# Find your way around the current editor

Official GBMaps guide for the classic map maker. VectorMaps has a different interface.

Source: https://www.gbmaps.com/mcs/map-help.php?topic=editor-layout
Updated: 2026-11-12

The map stays at the centre of your work. Use Map Types to choose a different product; use the editing menus to change the map you already have open.

![Current desktop editor with compact login, Map Types, editing menus and central unlock card](https://www.gbmaps.com/mcs/help/images/layout-overview-20261112.png)

The current desktop trial layout. The dotted rectangle is the page guide; Map Types chooses a product and the menus below edit it.

## 1. The sidebar order

Log in or your account controls are at the top. Map Types comes next, above Save, Open and New. The editing menus start with START HERE and Import Excel. Map Types opens a separate card over the menus; closing it reveals the tools underneath.

[Open this step](https://www.gbmaps.com/mcs/map-help.php?topic=editor-layout#editor-layout--sidebar)

## 2. The central trial card

On desktop, the fixed Unlock this map card lets you continue trying the surrounding map and offers Unlock my map when ready. It shows the selected product and a VAT-inclusive price. Already bought? Log in uses your existing account. The compact phone/tablet layout uses Unlock in the top bar instead of this card.

[Open this step](https://www.gbmaps.com/mcs/map-help.php?topic=editor-layout#editor-layout--trial)

## 3. Colour and Detail have different jobs

Colour chooses which boundary level a click colours on the current map. Detail opens a suggestion for a finer map, such as districts to sectors. It does not change territory colours by itself. Map details in the sidebar controls the boundaries and labels visible on the current map.

[Open this step](https://www.gbmaps.com/mcs/map-help.php?topic=editor-layout#editor-layout--detail)

## 4. The dotted page is a guide

In Design, the dotted frame shows the finished page area. You can drag the surrounding empty workspace as well as the map to reposition it. Print View shows the page without this guide. Artwork outside the page can be cropped from an export.

[Open this step](https://www.gbmaps.com/mcs/map-help.php?topic=editor-layout#editor-layout--frame)

## 5. Keep using the assistant

Map assistant remains below Colour on desktop. Ask in ordinary sentences or use the microphone. Its Show me where links reveal the relevant controls, including compact menus on phones and tablets. Asking for another map does not buy it or save your current work automatically.

[Open this step](https://www.gbmaps.com/mcs/map-help.php?topic=editor-layout#editor-layout--assistant)

## Related guides

- [Map Types: choose another map](https://www.gbmaps.com/mcs/map-help.php?topic=more)
- [Log in or unlock your map](https://www.gbmaps.com/mcs/map-help.php?topic=login)
- [Print View, Design & On Google](https://www.gbmaps.com/mcs/map-help.php?topic=views)
- [Move, zoom & frame the map](https://www.gbmaps.com/mcs/map-help.php?topic=map-gestures)
- [Edit names and heading directly on the legend](https://www.gbmaps.com/mcs/map-help.php?topic=legend-editing)
- [Use the map on a phone or tablet](https://www.gbmaps.com/mcs/map-help.php?topic=mobile-tablet)