Put the map on a sheet: the frame, the paper, the scale, and a title block that says where the data came from.

A finished sheet: the map inside the frame, the markup legend in its corner, and the title block along the foot.

Figure 1. A finished sheet: the map inside the frame, the markup legend in its corner, and the title block along the foot.

For GRIP Map users · September 2026

In this guide

  1. What Print does — and what decides the sheet
  2. Before you print — the layers you can see are the layers that print
  3. Open Print and show the frame
  4. The Print panel — every option, at a glance
  5. Paper size and orientation — how much map fits
  6. Scale — and what it does to the frame
  7. Place the frame — drag it, and the legend box inside it
  8. Colours and the legend — they come from Mark up
  9. Title, Created By and text size
  10. Create the PDF
  11. What is on the sheet — the title block, part by part
  12. Quick answers

The guide follows one job to paper: a notification plan for a resource consent, with the subject site and its neighbours already coloured in Mark up. Each section stands on its own, so you can go straight to the one you need.

1  What Print does

Print takes what is on the map and puts it on a PDF sheet at a scale you choose, with a title block that records who made it, when, at what scale, and which data it was drawn from.

  • The frame decides the extent. Everything inside the frame prints; everything outside it does not.
  • Paper size and scale decide how much ground the frame covers. Set them and the frame resizes on the map, so you can see what will fit before you make anything.
  • What you see is what prints. The layers you have on, and any colours and legend from Mark up, go straight onto the sheet.
  • The sheet is a PDF, downloaded to your computer like any other file. Nothing is stored in GRIP Map.

2  Before you print

Set the map up the way you want the sheet to look, because the sheet takes the map as it stands. Open Layer Control on the right-hand toolbar and turn on what the plan needs, and off what it does not.

Layer Control: what is on here is what prints.

Figure 2. Layer Control: what is on here is what prints.
Good to know  The title block lists the sources behind the layers you printed, and it builds that list from the layers that were actually on. Turning off a layer you do not need keeps the attribution honest as well as the sheet clean.

3  Open Print and show the frame

Print is the printer at the bottom of the right-hand toolbar, below Mark up.

The Print key on the right-hand toolbar.

Figure 3. The Print key on the right-hand toolbar.
  1. Click the printer . The Print panel opens on the right.
  2. Click Show Print Area. A frame appears on the map, sized from the paper and scale in the panel.

The Print panel as it opens. Show Print Area (1) puts the frame on the map.

Figure 4. The Print panel as it opens. Show Print Area (1) puts the frame on the map.

Once the frame is up, Show Print Area becomes Clear Print Area, and Create PDF appears beside it.

4  The Print panel

The Print panel, numbered to match the table below.

Figure 5. The Print panel, numbered to match the table below.
  Key What it does
1 Clear Print Area Takes the frame off the map. The options you set are kept, so showing it again brings the same frame back.
2 Create PDF Draws the sheet and downloads it. It appears only once the frame is on the map.
3 The Mark up note Says how many parcels are shaded and how many styles are named. Shading and the legend live in Mark up, not here.
4 Paper size A4, A3, A2 or A1. A size only appears if your browser can draw a sheet that big — see Quick answers.
5 Orientation Portrait or landscape. It changes the shape of the frame on the map straight away.
6 Scale The map scale as a number: 1000 means 1:1000. A bigger number covers more ground and shows less detail.
7 Scale Text Makes the labels on the sheet — appellations, road names, marks — larger or smaller. 1 is normal; 1.5 is half again. It does not change the map scale.
8 Title Printed large in the middle of the title block. Leave it empty and the space stays empty.
9 Created By Printed under “Map Prepared” at the left of the title block.

5  Paper size and orientation

Paper size and orientation set the shape and size of the frame on the map. Change either one and the frame redraws around the same centre, so you can see immediately whether the job fits.

The same job at A3 landscape: a wider frame over the same ground, at the same scale.

Figure 6. The same job at A3 landscape: a wider frame over the same ground, at the same scale.
Note  A2 and A1 are large sheets, and a browser can only draw an image so big. If a size is missing from the list, your browser cannot render it at print resolution — use a smaller sheet, or a coarser scale on a smaller sheet.

6  Scale

Scale is the number after the one: 1000 prints at 1:1000. The paper stays the same size, so a bigger number fits more ground into it.

