Can I have more information about the different layers used in your maps?

Layers separate the parts of an editable map so that you can work on areas, boundaries, water and labels independently. The exact layer list depends on the map. Check its product details and open a copy of the layered file before making changes.

A real example: California Defined

The AI file supplied with our California Defined map contains 14 top-level layers. We opened that file in Adobe Illustrator 2026 (30.8.2) on macOS and checked the colour and visibility controls.

• Country area, State area: filled geographic shapes. In this example, expanding State area reveals named objects including California, Nevada, Oregon and Arizona. Select the intended object’s artwork to change its fill.
• Main state boundary line, State boundary line, Country boundary line: separate boundary artwork. A boundary’s stroke can be treated separately from the area underneath it.
• River, Sea area, Coastline, Lake: the water and coastline artwork. Keep these separate when changing land colours.
• City point: the symbols marking cities. Hiding their names does not automatically hide these symbols.
• Name city, Name state, Name physical: the place-name layers. Hiding these three layers removes the displayed names while retaining the underlying geographic artwork.
• Legend: supporting map information, including the scale-bar artwork in this file. Decide whether it is still needed in your final layout.

Hiding, locking and selecting do different jobs

Use the eye icon to hide a layer temporarily. Its contents remain in the working file and can be shown again. A lock prevents accidental editing. Selecting the artwork is the step that lets you change an object’s fill or stroke; simply highlighting a layer name is not the same thing.

For a map without place names, hide the relevant Name layers rather than selecting and deleting everything that looks like text. If you also want to remove city dots, hide City point separately. Review the result before exporting: a legend, title or annotation may live on another layer.

What about shaded relief and extra detail?

Some styles include raster shaded relief. A relief layer is an image, so it has a finite pixel resolution even when the lines above it are vector artwork. The California example above does not have a shaded-relief layer.

Layers organise the supplied artwork; they do not turn it into a live GIS database. Zooming in does not load additional roads, towns or a more detailed coastline. Choose a map whose existing coverage and level of detail suit your project.

JPEGs and the printable non-layered PDF are not supplied with the same organised layer structure. See the file-format guide before downloading. If you use a free map in your finished work, retain the credit required by the free-map licence.