Print Waterproof Plastic Maps

Step 10 Print the Map

Have your map chosen, cropped, and sized so that printing can occur imediatly after peeling the plastic.

Don't leave the peeled exposed plastic coated paper waiting around.  Be ready to print.  It will lessen the chance the film will delaminate before you get a chance to print on it.

Choose a map without fine detail or small fonts. There will be some granularity loss due to the nature of the process.  
Also, reduce the size of of the map. Remember the plastic film does not extend to the edges of the paper so maps should be less than a full sheet of letter paper.


Place the plastic coated paper plastic side down down in the printer paper tray. 
Printer paper loading differs between printers so, load the film coated paper such that the map prints on the plastic film side.

Black ink produces the best results.  Small areas of color are fine however printing in black and white produces the best results.

Print in Draft mode.  The less ink, the better.  Higher quality print settings will deliver more ink; which is normally better on paper however, larger quantities of ink on the plastic will result in more ink beading/migration due to liquid surface tension.

When ready, send the map to the printer and make sure it prints directly on the plastic film.