Creating Maps in Adobe Illustrator 2020

For creating maps in Adobe Illustrator you need to combine the shapes of countries, continents or the world with placemarks, text elements, routes and symbols.
Maps are downloaded from:
freevectormaps.com/
Topics include: handling layers, copy and pasting elements respecting their layers, locking layers, adding elements such as symbols, pictures or pictograms.

[@IgnasV]

Thank you, I've got a lot of value out of this. Incredibly informative, little tricks like how you made a marking for a city, locking and visibility, or how you cut out an Eiffel tower out of a photo. I've watched two dozen tutorials on illustrator and Photoshop, and this one is phenomenal.

[@AFTutorials]

You are welcome.

[@monica6149]

Great tutorial. Slow enough to follow quick enough to learn multiple valuable shortcuts and processes. Thanks

[@noahjoo7231]

thank you so much! I needed this!

[@nhuquantcheng7112]

Thanks so much for your incredible work, you're a lifesaver.

[@KingdomCovenantOfficial]

Great Content!

[@aimee9925]

Thanks for this, very informative tutorial. Would you be able to do a tutorial on creating countries/states please? If I wanted to draw Europe for example, I assume you would trace the continental coastline but I'm not sure where to go from there.

[@AFTutorials]

Hi Aimee. In the description of the video I have posted a link where you can download a map of Europe. So no need to trace the countries. Is that something that you could use?

[@aimee9925]

@@AFTutorials Ah, I was wondering how a map like the one you were using (Europe) would be created from scratch - in that example all the borders of each country don't overlap and there's no weird thick lines that appear where multiple countries border each other. I assume the Shape Builder tool would be the best way to divide a continent layer into their constituent nations? The maps I usually create are 19th century vector maps, which sadly are not free so I have to make my own by tracing over a combination of old maps of the same scale. Once I create a continental shape I'm not sure how to draw all the interlocking borders and then divide them all up into individual states. :)

[@AFTutorials]

Draw the borders betwen the countries and make sure they intersect or go out into the sea. Then you select all the lines, use the Shape Builder Tool (shift+m) to find the islands and click into it. That will create the outline of the country and the two countries perfectly fit together. You can even click and drag to combine two islands into one country. Try that. I hope that works for you even without a tutorial.

[@aimee9925]

@@AFTutorials Thanks, that seems to have done the trick. :)

[@MsMarcelinjo]

thx so much so good

[@dhanvinv5307]

Hello, how can I turn off the feature that features when we put a shadow it puts shadow according to its position layers. I want to put shadow to neighboring countries

[@AFTutorials]

I guess the shadow effect always works this way. You have to make sure that all elements that should get the shadow are below the shadow casting element. Could that work?

[@dhanvinv_2473]

Bro I have downloaded the maps as you said , but I am not able to edit them

[@ydk.hkfrmdaq]

what file did you use to open?

[@arnaudd.4016]

Your map world looks like more detailed than the freevectormaps world map

[@AFTutorials]

Maybe I have picked a different map from freevectormaps.

[@dhanvinv_2473]

Bro I am unable to edit those when I have downloaded those maps

[@absolutelynothingtoseehere]

Please stop calling him "bro".

[@dhanvinv_2473]

Bro can we do this same to other continents too?

[@AFTutorials]

Sure. The website I mentioned has all kinds of other maps of continents too. Check it out!

[@dhanvinv_2473]

Thanks bro , it will help me a lot , I don't have words which can thank you. I am very grateful

[@dhanvinv_2473]

Bro I want to post it in instagram how can I set it's resolution 1260 × 1260 ?

[@dhanvinv_2473]

Bro I want to make a background for my posts how can I make it , one of my freind told me set opacity of the object to very low and merge it , how can I do it ? Please help me in illustrator

[@AFTutorials]

The maps in illustrator are Vector Maps. I would export it as a raster image format (eg PNG) and combine it wuth whatever you want in Photoshop.