Guides

Two things decide whether a printed map looks like a museum sheet or like a poster: the width you choose, and the paper you put it on. These guides are written from what we measure on our own sheets, not from what a printer’s brochure promises.

How to print an antique map at home

Start with the width on the wall, then choose the file and the paper to match. Which of the six files to send, what a print shop needs from you, and why glossy paper fights the paper texture we kept.

What 300 dpi actually gives you

Dots per inch is a ruler, not a quality. What the number means once the map is on the wall, why we state two sizes for every sheet, and how close you can stand before the engraving gives up.

How we restore a scan

What a library scan carries that a print cannot use, the six operations every map goes through, and what we deliberately leave untouched.

Where to find public-domain antique maps

Which archives let anyone reuse their scans, which ask for a credit and which stay non-commercial — checked against each archive’s own terms.

Where to print your map

Find a fine-art print shop near you in one click, see which of our files fits which frame, and compare checked prices at online print services in nine countries.

JPEG quality for printing: 100, 96 or 90?

We compressed two of our maps at seven quality levels and compared them at 3× enlargement: what changed, what did not, and why our files are now quality 96, 4:4:4.

More guides follow as we write them. If what you need is not here, write to hello@oldmapstudio.com — we answer every message, and a good question usually becomes the next guide.