UKH

Morning

Does anyone use digital mapping and which is best please?

I want to produce my own A5/A4 sized maps of routes using OS maps not Harvey’s.

I don’t want to download it to a phone but just be able to print maps.

Also,what type of paper do you print to?

thanks a lot

Dave

Bing Maps and a screen shot?

Ordinary inkjet paper (just don't get it wet).

Actually it largely depends on what sort of resolution you want on the print. The above works fine for a map I can read on the move (e.g., running) - finer detail would just be lost in the bouncy blur. On the other hand, if you want something like OS map resolution, then it's going to be a bit more work (but can still be done by stitching together a couple of screen shots per A4 page).

OS Maps online will let you print on A3 or A4, and choose whether to print to scale or fit to a page. It can be a bit of faff lining up exactly what you want with the preview, but it does work. https://osmaps.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/  This is a subscription service, but good value if you do stuff regularly.

A basic laminator will then turn an A4 sheet into a waterproof "card". A bit big for a pocket but easy to use and you can sort of roll them. 

Of course you can also send to your phone as a back up if you want to in the future.

Yep, I print out screenshots and then just put them in map cases. I do it from the phone so I have a choice of OS, Harvey's and viewrangers cycling maps. The viewrangers ones don't have grids etc so not so useful for most nav but do have more paths marked than others so sometimes I take that and an OS or Harvey's. I put them back to back in the mapcase. 

If you're willing to pay a few quid and don't want the hassle of stitching together Bing screenshots or whatever, the OS website is good for printing your own maps.  I use it a lot and it seems like excellent value for money to me.

They make it easy to print to A4 or A3 to scale. 

I generally 'print' to a pdf and then print that on paper in turn.  Keeping the pdf makes it very easy to print another copy of the same map if it's on ordinary paper and it gets wet, if you scribble notes on it or whatever.   If you want an A5 map you could 'print' an A4 pdf and then print that to paper at 100% scale and let the outside get cropped away - you probably don't want a border taking up space on such a small piece of paper anyway.  I often do that for an A4 map (ie: 'print' an A3 one and lose the border etc.)

I think it's probably fair to say their app is not the best though, unfortunately.

https://shop.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/apps/os-maps/

If you want a waterproof map you could always laminate it. 
There's also waterproof paper that you can buy, it's pricey but really good stuff.
https://shop.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/activity-gear/walking/waterproof-paper/

I print to A3 PDF using a bespoke app my colleague wrote, then print double sided, and z-fold to A6. Then protect in a pour''n'store bag, or other sturdy zip-lock bag.

Thanks everyone, I will have a look at all those options.

What do you mean by ‘don’t have grids’? They have the usual grid lines so I guess you mean something else?

Maybe mine is an older version but they don't have grid lines on mine. Not for the OpenCycleMap or the Viewrangers outdoors.

Not many ways of printing multi-page web maps easily. Almost as if the cartographic companies wanted you to buy their own paper maps or what!

If you are fine with OpenStreetMap (or OpenTopoMap), there are tools to print detailed multi-page paper maps online:

MyOSMatic supports GPS track import and is free, unfortunately you can't set a fixed scale, which is a real bummer.

https://print.get-map.org/

Inkatlas lets you set the scale to common values, select a complex polygon area to be printed instead of just a rectangle and supports GPS track import as well, but the free version is limited to 6 pages and fewer map styles.

https://inkatlas.com

You could cobble up your own from the all the scripts, tools and other web services linked below, but it won't be that easy.

https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/OSM_on_Paper

Thanks. I usually use the OS series, which are just facsimiles of the original printed maps with grid lines. 

Been using memory map for years. Print on their own waterproof paper. That said, not used an actual map outside for years either.