  • 1:500 — a single site and its immediate neighbours, with room for dimensions.
  • 1:1000 — a block, which suits most notification plans.
  • 1:2000 and beyond — a locality plan, where the shape of the area matters more than the detail.

The same A4 portrait frame at 1:2000: twice the ground, half the detail.

Figure 7. The same A4 portrait frame at 1:2000: twice the ground, half the detail.

The scale you choose is printed in the title block as 1:1000 @ A4, so anyone measuring off the sheet knows what they are measuring.

7  Place the frame

The frame is dragged, not the map. Put the pointer inside it, hold, and move it over the ground you want.

The frame (1) over the job, and the legend box (2) inside it. Both are dragged into place.

Figure 8. The frame (1) over the job, and the legend box (2) inside it. Both are dragged into place.
  1. Drag the frame until the job sits inside it, with a little room at the edges.
  2. Drag the legend box to a corner where it covers nothing you need to show.
  3. Zoom or pan the map underneath if you need to; the frame stays where you put it.
Tip  The legend box only appears once Mark up has a named style. If there is no box, nothing is named yet — click the brush and name your colours.
Tip  If the markup’s legend on the map covers the frame, open Legend in Mark up and switch On the map off. The sheet still prints the legend.

8  Colours and the legend

There is no shading step and no legend step in Print. Both moved to Mark up , the brush just above the printer, and whatever is on the map is what goes on the sheet.

Mark up on the right-hand toolbar, just above Print. Click the brush to shade parcels and name the legend.

Figure 9. Mark up on the right-hand toolbar, just above Print. Click the brush to shade parcels and name the legend.

The note in the Print panel counts what the markup holds: how many parcels are shaded, and how many styles are named. A style with no name is left off the sheet.

Good to know  The legend on the sheet lists only the named styles that have a filled parcel inside the frame. Name a colour, print a frame that does not reach it, and its row is left off that sheet. Move the frame over it and the row prints.

9  Title, Created By and text size

  1. Type a Title. It prints large in the middle of the title block.
  2. Type your name in Created By. It prints under “Map Prepared” at the left.
  3. If the labels on the map are hard to read at this scale, raise Scale Text a little — 1.2 or 1.5 — and leave the map scale alone.

10  Create the PDF

Click Create PDF. The map is redrawn at print resolution, which takes a moment on a large sheet, and the PDF downloads when it is done.

The sheet, as it downloads.

Figure 10. The sheet, as it downloads.
Note  Leave the tab alone while it works. A large sheet at a fine scale is a big image, and switching away can slow the browser down or stop it finishing.

11  What is on the sheet

The title block, numbered to match the table below.

Figure 11. The title block, numbered to match the table below.
  Key What it does
1 Map Prepared What you typed in Created By.
2 North arrow Always grid north.
3 Title What you typed in Title.
4 Disclaimer The standing note that the plan is illustrative and should be verified on site.
5 Sources Where the data on this sheet came from, built from the layers that were on when you printed.
6 Date The day the sheet was made, not the day the data was published.
7 Scale and paper For example 1:1000 @ A4 — what to measure the sheet against.

12  Quick answers

Create PDF is not there.

It appears once the frame is on the map. Click Show Print Area first.

A paper size is missing from the list.

Your browser cannot draw a sheet that large at print resolution. Use a smaller sheet, or a coarser scale on a smaller sheet.

Something on the map is missing from the sheet.

Either its layer was off in Layer Control, or it sits outside the frame.

My colours did not print.

Colours come from Mark up. If a parcel is shaded but its colour has no name in the legend, the parcel still prints — it is the legend row that is left off. If nothing printed, the markup was cleared before the sheet was made.

A legend row is missing.

That style has no filled parcel inside the frame, or it has no name. Both are fixed in Mark up.

The labels are too small to read.

Raise Scale Text. It enlarges the labels without changing the map scale.

Dragging moves the map, not the frame.

Start the drag inside the frame. Starting outside it moves the map, which is what you want when you are placing the ground under a frame you have already set.

Can I print from a phone?

Yes. Print is on the phone toolbar and works the same way. Mark up is not — a markup made at the desk still prints from the phone, but it cannot be changed there.

Colouring parcels and naming them in a legend is covered in its own guide, Map: mark up parcels and build a legend.

map printing