Recently I was sent a link to a site that sold canned maps - Illustrator files of maps of states ($3.95 US for an outline of Illinios, for instance). This puts a blogger in an awkward position: posting a notice about such a site is like a free advertisement. I am reluctant to do so unless the site is of obvious interest or benefit to the readership (namely, cartographers and other interested cartophiles). Posting review of books could be considered free advertisement as well, I suppose. So the line is a bit fuzzy and things are not all that black and white.

With that in mind, the following could be considered a free advertisement. Maps.com is also a commercial site that sells royalty free maps but this one might be of benefit to cartographers. As well as regularly offering work to freelance cartographers (mostly in the cleaning up GIS output in Illustrator department) they also allow cartographers to post and sell their work. Cartographers who do so receive 30% of the gross sales amount but there is no indication as to how the price for a map is determined. I can’t comment on how Maps.com is like to work for; if anyone has done so, leave a comment and let me know.

Thanks Jeff.