This document provides a tutorial for creating custom maps using Microsoft Publisher. It is a 5-step process: 1) Take a screenshot of a Google map area in your browser, 2) Import the screenshot into Publisher, 3) Trace roads, boundaries and points of interest over the screenshot, 4) Add labels, icons and other customizations, 5) Save the finished map as an image file. The process allows economic developers to easily create professional custom maps without advanced design skills.

1. Quick and Easy Custom Maps
An Economic Development
Marketing Tutorial by

2. Quick and Easy Custom Maps
• Economic developers often need to produce
custom maps for marketing materials, client
packages, presentations and other purposes.
• Drawing maps by hand is a tedious process
which requires a moderate-to-high level of
graphic design skill.
• On the other hand, using screen captures of
Google Maps does not portray the
professional image ED organizations require.
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3. Quick and Easy Custom Maps
• Following is a quick method for creating
custom maps with minimal graphic design
experience or skill.
• This method requires a basic understanding of
Microsoft Publisher. I am using 2007, but the
same general principles apply to any version.
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4. Step One – Google Map
Open Google Maps in your browser,
enter a description of the general area
you want to map in the search box at
the top and click the blue “Search
Maps” button.
In this example, I have searched for
“Statesville, NC.”
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5. Step One – Google Map
Use the tools on the left to adjust the
screen to the area you want to map.
You can pan left, right, up or down and
zoom in or out. The map on the screen
does not have to be exactly as you
want it in the finished map, but should
be fairly close.
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6. Step One – Google Map
Press the Prt Scr key on your keyboard.
This captures an image of the screen
to your clipboard. You can now close
Google Maps.
Note: Some keyboards require the Alt
key to be pressed simultaneously with
the PrtScr key to copy a screenshot.
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7. Step Two – Publisher
Import
Open Microsoft Publisher on your
computer. Click the icon for “Blank
Page Sizes.” This will allow you to
select from a number of different page
sizes and configurations. Note that
once the map is created, the size can
be easily scaled down.
For demo purposes we will choose 11
X 8.5”.
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8. Step Two – Publisher
Import
Simultaneously press the Ctrl and V
keys on your keyboard. This will past
the saved screenshot of your Google
map into Publisher. Click anywhere on
the screenshot to bring up the Picture
tool bar, and click on the Crop button.
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9. Step Two – Publisher
Import
When the crop button is activated you
will see black bars at the middle of
each edge of the screenshot. Drag
those bars inward to crop out any
unwanted portions of the screenshot,
leaving just a map in roughly the
proportions you want for the finished
drawing. Then click again on the Crop
button on the Picture tool bar to turn
off cropping.
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10. Step Two – Publisher
Import
Drag the corners of the remaining
image to fill the desired area for the
finished map. The image may be a
little fuzzy and there may still be some
icons, scales or characters you do not
want on the finished map. This does
not matter.
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11. Step Three – Trace Image
Now that you have a guide to work
from, the next step is to trace all of the
elements that you want to capture
from the image onto our map
document.
To do this select the Autoshapes tool
from the toolbar on the left of the
screen, then select Lines and
Freeform.
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12. Step Three – Trace Image
Position the cursor at the edge of the
image where a road you want to trace
starts, and click. Then move the cursor
to the next “turn” in the road and click
again. Repeat this until you have come
to the other edge of the image and hit
Esc. When you have finished, you
should have a line which closely
approximates the path of the road.
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13. Step Three – Trace Image
Note: If the line doesn’t look exactly
the way you want it, you can right-click
on the line and click on Edit Points.
This will allow you to add or delete a
point (the place where you clicked
when you were creating the line) or
you can drag the individual points to a
new location.
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14. Step Three – Trace Image
Now you are going to make the line
look more like the road on a map.
Click on line you just created, then
click on the Line/Border Style tool at
the top of the page and select 4 ½.
This will increase the width of the line.
I typically use 4 ½ for Interstates, 3 for
major roads and 2 ¼ for other roads,
but that is up to you.
