Posted on December 25, 2022 (Updated on July 22, 2025)

Leaflet printing does not show pins and map is shifted

Hiking & Activities

Leaflet Map Printing Woes: Where Did My Pins Go? And Why Is My Map Sideways?!

Leaflet is fantastic, right? It lets you whip up interactive maps in your browser with relative ease. But then comes the moment of truth: printing. And that’s when things can get… weird. You might find your carefully placed pins have vanished into thin air, or the map itself has decided to take a scenic detour off the page. Sound familiar?

So, what’s going on? Well, it’s usually a clash between how Leaflet paints the map on your screen and how your browser tries to capture that for a printout. Let’s dive into some common culprits and, more importantly, how to fix them.

The Usual Suspects (and How to Bust Them)

  • CSS: The Hidden Hand:

    • Ever had a style sheet sneakily ruin your day? Print-specific CSS can be the culprit here. Double-check that you’re not accidentally hiding your markers with a rogue display: none !important rule. I’ve spent hours chasing down that one before!
    • If your markers are rocking background images, make sure your browser is actually set to print them. It’s a setting that’s often disabled by default, which is a real head-scratcher.
    • Using EasyPrint? Great plugin, but peek inside its Easyprint.css file. It might be hiding elements without you even realizing it.

  • Canvas vs. SVG: A Rendering Rumble:

    • Leaflet uses either Canvas or SVG to draw those cool vector layers. Sometimes, what looks great on screen doesn’t translate perfectly to print, depending on which rendering method is in play. Try forcing Leaflet to use one or the other (e.g., L_PREFER_CANVAS = true;). Just be warned: this could affect other features, like click events on your GeoJSON layers. It’s a bit of a balancing act.

  • Print Plugins to the Rescue (Maybe):

    • Before you tear your hair out, consider a dedicated Leaflet print plugin, like Leaflet.print. These guys are built to handle the printing headache, often using server-side magic with tools like Mapfish or GeoServer.
    • If you’re just hitting window.print(), know that you’re relying on the browser’s built-in (and somewhat limited) printing skills. You might need to get creative with CSS transforms to wrangle the map into shape for printing.

  • Size Matters (Especially for Maps):

    • Scaling the leaflet-map-pane with CSS transforms can be a lifesaver, but it’s also a recipe for wonkiness if you’re not careful. Precise calculations are key to keep everything proportional and in the right spot.
    • Make sure your map container has a fixed size defined in CSS. Percentage-based sizes can lead to… well, let’s just say unpredictable results when you hit “print.”

  • Marker Icon Mayhem (Webpack Edition):

    • Webpack users, listen up! Your build process might be messing with Leaflet’s default marker icon paths. If your markers are AWOL, double-check that you’ve explicitly set the imagePath for Leaflet’s default icon. This one got me good a while back.

  • Tile Provider Troubles:

    • Raster tiles looking fuzzy when printed? That’s just the nature of the beast. For crisp, clean printing, especially for important map elements, consider using vector tiles or GeoJSON overlays.

    • Level Up Your Printing Game

    • Server-Side Rendering: The Big Guns: For serious printing needs, think about server-side rendering. You send the map data to a server, it generates a map image, and then spits out a PDF. It’s more complex, but the results are worth it.
    • D3.js: Labeling Like a Pro: Need to add labels to your map for printing? D3.js is your friend. It lets you dynamically create SVG text elements and position them exactly where you want them.

    A Real-World Example (Because We’ve All Been There)

    Scenario: My Leaflet map looked gorgeous on screen, complete with custom markers. But when I printed it, the markers vanished, and the map was inexplicably shifted to the left. Argh!

    My Fix:

  • CSS Detective Work: I started by combing through my print stylesheet, and bingo! A stray rule was hiding the marker elements.
  • Path Correction: I double-checked the paths to my marker icons, just to be sure.
  • CSS Transform Magic: I tweaked the CSS transforms on the leaflet-map-pane div until the map was perfectly aligned on the printed page.
  • Leaflet.print Sanity Check: Finally, I tested it with the Leaflet.print plugin to make sure everything was playing nicely.

    • The Bottom Line

    Printing Leaflet maps can feel like a dark art at times, but it doesn’t have to be a nightmare. By understanding the common pitfalls and having a few tricks up your sleeve, you can get those maps printing accurately and reliably. So, go forth and conquer the print button! And remember, when in doubt, check your CSS. It’s almost always the CSS.

    You may also like

    Field Gear Repair: Your Ultimate Guide to Fixing Tears On The Go

    Outdoor Knife Sharpening: Your Ultimate Guide to a Razor-Sharp Edge

    Don’t Get Lost: How to Care for Your Compass & Test its Accuracy