How to Add Text, Images, and GIFs to a Map

Step-by-step guide

1. 1

   Add a text label

   Select the slide where the text should first appear, then click Text (1) in the Quick-Add toolbar. A white label reading Text appears at the centre of the map, with a small bar beside it. Click More to open the text's settings on the right. Type your words in the Text box (2) at the top, and set the Font Size (3) on the Style tab, from 12 to 128. Drag the label on the map to move it.

   

2. 2

   Choose a font

   Open Typography on the Style tab. The font list (1) shows each of the 20 fonts in its own typeface, in four groups: Sans, Display, Serif, and Handwriting. Click one to apply it. Bold and Uppercase (2) switch on a heavier weight and capital letters. Here the title uses Bebas Neue from the Display group, with Uppercase on.

   

3. 3

   Make it readable with a stroke and a shadow

   Open Outline & Shadow (1) to draw an outline around each letter. Set Outline Width from 0 to 5 px, then pick its colour. The Drop Shadow switch adds a soft shadow under the text. A dark outline with a shadow keeps white text readable over busy imagery such as satellite views. Text Opacity, in the same section, fades the whole label.

   

4. 4

   Lay the text flat or curve it

   Open Orientation. Perspective has two settings. Face camera (the default) keeps the text upright and facing the screen. Flat (1) lays it on the map surface and adds a Rotation slider from 0 to 360 degrees and a Text Curve slider (2) from -50 to 50. Curve bends the text along an arc, which suits a label that follows a coast or a route. Switching back to Face camera resets the rotation and curve.

   

5. 5

   Add an image or logo

   Click Image (1) in the toolbar and choose a file from your computer. It lands at the centre of the map and the image's settings open on the right. Image Size (2) is a percentage of the file's own pixel size, from 16 to 512, so a large photo needs a small number. This 256 px logo is set to 59, so it shows at 59 percent of its size. Drag the image on the map to place it. Replace Image, at the top of the panel, swaps the file and keeps the size and position.

   

6. 6

   Add an animated GIF

   A GIF goes in the same way, through the Image tool. When the file is an animated GIF, the image's settings show an Animated GIF box (1) with its frame count and length. Loop repeats it, Play once holds the last frame, and Speed runs from 0.25× to 3×. The GIF starts playing when its sticker appears, and exported videos show the same frame at the same moment as the preview. GIFs over 4 MB are saved as a still image, and the Studio tells you when that happens.

   

7. 7

   Animate the elements in

   Each sticker has its own Animation section, on the Timing tab. Text offers Fade in, Slide, Pop, Focus, Wipe, Rise, Spread, Typing, and Decode (1), and a line under the buttons describes the choice: Slide, for example, slides in from the side you pick, and Typing types the characters out one at a time. Text appears below them sets whether the effect runs on all of the text at once, line by line, word by word, or letter by letter. Images offer Fade, Pop, and Drop. Duration and Delay set how long the effect takes and how long it waits after the slide begins.