# Maps

A map page shades each area of a map, such as UK postal districts, by your audience's records. It uses the same map definitions as a [map tile](<https://help.apteco.com/en/orbit/dashboards/tiles/tile-types/maps/index.md>) on a dashboard. This page covers what's different in a workbook.

## Before you begin

You can only choose maps your administrator has set up as [map definitions](<https://help.apteco.com/en/orbit/reference/admin/application-settings/map-definitions/index.md>).

## Add a map page

You choose the map, and what it's shaded by, in the page's **Properties** panel.

To add a map page:

1. Select **\+ New Page**, and name the page.
2. Under **Tools**, select **Map**.
3. Select **Properties**, and set up each section on the **Details** tab:

   - **Map Definition**: The map to show, such as Postal District. Turn on **Legend** to show what each shade means.
   - **Measure**: What each area is shaded by, such as the number of people. Orbit adds a count of the map's table for you.
   - **Data Settings**: How the map counts and limits its data. See [Data Settings](<https://help.apteco.com/en/orbit/dashboards/tiles/tile-editor/#data-settings>).

   [![The Details tab of a map page's Properties, with Map Definition set to Postal District and a Legend toggle, and Measure and Data Settings sections](<https://help.apteco.com/assets/images/orbit/audiences/audience-workbooks/maps/map-properties.jpg>)](<https://help.apteco.com/assets/images/orbit/audiences/audience-workbooks/maps/map-properties.jpg>)
4. Select **Apply**.

The map has a background map from OpenStreetMap, and you can zoom in and out and move around it.

> [!TIP]
>
> To map your whole database, tick **Include all People** (or your table level) on the **Audience** tab, instead of adding filters. This also makes a useful base before you create a [penetration map](<#create-a-penetration-map>).

## Shade the map

Select **Colour Scale** on the map to choose how it's shaded:

- **Shading type**: **Quantiles** splits the areas into groups of the same size, so a few unusually large or small areas don't dominate the map. **Index Shading** compares each area with what you'd expect. See [Create a penetration map](<#create-a-penetration-map>).
- **Equal ranges**: How many shades to use
- **Low value** and **High value**: The colours for the lowest and highest values

Select **Reset** to go back to the default shading.

## Create a penetration map

A penetration map shows where your audience is concentrated, compared with everyone in your system. Areas where your audience is more common than you'd expect are darker.

To create a penetration map:

1. Build your audience, such as people who've booked a holiday to Sweden, and [add a map page](<#add-a-map-page>).
2. Select **Colour Scale**, and change **Shading type** to **Index Shading**.
3. Set the **Equal ranges** either side of the index, and the **Low value** and **High value** colours.

   [![A map with the Colour Scale panel open, with Shading type set to Index Shading, Equal ranges set to 12, and Low value and High value colours](<https://help.apteco.com/assets/images/orbit/audiences/audience-workbooks/maps/penetration-map.jpg>)](<https://help.apteco.com/assets/images/orbit/audiences/audience-workbooks/maps/penetration-map.jpg>)

Use a penetration map to focus your marketing on the areas where people like your audience are most common.