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15. Step Three – Trace Image
Next, select the color for the line by
clicking on the Line Color tool at the
top of the screen. You can choose any
color, depending on your palette, but
for demo purposes I am going to
choose a dark yellow.
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16. Step Three – Trace Image
Your line should now look very much
like the underlying image.
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17. Step Three – Trace Image
You will want to identify major
highways with their official symbols.
These can be easily copied from the
Internet. Simply do a Google search on
the name of the road, in this case I-77.
Most major highways have a Wikipedia
entry with an image of the symbol.
Right click on that symbol and select
Copy Image.
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18. Step Three – Trace Image
Return to your Publisher document
and simultaneously press Ctrl and V.
This will paste a copy of the image into
your document. Drag one corner of
the image you just pasted until it is the
size you require – usually the same
size as shown on the underlying image
– and then drag it into position.
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19. Step Three – Trace Image
To more closely approximate the look
of the original map, you may want to
copy and paste this symbol one or
more times.
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20. Step Three – Trace Image
Repeat this process until all of the
desired roads are traced. For most
economic development purposes, it is
not necessary to trace all of the minor
roads, just the major highways and
critical surface streets, such as those
leading to business parks or other
points of interest.
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21. Step Three – Trace Image
You may also want to add other
distinguishing shapes, such as the city
limits, the perimeter of a business park
or a lake or river. These can be added
using the same
Autoshapes>Lines>Freeform tool we
used to trace the roads. Simply click to
bring the ends of the line together to
create a shape. For demo purposes, I
have traced the city limits.
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22. Step Three – Trace Image
You can then apply a color to this area
by clicking on the Fill Color tool at the
top of the screen and selecting a color
from the menu. You may also want to
get rid of the line around the shape by
clicking on the Line Color tool and
selecting No Line.
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23. Step Three – Trace Image
As you can see, there is a
problem with this. The shape
we just created covers up the
lines we previously traced. We
can move our shape behind
those lines by clicking on
Arrange from the top menu and
then selecting order and Send
Backward. You may need to do
this more than once to get the
shape where you need it. You
can also right-click on the shape
to select Order.
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24. Step Four – Customize
Now, you will probably want to add
some text to your map; things like city
names, airports, business parks, etc.
To do this, click on the Text Box tool on
the left of the screen and click on the
document in the general area you
want the text to appear.
Begin typing. Your text will appear on
the screen. You can adjust size and
font as needed.
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25. Step Four – Customize
You may also want to insert some
icons, an airplane to represent an
airport, for instance.
To do this select Insert from the menu
at the top of the page and then select
Picture and Clip Art. Near the bottom
left side of the screen select Clip Art
on Office Online. This will open a
browser window which will allow you
to select from thousands of images.
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26. Step Four – Customize
Search for a relevant key word such as
“airplane” or “factory,” and then copy
and paste the desired image into your
document. Remember that you can
drag the corners of the image to adjust
the size.
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27. Step Four – Customize
Now, click anywhere on the original
image and click Delete. You should
have a finished map that you will be
proud to include in brochures, client
packages and presentations.
There are a few more things you can
do to make it look even more
professional, however.
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28. Step Four – Customize
You can add a background by selecting
the Rectangle Tool from the tool bar
on the left of the screen, and then
dragging that corners of that rectangle
to match the outside perimeter of
your map. Then, select a color with the
Fill Color tool.
You can also ad a decorative border
and/or a banner using the Autoshapes
tool.
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29. Step Five – Save as an
Image
The demo map we created today was
fairly simple, but using these same
techniques, you can create
attractive, highly customized maps
which rival those hand drawn by
graphic designers.
The final step is to save the map as an
image. To do this, click File and Save
As, then choose PNG from the Save As
Type menu.
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30. Quick and Easy Custom Maps
• I hope you have found this Economic
Development Marketing tutorial useful.
• Please feel free to contact me if you have any
comments or questions.
John B. Marek
Economic Development Marketing
Specializing in place branding and business retention,
expansion and attraction for rural and micropolitan
communities.
Ph. 704-237-0719
johnbmarek@gmail.com
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