Can I Print Just the Map on Google Maps?

Online maps are helpful, but sometimes you just need a paper version.

With the help of Google Maps, it is possible to look up a lot of information on places from all around the world. For many locations, especially in the U.S., Canada, Europe and Australia, users can even see a street-side view of the location they're searching for. While all this information can be helpful in finding and getting to know a certain place, at times it's just as helpful to print out a paper copy of the map. Several options are available to you using Google Maps.

Printing the Map

If you've found a location on Google Maps and you now want to print out just the map -- without directions or any accompaniments -- it's quite easy to do. Simply click the printer icon in the top right corner of the map, which will bring up a preview window that lets you see what your map will look like. Click "Print" in the top right corner of the preview window and your map will be printed with a Google logo in the top left corner and a notes window in the top right.

Changing the Map

If you get to the preview screen and you find you've zoomed in too close or not close enough to the location that you want to feature on the map, you can change this easily using the zoom tool right within the preview pane. Click on the plus or minus sign on the toggle bar along the left hand side of the pane to zoom in or out of the map; then click "print" at the top right corner.

Print Screen

You'll notice that when you print the map using the print function, your map appears as a graphic and not a photograph. If you want to print another type of map from Google Maps, another option is to press the "Print Screen" key on your keyboard to create an image of the type of map you're seeing on your screen. Then open your Paint tool and click "Paste" to paste the image into MS Paint. Use your crop tool to create a box around the portion of the map you want to print; then copy that box and paste it into another Paint document, and print it from there. You want to create a new Paint document as a place for the new cropped image to exist in.

Maps with Directions

Occasionally you may want to print directions to a location using Google Maps. While it's possible to print out just the text directions, you can also print out a large map or several small maps to go along with the directions. Once you've typed in your point "A" and point "B" locations and clicked "Get Directions," click the print icon in the top right corner, above the map. Within the preview pane that appears, click the checkbox next to "Include Large Map" to put a large map at the top of your directions page. Click "Maps" near the top of the preview window to print a map for each step of your directions. Then click "Print" in the top right corner to print your maps and directions.

References

• Google: Streetview Landing Page Prototype