How do I order a custom map?
Feel free to download our map order form from
www.cartifact.com/orders, and return it to us with as much information about your project as possible. We'll put your project in our production queue and get on it right away. And if you have questions or would like to discuss your project, please feel free to call us.
How much do your maps cost?
Simply send us an email or give us a call and we'll get back to you as soon as possible with the official Cartifact price list.
How long does it take to make a custom map?
We certainly appreciate as much lead time as possible when fulfilling your map order, but we can typically turn around a map in 2 business days.
What are the terms of use for your maps?
The prices of our maps are license fees granting the right for one-time use only, on specific projects. Maps may not be reused on other projects without permission. Cartifact retains full copyright on all its products, and the Cartifact copyright notice must appear on all products.
Are there any discounts if I reuse a map?
We offer a 50% discount on any map duplicated exactly from a current project or a recent project within the last 6 months.
What types of geographical features are included in a Cartifact map?
The data layers we include in our maps differ depending on the scale of the map, but below is an outline of features typically included:
1. Detail maps - available building footprints, parks, cemeteries, golf courses, colleges, rivers, lakes, freeways/tollways, on-ramps, major/minor/local roads, and railroads.
2. Metro/Local - city limits, stadiums, amusement parks, malls, hospitals, airports, cemeteries, golf courses, parks, colleges, military bases, rivers, lakes, freeways/tollways, on-ramps, major/minor/local roads, railroads, and ferry lines.
3. Regional maps - city limits, stadiums, airports, major parks, military bases, major lakes, freeways/tollways, on-ramps, major/minor roads, and railroads.
4. State maps - state lines, cities, major parks, indian reservations, military bases, metropolitan areas, major rivers, major lakes, freeways/tollways, US/State highways.
What determines how my map is styled?
We style all of our maps with our award-winning signature style palette. However, our goal is to create a product you're happy with, so we're happy to make maps in any style for any purpose, depending on your needs.
What costs are associated with adding additional information onto a map such as competitive properties, added buildings, or suggested transportation routes?
Any addition to our standard maps beyond what is included in the base map is considered a "custom addition". Any such customization is charged at our standard $150/hour rate.
What if I want to change the map crop or zoom in or out after I have approved my crop and the map has been created.
Because each map is custom made manually by our talented staff of cartographers, changing the scale and/or the extent once the map has been created is a laborious and time-consuming process. Because of this, any changing of the map extent or the zoom level is charged at our standard $150/hour rate.
What if I want a poster-size map?
Cartifact specializes in poster-size maps. We carry pre-printed posters of select major downtown core areas across the country. See our
city center maps page for examples. We can also create custom maps for large-format printing to suit your needs.
Where do you get all of your map data?
Cartifact excels in pulling information from a wide variety of both public and private sources so as to give each map the most comprehensive and up-to-date information as possible. We also contract with well-known data providers such as Tele Atlas and EarthData which provide much of the base data upon which our maps are built. These firms are worldwide leaders in GIS (Geographic Information System) data provision, and have compiled some of the most complete rural and urban data networks, mapping and verifying the precise location of physical features all over the world. This base data, combined with the independent research we do for each and every map, allows us to offer the freshest, richest, and most accurate geographic content of any mapmaker.
What type of file formats do you deliver?
Typically, we will send drafts in jpeg format, which attach easily to emails and are optimized for viewing on screen. Once the draft has been approved, we are happy to send hi-resolution tiff image files better suited for high quality printing.
Once I get my map, can I resize and re-crop it?
Ideally, our maps would be published without being resized or re-cropped in any way. We're very happy to make the maps to your exact size specifications--right down to the pica, point and pixel. This guarantees that nothing of importance gets cut off of the map and everything remains legible, thus allowing the maps to retain their high aesthetic value. It also insures that the Cartifact copyright and logo as well as the copyright of our data providers appear on the map.
Can I get a building-level detail map of all of Northern California?
In a word, no. Maps with such high levels of detail necessitate a crop zoomed in to a fairly large scale. A poster-size map can usually accommodate building-level detail of most of a downtown area; letter size maps usually a fraction of that. If a map with building footprints is zoomed-out, the detail just gets jumbled into an indiscernible mess and gets in the way of the idea the map is meant to convey.
