Use Wikipedia Commons to find maps that can be reproduced and used copyright-free

Some time ago, Tracy Anne Sena posted a great tip on the JEA Listserv for creating/recreating maps for reproduction in school publications. While screengrabbing images from Google Maps and using them is not legally ok, Sena shared that using SVG files from Wikimedia Commons is perfectly acceptable. In her post, Sena recommended going to WikiCommons and look for SVG maps. She said they can be manipulated easily in Illustrator and then used copyright free. She also shared the following three videos that show how to manipulate SVGs.

Aaron Manfull

Aaron is in his 26th year of advising student media. He is currently the Director of Student Media at Francis Howell North High School in St. Charles, Missouri. He is the Journalism Education Association Digital Media Chair and co-Director of Media Now. He is the 2023 JEA Teacher Inspiration Award Winner and is a former Dow Jones News Fund National Journalism Teacher of the Year. He is one of the authors of the textbook "Student Journalism and Media Literacy." You can find him on X and Instagram @manfull. He's a proud father. A transplanted Iowan. And an avid Hawkeye Fan.

Aaron Manfull has 866 posts and counting. See all posts by Aaron Manfull

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