..bringing the power of
spatial technology to your business!
Please take take a minute or two to familiarise yourself with a few dot points before
dropping us a line or calling for a chat. Our business is making custom maps. During the
ten years we have been providing these services, a number of common misconceptions have
arisen, which these quick notes address:
If you are the person who needs the map, please consider
making contact yourself. It is common for initial contact to be delegated.
Unfortunately this often results in the person making first contact being unclear about
exactly what you have in mind. When we ask the inevitable questions about detail,
they often cannot be answered by the delegated person, who then faces a potentially
awkward position regarding completion of the delegated task.
To make a comparison, a custom mapping task is like a suit made for you by a
tailor. It will fit you and your needs exactly. Nobody else will have one like it.
If you can meet your clothing needs off the peg - that is from a store in the high
street, it will be cheaper than hiring a tailor to dress you.
If you have read this far, it is almost certain you have already approached your local
map store, government agency, library, or opened an atlas, and now acknowledge that the
map(s) or map derived data you desire and have in your mind's eye DO NOT ALREADY EXIST
(although if you are looking for Australian Postcode maps,
you're in luck)!
Our services are available to you on a
commercial basis. Please see our standard terms and
conditions where these are specified. In summary though, standard rates are between
A$100 - $130 per hour; a rate similar to a typical suburban plumber. We have a minimum
charge of $100. Rates exclude GST. We charge pro-rata, so you only pay for the time we
spend on your work. We feel this is a lot fairer than many other professionals, who will
charge in increments, for example in 15 minute increments (even if you only use a minute
or two of the increment). You will need to complete and submit the form on our terms page before we commence your project.
Many customers wish to
have their own data integrated with our Postcode Data; sales figures and
franchise territories are typical examples, you can see some examples here. If your project requires
use of our Postcode Data to generate tabular output, rather than actual maps or supply of
the digital Data Product, the rate is 40% of the listed GIS Data Product price. So for
example if you have a sales analysis of NSW with output as spreadsheets in mind, the cost
would be; time * rate + ($1360 Small Business user / $2040 Organisational user * 0.4) +
GST. Of course if you'd prefer to do this yourself, you will need the appropriate GIS Postcode Data Product
and a suitable GIS Software application.
Some customers require a "draft" or
"example" before making a decision to proceed. We are happy to
accommodate such requests, but ask that you proceed to our Terms and Conditions page and
complete the form if you believe this is what you require. Draft maps are explained fully
on our Terms page here. A draft or
example map takes time and competes with other commercial tasks. If your need is urgent
(often it is!) please request an evaluation draft at standard rates (copy and
paste this into the subject field of our Terms and
Conditions form), it will rarely cost much more than the basic project initiation
charge of $100 and you will get the prompt service you need.
Sometimes a map requires use of commercial
third party data. If this is unavoidable for your particular map, we will
arrange for the data supplier to invoice you separately for such data. That means that you
pay a minimum for your required data - we DO NOT take a cut of third party data costs.
Doing so would be unethical. Indeed it is our company policy to continue to lobby for
cost-free access to and use of spatial data created using your and our taxes. Regrettably
in Australia, most State and several tiers of Commonwealth government still attempt to
supplement their treasuries by charging us to access data for which we have already paid
and continue to fund. So don't get mad with us, lobby your State and Federal Members of
Parliament!
How much will it cost?Each custom job is
different of course. Typically though, 80% of the maps we create result in invoices from
MapMakers Australia of between A$500 and A$3,000 + GST, plus data costs if
applicable. As specified in several locations on our site, third party data costs, if
required, are beyond our control and become the subject of separate arrangements between
you the client and the third party supplier.
Rarely a custom map can be created for less than A$500. Sometimes highly involved map
series, data analysis and extraction, or custom installations with on-site and support
work can run to tens of thousands. These are unusual.
If the prospect of paying several hundred dollars to satisfy your specialised spatial
information requirements is too shocking, please do not proceed any further.
Unfortunately, your expectations are unrealistic.
So it is with every custom map. Every single thing has to be assembled from raw,
unformatted data.
The amount of work involved (and thus the dollars) bears NO relationship to the size of
the map you require. All custom maps are created using digital data. We will use the data
sets optimally suited to your specifications, but these do not have anything to do with
the size of the map you want. See our "quick tour"
for an introduction to digital data, scale and other things which directly influence your
job.
It is often a more difficult task to generate a map suitable for viewing on a small page
than a large one. It is common therefore that a specification requiring A4 or A3 output
will take more work than the same objective destined for a large format A1 or A0 page.
Paper maps are cheaper than electronic maps.
Wrong. All modern maps are created initially using sophisticated mapping software in a
computer environment. If an actual paper map is desired, as often it is, it is produced after
the digital version has been created and as such is an additional cost.
Therefore, a paper map is always more expensive than an electronic map!
While you can print an A4 and increasingly an A3 map on your own office inkjet or laser
printer, larger pages require use of large format colour plotters. These are expensive
machines and so are the pages printed from them. We use commercial printing services to
generate large format paper maps. Typically an A1 or A0 paper page will cost between A$100
- 150. Unless you want a large number of copies (over 100 copies typically) there is
little scope for multiple copy discounts.
We can supply your maps in pretty well any standard electronic format including Adobe
.PDF® or Illustrator®, just about any image format and of course most GIS formats.
Please be clear about the formats you wish to receive and ensure your own equipment
(computers, printers) can handle both the format and often very large files involved. We
will happily work with you to address any issues you may have utilising your output, and
can configure your products if you have specific requirements, but cannot be responsible
for any incompatibilities or system weaknesses in a client's system. We have found using
common operating systems and popular tried and tested hardware to be a sound investment.
Please, please, please.. Give thought to exactly what you want in advance. The
clearer and more complete your instructions, the more effectively we can generate exactly
what you need. A single draft should ideally be all that is required for a well thought
out project - it will really save you money! Even small changes require work so please be
as specific as you can.
We can have a good guess at what you mean if you say "..just a basic map.."
but everyone's idea of a "basic" anything is just that - individual! So please
help us and save yourself money - be as specific as you can!
Hopefully you will now be keen to engage our services, confident of our undivided
professional attention! A form is included below for your convenience.
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