers typically charge $5–$15 for a multi-size digital city map download. The Etsy 20MB file limit matters here — large 24×36 files at 300 DPI are substantial. A 24×36 JPEG at 300 DPI is roughly 8–12MB alone, so a ZIP with 6 sizes can approach the limit. SnapToSize uses progressive quality optimization to keep all sizes in one ZIP under 20MB automatically.
For guidance on which size combinations maximize perceived value, see how many sizes to include in an Etsy printable listing.
How SnapToSize handles map art multi-pack exports
Upload your map design once — SnapToSize outputs every size in the table above at 300 DPI: 8×10, 11×14, 16×20, 18×24, 24×36, A3, A4, and extras — all in a single ZIP under 20MB. Portrait and landscape variants are generated from the same upload based on your crop preferences.
For sellers with a city map collection covering multiple cities, that's the difference between hours of per-city exports and a batch upload workflow. See how to package digital wall art for Etsy for ZIP structure best practices.
City map art styled as a statement wall piece — large format makes street labels readable
Frequently asked questions
Offer 8×10, 11×14, 16×20, 18×24, 24×36, and A3 as your core set. City maps with lots of street-label detail need large formats — 16×20 minimum for readability. Always include 24×36 for statement walls and A3 for EU buyers, where map prints are a top housewarming and anniversary gift.
It depends on the geography. Most city maps and regional maps fit best in portrait (2:3 or 3:4) because cities expand more vertically than horizontally. Coastline maps, river routes, and highway travel routes often need landscape (4:3 or 16:9). Offer both orientations if your design genuinely works in both — never include a rotated version just to pad the listing.
300 DPI minimum, but map art is more resolution-sensitive than abstract work because of fine street labels and thin road lines. At 150 DPI, street names become illegible at 8×10 and larger. For maps with dense label grids (city centre districts), 350–400 DPI gives a safety margin. Vector-based maps (SVG, Illustrator) are ideal — they're resolution-independent.
Yes — always. City map prints are a top housewarming, wedding anniversary, and travel gift in the UK, Germany, and Scandinavia. Those buyers print on A3 paper. A3 (11.7×16.5 in) is NOT the same as 11×14 (a common mistake) — your A3 file must be exactly 3508×4961 pixels at 300 DPI or buyers get cut-off margins.
Use a 3:4 ratio (12×16 or 18×24) rather than 2:3 if your map area is wider than it is tall. A 3:4 frame gives you more horizontal space than 2:3 while still being portrait. Alternatively, offer both a portrait crop (focused city centre) and a landscape version (wider geographic area) as separate files in the same listing.
Upload your map design once to SnapToSize and it generates every size — 8×10, 11×14, 16×20, 18×24, 24×36, A3, and more — at 300 DPI in a single ZIP under 20MB. No manual exports, no Photoshop batch actions, no per-size resizing.
Map prints are premium gift items — housewarming, anniversary, marathon finish line. Sellers typically charge $5–$15 for a digital download. Including multiple sizes in one ZIP justifies the price and reduces buyer questions about whether their frame size is included. A listing with 6+ sizes at $8 outperforms a single-size listing at $3 on perceived value.