Creating a Framed Photo Map of the USA with your Cricut FREE SVG DXF EPS PNG
I made this project in response to a query on Melody Lane’s Facebook group, which is a fab place full of really supportive crafters!
Anyway – a member of the group wanted to make a photo map of the United States with all of the pieces cut out – after a bit of grappling with Illustrator it was a fun one to put together! And it’s also made me realise I need to do a bit more travelling! (As a result, I have now created a USA map art print with stamps…so do try that – it’s also in the free files – if you have too many gaps!)
You will need:
- One sheet of paper in white (I used a really amazing felt-embossed white 270gsm paper)
- One sheet of paper in blue (I used an inexpensive card)
- One sheet of photo paper
- I haven’t specified the size as you can of course resize the files. However, I used standard A4 paper (slightly larger than letter paper if you’re in the US or Canada).
- Our FREE File – please scroll down to the bottom and fill in the form to get it sent to your inbox in SVG, EPS, DXF, PNG and PDF formats!
In terms of your Cricut set-up, you will need to ensure your mat is super-sticky, as the state border areas are extremely narrow. As I used such a heavy cardstock for that sheet, I had my maker set on Cereal Box with the deep cut blade (it always grieves me to use that setting for heavy, quality cardstock, but it has got really good results for me!
However – please choose your settings dependent on the paper you’re using! You might have to experiment a bit as it’s quite intricate.
Preparing the file for the main shapes:
- Open USAphotomap.zip
- Once you’ve unzipped the files (this is pretty easy on a Mac, but if you’re using windows you might need to use an application like Winrar or Winzip), you need to choose the ones most appropriate for your cutting machine. (There are two files in five formats – I’m using the Cricut Maker so I need to choose the svgs – they’re called USAmapwithstates and USAstates). Import ‘USAmapwithstates’ into Design Space.
- Ungroup the Files (using the menu on the right-hand menu, or right-clicking and selecting ‘Ungroup’ from the drop-down)
- That’s it! You’re ready to click on Make It!
- I have always found the order the pieces are presenting for cutting to be completely random, but it showed me the section with the state borders (which I’m cutting from white cardstock – check the image at the top of the page if you want to see which part it is!)
It will cut as shown:
- Then, we have the ‘overlay’ section – this will put a nice shape around the edge of the piece you’ve just cut, and look altogether more professional. I’ve cut this in light blue – but you don’t have to – I think I thought I was representing the sea, but Canada is a solid landmass! Once cut, you can put it on top of the piece you’ve just cut:
- Now….we’ve got the main pieces, but we need to fill the states up with images from our holidays. I’ve only visited two states in the US, so I’ve got a long way to go…but I can at least make a start!
Printing and cutting out the photos for each state:
Of course – you can use the bits of paper left over from your initial cut (from the white cardstock) as templates around which you can draw on your photos. But…you can also just Print and Cut them!
- Open the image (that is, a photo of you enjoying yourself in one of the states of the USA!) it in your vector drawing program (I use Illustrator, but you can do it in the free software Inkscape as well) and open USAstates.svg.
- Ungroup the file if necessary, and choose the state you want.
- I’m choosing this picture of me with legendary rapper Grandmaster Caz (really! He’s great!) taken in New York State. The photo needs to be resized so that it’ll fill the shape of the state – in my case, to get both of our faces, I had to reflect the image and rotate it.
- Select both objects (ensure the state shape is in front) and go to Object>Select Clipping Mask>Make (in Illustrator – in Inkscape it’s Object>Clip>Set). Haha…hey, nobody said it had to be flattering!
- Open a document (make the size larger than the photo you’re posting) in Photoshop (or equivalent photo-editing software) and paste the image you just created – your photo in the shape of a US state! (Choose ‘pixels’ from the flyover box that appears to position it onto the canvas).
- Save it as a png (this means it’ll save and therefore cut in the shape given, with a transparent background rather than a white square and you won’t have to mess with it too much in Design Space).
- You can now close Illustrator or Inkscape (or whatever you’re using).
- Now, you can import this image into Design Space! I would recommend you import it into the same document as the files you’ve already cut out, as it’s likely you’ll have to resize it.
As you can see above, when I imported it, it was far too small – you need to resize it so it’ll fit behind its state ‘frame’! Once it’s the same size as the relevant state, you can Print and Cut. (It’ll send the image to your printer, so you can cut it out). 
Please forgive the scars on my cutting mat! And please note – this is a VERY low-resolution photo – yours will be much better!
