Paper and Printing Choices
Fine Art Maps
Remarkable advances in printing technology have make it possible to offer a much wider range of titles in multiple sizes, as archival inkjet (giclée) prints which will last a lifetime without fading. We call these modern prints our Fine Art Prints, since they have set the standard for durability and ultimate quality reproduction. We do not offer lamination for the fine art prints. Due to the unique and custom nature of Fine Art Prints, a 25% restocking fee will be charged for their return. Please contact customer service within 30 days to arrange authorization.
Lithograph Maps
The Lithographic Posters we have offered from the inception of our company were mechanically offset printed in batches. We have held onto many of these Litho map posters and offer them to those who value a tradition that began with plates and inks and ended with a lustrous image on paper. These come in paper surface or can be laminated for you before they are shipped.Fine Art Map Types
The USA map and many of the state maps come in four different styles. You can buy ‘Elevation Tints,’ ‘Land Cover,’ ‘Night Views,’ and ‘Landforms and Rivers’ versions of many maps.
Our Four Different Types of Fine Art Maps
Elevation Tints is the classic Raven Wall Map. It uses shaded relief to portray the land and combines shading with elevation tints-- a sequence of delicate hues and colors that portrays landforms--much more clearly than the abstraction of contour lines. Elevation colors make mountains, highlands, and valleys immediately obvious.
The Land Cover version shows metropolitan areas with shaded relief, as well as highlighting farmlands, prairie, forests and wetlands. Colors show what is on the ground. "Land Cover” maps combine shaded relief with colors representing forests, farmland, wetlands, built-up areas, and so on. These maps are particularly effective in showing geographic characteristics that may not appear at all in the classic ‘Elevation Tint” treatment. Good examples are the wetlands of Northern Minnesota and Northern Michigan or the forest lands of East Texas."
The Landforms and Rivers version of state maps is something special. It’s for focused viewing in high contrast relief of just the major geological features of a state. The series uses relief shading and a careful selection of rivers and streams to emphasize landforms and drainage without the clutter of roads and typefaces as competing visual elements. This series trades comprehensiveness for minimalist elegance.
The Night Views perspective emphasizes built-up areas, shown as if they were city lights glowing at night, with just enough moonlight to reveal landforms in the background. This narrow focus gives a remarkably clear picture of the pattern of settlement. The effect is pretty close to actually being a captured record of the illumination. We are showing “impervious surfaces,” whose variable density distinguishes commercial and industrial uses from lower-density residential areas. The dark blue shaded relief background highlights the settlement pattern, the important theme of these maps.
Our different types of maps give you selection options. Which is your preference?
