A poster with a custom star map is one of the most iconic gifts to celebrate special moments. It recreates the real night sky for a particular date and place. So memorable!
In this tutorial, you will learn how to create a poster with a custom star map for free. To do so, you need two online tools:
Both tools offer a free tier to get you started. The Star Map Generator is one of our flagship products, developed by our DIDIENDO brand.
Let's make our poster!
Step-by-Step Guide
Step 1 – Create Your Custom Star Map
The first step is to create and personalize your star map. To do so, go to the Star Map Generator app. Then, choose the location, date, and time you want. The generator will show how the sky was at that moment and from that place.
On the free plan, you can configure whether to include the constellations, grid, or frame. You can also choose the colors you want for these elements, as well as for the stars.
After creating, configuring, and theming your star map, click the "Download" button to get it.
To learn more about the Star Map Generator, please go to this web page, or check this video on Youtube.
Step 2 – Access Your Canva Account
After having your star map downloaded, you need to access Canva.
Canva is an online graphic design platform – very user-friendly and easy-to-use. It provides a large number of templates ready-to-use (for posters, social media, etc). You don't need to be a professional designer to create professional-looking visual content.
If you don't have a Canva account, please sign-up before continuing.
Step 3 – Create a New Poster Design in Canva
Let's get started with Canva. The first thing to do is to create a new poster design. To do so, log in with your account and click the “Create a design” button.
Choose “Custom dimensions” and set the dimensions you want for your poster. You can create, for example, a 50×70 cm poster.
Then, click “Create new design”.
Step 4 – Upload Your Star Map to Canva
Now that you have created your poster design, it's time to upload your star map to Canva.
To do so, select “Uploads”, click “Upload Media” and select the star map image file to upload. Or, you can drag-and-drop the file to Canva.
Then, drag-and-drop the uploaded star map to your poster.
Step 5 – Theme Your Poster Design
Having added your star map, you can leverage all Canva features to theme your poster.
A custom star map poster usually includes:
- a personalized text message
- text lines with the name of the location, coordinates, date and time
- a frame
You can start by theming the poster background. In our case, we are using the same color as the star map's background – an elegant night sky blue.
Then, you can add other map components. In our example, we added a personalised message, as well as the text lines for the location, date, and coordinates.
If you are interested in ready-to-use templates, check out our Canva star map templates:
Step 6 – Print Your Free Star Map Poster
Finally, after finishing the design of your star map poster, download it as a PNG image to print.
Depending on the poster size, you can print it using different options:
- Print it at home
- Use your local print shop
- Use Canva's printing services
- Use print-on-demand services, such as Printful, or Printify.
And that's it. Enjoy your free custom star map poster!