- Now, all you need to do is attach it behind the section you could with the borders on it. I’ve applied a bit of tape to keep it in place.
- Make sure it looks right at the front (please note – if the fit isn’t right, then you can always go back and change the size in Design Space as we did earlier).
11. OK…one state down…another 50 to go!
Want to make this yourself? Simply fill in the form below to get the FREE (for now!) files sent to your inbox.
PLEASE NOTE: You may use this file to create up to 100 commercial units (i.e. physical products) – any more than that then please contact me. However, you may NOT sell any of the digital files in any way, whether in full or part.
Once you’ve made it, please be sure to share it with us at the CraftAGoGo Crucial Crafting Facebook group! This was a project suggested by someone, and who knows…we might draw up your project too, if you tell us what it is!
Free USA Map and Stamp Art Cut Files
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Can’t wait to try it! THANK YOU so much for your time!!
You are very welcome Cynthia! Hope you have fun with it and please do share if you make it up yourself! 🙂
Thank you. I’m anxious to try this…
Fab! Hope you have a lot of fun, Marilyn! 🙂
Thank you so much. I know this took some doing and I appreciate it!!!!!!
Thank you Jan – it was a lot of fun (except when I got stuck) and it’s been worth it to get such a nice response! 😀
This is amazing! So glad I found it and thank you for making it and providing such great instructions!
Aw you have no idea how lovely it is to read this! I just replied to your other message – hopefully you’ve got the file now, but if not please give me a shout and I’ll make sure I send it to you – thank you Stacey.
Really looking forward to tackling this! Thank you so much!
Aw thank you Tara! Hope you enjoy making it and let us know how you get on with it! 😀
Thank you so much for your time to create and show us
Thank you very much for your comment Maria – I hope my instructions make sense and that you enjoy yourself making this up!
OMG this amazing , thank you so much for sharing !!!
Aw you are welcome Dee! 😀 Hope you make something fantastic with it and tell us how you get on!
Thank you!!
You are very welcome Joyce! Please do let us know how you get on! 😀
You are soooo awesome! Thank you!!
Haha aw it never hurts to be told that! 😀 Thank you Brigette, hope you enjoy the files!
Oh my, this is awesome. Thank you so much for taking the time to do this. Jill
Aw thank you very much, Jill. It was fun to do, and it’s very fun to hear people excited about making it. Hope all the pieces come together well and you make something amazing!
Thanks so much for this. Any chance you would do Canada?
Thank you for your comment, Colleen! Ooh – well, since my dad was born in Nova Scotia, it would probably be wrong not to! And because Canada is so big, you could probably fit a decent-sized photo in every province! 🙂 I’ll get working on it!
Thanks so much! This looks like a great project and a great gift to make for others!
Fantastic – you are very welcome! Thank you for your comment Linda, I’d love to know what you make with it!
Thank you so much. Excited to give it a try.
You are very welcome, Kathy – hope you make something brilliant (and that my instructions make sense! 🙂 )
Can’t wait to try it!
That’s great to hear – hope it works out well and please do let us know how you get on! 🙂
Thank you for the US states picture
You are very welcome Tab! Hope you enjoy putting it all together! 🙂
Love it. ??
Aw thank you Debbie! Hope you make a great picture and show us what you make! 🙂
Thanks again for making this. Can you send the email again, I can’t seem to find the email.
Oh no: I’m sorry about this, Debbie. Would you be able to check your spam to see if I’m in there? Otherwise I’m likely to be identified as spam whenever I send an email to anyone using your email provider. Anyway – I will send it to you manually; please do let me know if it doesn’t work.
This looks wonderful! Thanks so much for sharing your time and talent!
Aw you are welcome, this warms my heart! 🙂 Hope you enjoy using the files Kristy!
Thank you so much you did a great job!!!
Aw thank you so much Sabra! It’s been so great to put something together that people really want to make, I hope you enjoy making it! 🙂
Thank you so much for doing this!! The detailed instructions are great!!
Aw thank you so much Tammy – I do get concerned about the instructions in case I miss anything out! Please do let me know if there are any gaps – and of course if you make anything with the files! 🙂
Looking forward to making this! Need to find a Canadian one too now!
Thank you for your comment, Michelle – hope you enjoy it! And I don’t know if you saw earlier in the thread…I really must do a Canadian one (there’s more room for photos in every province!), especially as my dad (who was born in New Glasgow in Nova Scotia) would be very annoyed otherwise! 🙂
thanks – going to try not too sure how I will do.
