Creating Map Templates for Reports

Map templates let you define a reusable map layout — page size, extent, which layers to include, cartographic elements like scale bar and legend — and apply it to any survey in one click. Once a template is configured, generating a professional map figure takes seconds rather than minutes.

What are map templates

A map template stores a complete configuration for a map export:

• Layout — page size (A4, A3, Letter, A6, or custom dimensions), orientation, output format (PDF, PNG, or JPEG), and resolution (DPI)
• Extent — what geographic area the map frame covers: the survey boundary, site boundary, project extent, a fixed custom bounding box, or a saved map view
• Content — which data layers appear on the map: survey boundary, observations, GIS layers, annotations, measurements, GPS tracks, and sampling units
• Cartography — title, subtitle, scale bar, north arrow, legend, coordinate grid, company logo, and attribution

Templates do not capture the underlying spatial data — they capture the instructions for how to frame and style a map. When you apply a template to a different survey, the map is generated fresh using that survey's data.

System templates vs custom templates

TerraSitu ships with seven built-in system templates covering the most common report map types:

System templates are read-only — they cannot be edited or deleted. To customise a system template, duplicate it first to create a personal copy.

Creating a custom template

Navigate to Map Templates in the sidebar. Click Create Template to open the template editor.

Layout section

Choose the page size and orientation. For most regulatory submissions, A4 Landscape is standard. For corridor studies or elongated survey areas, A4 Portrait or A3 Landscape gives more room.

DPI controls the output resolution. Higher DPI produces larger, sharper files:

• 150 DPI — suitable for digital reports and web delivery
• 300 DPI — recommended for most printed reports and government submissions
• 600 DPI — publication quality for peer-reviewed material

Output format: PDF is preferred for printing and archiving. PNG is lossless and works well in Word documents. JPEG is smaller but uses lossy compression.

Extent section

The extent mode controls what geographic area the map frame covers:

Padding adds a percentage buffer around the boundary so it doesn't sit right at the frame edge. 10–15% is typical.

Basemap style controls the background: streets, topographic, or satellite imagery.

Content section

Toggle which data appears on the map:

• Survey boundary — dashed outline of the survey polygon
• Observations — geo-tagged field records
• GIS layers — imported spatial files (KML, Shapefile, GeoJSON, etc.)
• Reference layers — government WMS/WMTS overlays
• Annotations — pins, lines, and polygons drawn on the map
• Measurements — distance and area labels
• Sampling units — transects, plots, and quadrats
• GPS tracks — recorded movement tracks

GIS layer filter controls which imported GIS layers are included:

• All — every GIS layer in the survey
• By name pattern — wildcard matching, e.g. *vegetation*, *cadastre* (comma-separated; * matches any characters)
• Specific layers — select individual layers by ID

Cartography section

Configure the map frame elements:

• Title — supports template placeholders (see below)
• Subtitle — secondary text below the title, also supports placeholders
• Scale bar — graphical scale indicator
• North arrow — orientation indicator
• Legend — auto-generated from included GIS layers
• Coordinate grid — overlays a graticule (DD, DMS, or UTM)
• Company logo — your organisation's logo (configured in Settings > Organisation)
• Logo position — top-left, top-right, bottom-left, or bottom-right

Template placeholders

Use these placeholders in the title and subtitle fields. They are replaced with live data when a map is generated for a specific survey:

Example: A title of {ProjectName} — {SurveyName} Fauna Survey will render as Barringup Quarry Rehabilitation — Wet Season Fauna Survey when generated for that survey.

Duplicating and customising system templates

To customise a system template:

1. In the template library, find the system template (marked with a lock icon).
2. Click Duplicate on the template card.
3. A copy is created in your My Templates section with "(Copy)" appended to the name.
4. Click Edit on the copy to open the template editor and make your changes.
5. Save. Your custom template is now available for use.

Duplicating a system template does not affect the original — system templates remain intact for other users.

Saving and reusing templates

Templates are saved per user by default. To make a template available to your whole team, tick Shared when saving — shared templates appear in the Shared Templates section for all users in your organisation.

Once saved, a template can be used in two ways:

• From Map Templates, select a template and click Generate to apply it to a specific survey.
• From the Map Workspace export dialog, choose the From Template tab to pick a template and generate directly from the current survey's workspace.

Related Articles

• Batch Generating Report Maps — Generate maps for multiple surveys at once
• Exporting Map Figures — Manual map export without a saved template
• Sharing GIS Layers Across Projects — Build a reusable library of GIS layers