Map Generator

Sketch Plugin • UI Design / Plugin Development • 2019

Goodbye screenshots!

To be honest, I had never stopped to think how complicated and tedious it could be to design something involving maps until I had to do it, I immediately realized that the mere fact of inserting a map was a task of trial and error. The first time I did it I had to take many screenshots, crop and try to place the map in the right position to fit the design I intended to do, no fun at all.

I remember at that point I stopped working on the design I was doing and went to work on developing a plugin that would allow me to do all that work in a matter of seconds and in a much more practical way. The first version was very basic but it worked well enough to meet my own needs, no more screenshots!

☝️ Screenshot showing the user interface of the plugin.

Better process, better maps

Thanks to Sketch Map Generator, to insert a map you only need to enter some location (or simply drag the map preview as you wish) and the plugin takes care of the rest. Currently you can generate maps using Google Maps or Mapbox, you can also set some settings such as zoom level and map style, the result is a centered map that fits perfectly to the size of the object where it will be inserted. The plugin is able to save your settings so you can generate more maps even faster, even with a keyboard shortcut it is possible to re-insert the last generated map, all this makes the process much faster and efficient.

☝️ Adding a map to some design using the plugin.

Plugin adoption

Since the first version the plugin has been used by many designers out there, during all this time I have received feedback and ideas to add more features. It's nice to know that the solution I developed to improve my own workflow has also been useful for many other people, I'm glad that in some way I've put my two cents to the community.

Position

Designer
Developer

Work

UI Design
Plugin Development

Organization

Side Project

Year

2019

Website

eddiesigner/sketch-map-generator

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