A Practical Guide to Creating Professional Print-Ready Maps

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About the Author

Kirill Shrayber is a professional cartographer with more than 25 years of experience in vector and thematic cartography.

Doctor of Technical Sciences.
Member of the American Geographical Society.

Over 4,000 vector maps have been created under his direction — from detailed city plans to national and world-scale cartographic systems.

Areas of expertise include:

• Large-format print cartography

• Vector map production workflows

• GIS data processing and topology cleaning

• Cartographic projections

• High-detail commercial map publishing

This section of the website is not theory.
It is a structured production methodology based on real commercial map projects.

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Why Professional Vector Maps Still Matter

Modern users are привык к online maps — Google Maps, web tiles, navigation apps.

But what you see on a screen is not a “map” in the classical sense.
It is a tile service — a dynamic rendering controlled by an algorithm.

You do not control:

• line thickness

• layer hierarchy

• generalization level

• projection choice

• typography

• visual emphasis

Professional vector cartography gives you full control.

And control is everything.

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What Is a Vector Map?

A vector map is a mathematical model of territory.

It consists of:

• Points (POI, markers)

• Lines (roads, rivers, boundaries)

• Polygons (buildings, land use, water bodies)

• Attributes (names, classifications, metadata)

• A coordinate reference system (CRS)

Unlike raster images, vector maps:

• Scale without quality loss

• Allow object-level editing

• Preserve topology

• Can be optimized for print

• Support professional cartographic design

A vector map is not an image.
It is structured geographic data.

🔷 Key Terms in Vector Cartography

Glossary of Professional Map Production

Vector Map

A mathematical representation of geographic space built from points, lines and polygons. Unlike raster images, vector maps scale without quality loss and are suitable for professional print production.

(See Chapter 1)

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Raster Map

A pixel-based image composed of tiles or bitmap layers. Raster maps lose clarity when enlarged and are not ideal for large-format printing.

(See Chapter 1)

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Shapefile (SHP)

A classical GIS format used to store vector geometry and attribute data. Consists of multiple related files (.shp, .shx, .dbf, .prj).

(See Chapter 7)

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GeoJSON

A text-based geographic data format commonly used in web mapping applications.

(See Chapter 7)

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Coordinate Reference System (CRS)

A mathematical framework that defines how geographic coordinates are projected onto a flat surface. All layers in a map project must share the same CRS.

(See Chapter 2)

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Map Projection

A mathematical transformation that converts spherical Earth coordinates into a flat map. Every projection introduces distortion.

(See Chapter 5)

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Topology

The structural correctness of spatial relationships between geographic objects. Includes connectivity, closed polygons and absence of overlaps.

(See Chapter 3)

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Street Network Graph

A representation of roads as edges and intersections as nodes. Essential for maintaining structural clarity in urban maps.

(See Chapter 3)

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Map Generalization

Controlled simplification of geographic data to match scale and improve readability in print.

(See Chapter 6)

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Layer Hierarchy

The visual stacking order of map elements, determining readability and emphasis.

(See Chapter 4)

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Stroke Weight Hierarchy

The structured variation of line thickness used to communicate importance of roads and boundaries.

(See Chapter 4)

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Vector PDF

A print-ready format that preserves scalable vector geometry without rasterization.

(See Chapter 7 and Chapter 9)

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Print-Ready Map

A finalized vector map optimized for large-format printing, with correct hierarchy, color mode and outlined text.

(See Chapter 9)

Table of contents

Chapter 1 — What Is a Vector Map?
Chapter 2 — Obtaining and Preparing Geodata (SHP, OSM, GeoJSON)
Chapter 3 — Street Network as a Graph (Nodes and Edges Explained)
Chapter 4 — Cartographic Layer Hierarchy and Visual Structure
Chapter 5 — Map Projections and Why Distortion Is Inevitable
Chapter 6 — Map Generalization and Scale Control
Chapter 7 — Vector Formats: SHP, GeoJSON, AI and PDF
Chapter 8 — Professional Map Production Workflow
Chapter 9 — Preparing a Vector Map for Print in Illustrator
Chapter 10 — Common Mistakes in Vector Map Production