You are welcome Maria – I am sure you will do great with it. The file is really easy to prepare – the thing that’s really important is to make sure that the mat is really sticky and that your cardstock is firmly attached to it (as that map with all the borders of the states on it really hammers at the paper!) But if any other problems come up then please do give us a shout and we’ll do our best to sort it out. 🙂
Ty so much..me and my hubby have been to slot of states I can’t wait to get started…
Aw brilliant – thank you for your comment Lorraine. I’ve only been to two states, so I can see I’ve got some travelling to do! 🙂
Thank you. I can’t wait to get started.
Aw that’s brilliant Marcia! You’re very welcome – do let us know how you get on! 🙂
Thanks for all of your hard work!
Thank YOU – people like you appreciating it makes it more than worth the effort! 😀
Thank you so much for your generosity and thoughtfulness!
How nice of you. Thank you so much for your generosity and thoughtfulness!
Aw thank YOU for your lovely comment which is really lovely to hear! Hope you make something really nice with the files!
Thank you for your generosity.
Aw thank you so much Marshiel, it’s been really fun to do, especially having so much encouragement from people like you – hope you enjoy the files!
This is a fantastic idea. Thanks for the idea and image.
Aw thank you for your comment, Tammy! You are very welcome – hope you make something really nice! 🙂
This is amazing thank you so much for this amazing idea!!
Great job, don’t suppose you want to try the map of Canada?.. lol
Definitely! I don’t know if you saw earlier posts, but…yes! There are at least a couple of factors – the provinces are so big there’s plenty of room for a good photo! Also, my dad was born in Nova Scotia. So…I think I’ll definitely have a go at this! 😀
This looks like a fun project. Thank you for the files and the instructions.
Oh I hope it’s fun, it was fun to draw – and you’re very welcome! 😀
Very cute!
Thank you Sarah! Hope you make something fab with the files! 🙂
Such a neat project! Thank you so much!!
Thank you very much, Friede! Hope you make something lovely with it! 🙂
I love it!! I think my grandsons will have a great time designing this with me? Thank you.
Aw that’s lovely to hear Sharon, thank you. Please do let me know how you all get on with it! 🙂
I cant thank you enough for this Awesome project. I have wanted something like this for ever!
You are welcome Diana – I hope you make a really great piece with it! 🙂
OMG I LOVE this!!!! Thanks so much for creating it! I can’t wait to start mine! What a great motivator too, to get out and see more places.
Aw thank you April, hope you enjoy the files! It is a motivator…I spent so long drawing Alaska yesterday that I think the least I can do is drop in! 🙂
Thank you. This is inspiring
You are very welcome Bev, really pleased to hear this! 🙂
Thank you so much for sharing and showing us how to use it.
You are very welcome Kathy – I hope the instructions are clear enough and that you have fun with it! 🙂
Hi Natalie, I think I’m having problems with the email. I checked my spam but didn’t find it. Would you check for me? Thanks again!!!!
Aw sorry about this Kathy! I’ve just emailed it to you. 🙂
Thank you. We just retired and hope to do some traveling. This will be fun to do.
You are welcome Jan, I hope you enjoy putting it together – and how lovely, don’t forget to take lots of pictures! 🙂
Thank u for taking the time to do this. Not all of us can do things like this. So thanks to ur skills.
Aw thank you Amanda, that’s a lovely thing to say. I hope you enjoy making this! 😀
Thank you for sharing. I am having problems getting the email. Can you please help me?
You are very welcome, Frances. I’m really sorry about that – have you checked your Spam? I seem to end up in there; I’ll send you an email manually (though if you don’t get it that might be in the spam too!)
Thank you in advance for the USA map cutting files.
I sent a request thru your link in above well written tutorial.
Aw thank you Julie! I’m glad the tutorial makes sense! Hope you enjoy the files when they arrive! 🙂
Thank you so much
You are very welcome Inge, hope you make a lovely picture with it! 🙂
I love this! Thank you! Question:
What happened to Long Island??? I live there and have to include it! Any advice?
Aw sorry about this Christine – wWhen the cutting area is small the edges have to be simplified as it’s a properly ‘zoomed out’ map. I’ll try and get to do a state map with Long Island!
Thank you in advance for the USA map cutting files, thank you for sharing.
You are very welcome, Tanya – hope you enjoy them and let us know how you get on! 🙂
This would be neat to try!
Aw thank you for your comment, Sandy – look forward to seeing if you give it a go! 🙂
Thank you so much!
