A city poster is the product that made personalization mainstream, and it is easy to build badly: open every control and your catalogue photograph stops representing anything a customer receives. This recipe keeps the look yours and hands over the one thing shoppers actually want to change.
Build it
Place the map and set a city
Add the City Map element and set a place you would be happy to sell. That is your default, and it is what ships if the shopper changes nothing.
Frame and style it
Set the zoom, the frame shape and the colours. This is the part you are actually selling, and it is the part to keep closed.
Open the location only
On the element’s Personalization tab, make the location editable and leave the style fixed. One question, one field, and every poster still looks like yours.
Add a caption that follows the map
Use a caption snippet so the city name under the map updates when the shopper changes it. Typing the name in a second field means it can be wrong. See auto-filling captions.
Decide about the credit
The OpenStreetMap credit shows below the canvas and under the shopper’s preview, and it is not drawn into the print file. If it has to be on the item, add it yourself as a text layer. See credits on a smart element.
How open to make it
Common questions
Should I let shoppers change the map colours?
Rarely. The colours are what make the poster recognisably yours, and an open palette means your product photo shows something nobody buys.
Can a shopper pin an exact street address?
City search covers places rather than street addresses. Design the product around a place, which is what most buyers want anyway.
The caption says the wrong city.
It was probably typed rather than filled in. Use a caption snippet so it follows the map.
Is the credit line on the printed poster?
No. It renders on your canvas and on the shopper's preview. Add a text layer if you need it on the item.
How is this different from a travel map?
A city map is one place with marker styles and frame shapes. A travel map is built around the route between several places.
Next
Read City Map for every setting on the element, or a star map for the same idea with three inputs instead of one.