Switching background maps to black and white for printing

Switching background maps to black and white for printing

Overview

When printing maps it's possible to change the style of the background Ordnance Survey mapping from the default coloured maps into a black and white lined style. This is of particular benefit when printing the maps out. It saves ink and can make clearer-looking maps.


Limitations

Please bear in mind that this currently only works when printing maps at a large-scale, e.g. zoomed in below 1:2,000 scale.


Method

It's very simple to switch the style of the background mapping:

  1. Expandthe 'Ordnance Survey PSGA' collection.
  2. Click the 'OS PSGA Stack' layer to deselect it. The tick will disappear next to the layer.
  3. Expand the 'Ordnance Survey Individual' collection.
  4. Click on 'OS MasterMap - LandLine Style' to select it.



Style of the default mapping


Style of the black and white mapping


Troubleshooting

  • If the map area is completely white instead of one of the two styles above then;
    • one of the two maps may not be switched on. Check that one of them is switched on.
    • the map may not have loaded. Check to see if the layer shows a spinning circle instead of a tick. If that's the case the map is attempting to load.
  • If the map area is completely blue then zoom the map in further. The LandLine style map is limited to larger zoom levels.



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