You are very welcome, Denise! Hope you make a lovely picture with it! 🙂
I’m sorry if I submitted 2 requests, I was worried entered my email incorrectly.
Thank you SO much for sharing this! I cannot wait to try it!!
Hey Cat! Aw thank you! Oh please don’t be sorry for submitting two – that’s no problem at all! I just hope you got the email in response! If you didn’t, please let me know and I’ll make sure it gets to you! 🙂
Hi! I haven’t received the email with the svg file yet, could you send me the picture state map file when you get a chance? Thank you!
Thank you for your message Cat – would you be able to check your spam? As I have probably gone in there. If your email provider has identified me as spam, it’ll likely go in there if I send it again. If I’m definitely not there please let me know though, and I’ll make sure I get it to you somehow! 🙂 (Btw if you got the initial email, you have to click on confirm for the file to be sent to you).
I did check my Junk folder, and all I have are notifications from the comments, but not an email with the actual file
Aw I’m sorry about that Cat – how annoying! I just sent it to you manually – please do let me know if that doesn’t work. Hopefully I won’t go into spam! 🙂
Thank you for the awesome file! I have been wanting to do something like this. I also want to add the Caribbean since my family does a lot of cruises as our vacations. You have inspired me to try it now.
You are very welcome Rachel! There’s been a demand for different countries as well as a world map…I’d better get drawing! Hope you make a great picture with the files! 🙂
Your work is great. Thank You in advance,
Aw thank you Cindi! I hope you make something fab! 😀
Awesome project. Recently retired and purchased a used motorhome to do some sightseeing in. This will be just wonderful to keep track of places we’ve been and our favorite activity/place we’ve been in each state. Thank You
Aw thank you so much for your lovely comment, that makes me so happy! Hope you have the most fun travels and get a great picture out of it! 😀
Thank you so much for sharing!
You are very welcome Jackie, hope you have fun with the project! 🙂
Just saw this on Facebook. Can’t wait to make it.
Aw thanks so much for your message, Karla – I hope you have fun with it and let us know how you get on! 😀
Oh my go! Thank you so much for sharing you work with us! I not that good with doing things like this and having someone share their work for me to enjoy in my own scrapbooking! Thank you!
Thank you so much Jackie, I’m so pleased to hear that! I’d be thrilled if you could share what you make! (But also, let us know if you get stuck…though I am absolutely SURE you can do this!!)
Thank you so much for sharing your talent and time. I just started doing some traveling in the past few years and this will be wonderful to play with.
Again thank you!!!
You are so welcome Debbie, I would love to see what you come up with! Hope you enjoy it and your travelling! 😀
This is totally awesome! Thanks for sharing your work and file!
Thank you so much Elizabeth; comments like this make it a real pleasure to do so!
THANK YOU!! <3
Aww!!! Thank *you*, Christina!!! Hope you make something fab – do share it with us! 😀
Can’t wait to make one of these maps!
Aw that’s great to hear, Sara! Do let us know how you get on with it – hope you have fun!
Thanks so much…waiting on my email. Question: I do not have a Maker, I have an Explore One. Would I still be able to cut these same recommended card stocks on my machine??
thanks.
Thank you very much for your message, Rhonda! I have only ever used a Cricut Maker, so I can’t say for certain, but I think it should work on an Explore One. No matter what your machine, I would really recommend just testing the project first on cheaper cardstock. (To be honest, I find I get lots of my best results – including the ones in the article about this project! – on the cheapest cardstock!) What I’ve found is the most important, though, is having a really clean – and sticky (though not TOO sticky, as in brand new!) mat. Anyway – if you try it, good luck and I’d love to know how you get on! 😀
Thanks…this is going on my list of projects to make. I LOVE it! Thanks for sharing!
Aw thank you Rhonda – hope you have fun and please do let me know if you make it, I’d love to see it! 😀
My file was not sent to my email 🙁
Oh no – I’m really sorry to hear this, Jennifer! I wish I knew where the missing ones go! I’ve just sent you an email manually so hopefully that’ll work – please do let me know if you need any help and, of course, if you make the map! 😀
I would love the svg for the USA map.
Hello Karen – thank you for your message – the file is here: https://craftagogo.com/projects/creating-a-framed-photo-map-of-the-usa-with-your-cricut-free-svg-dxf-eps-png/ Hope you have fun with it!
Question. I am trying to make a very large version. Larger than my 12×24 mat. Any suggestions on how to do this?
Thank you for sharing. Cool project!