How to print or purchase the zoning and land use atlases

The King County Zoning Atlas and King County Land Use Atlas are each available as a 44 page, approximately 50MB Adobe Acrobat document.

While these large files do not display well across the Internet, they do provide the means to print the entire Zoning Atlas or the entire Land Use Atlas from any color printer that is available to you.

In order to print an atlas, you will need three things:

• Color printer capable of printing on 11" x 17" paper
• Adobe Acrobat Reader
• A copy of the Zoning Atlas or Land Use Atlas acrobat file downloaded to your computer.

Color printer

In order to print the atlases in a usable form, you need a color printer capable of printing on 11" x 17" paper. Adobe Acrobat has no difficulty printing to a black and white printer, however, the resulting output will not provide distinct shading for each of the Zoning or Land Use Codes and is not useful for determining the code for a given area.

The atlas pages are formatted for a 11" x 17" page size. Adobe Acrobat will print on a smaller page with the shrink-to-fit option. The resulting smaller output may not provide the level of detail necessary for determining the Zoning or Land Use Code in areas with small, densely platted parcels.

Adobe Acrobat Reader

If you have an acceptable printer, the next step is to make sure you have a recent version of Adobe Acrobat Reader. If you have been able to view any of the individual atlas pages from the preceding page, then you do have a copy of Adobe Acrobat Reader correctly installed on your computer.

If you are not able to view the individual atlas pages, then you will need to get the free download of Adobe Acrobat Reader from the Adobe Web site (external link).  Once you are at their Web site, follow the instructions to obtain and install Adobe Acrobat Reader.

Download atlases

The 44 page atlases are large Acrobat files, 50MB. They do not open properly within the Internet Explorer browser window. For that reason, we recommend that you download the files to a local hard drive or accessible network drive on your computer, and open them from there.

Each browser requires a different set of actions to accomplish this, and the actions depend on the exact installation of your Adobe Acrobat Reader software. In most Acrobat Reader installations, clicking on the link to an Adobe Acrobat file will attempt to open the Acrobat file within your browser window. 

Due to the large size of the atlas Acrobat files, the time required to open them is excessively long. To avoid this problem, in Microsoft Internet Explorer, you can click the right mouse button to get the context sensitive menu. When the context sensitive menu appears select "Save Target As..." from the list. Then select the location on your computer where you wish to store the Acrobat file, making sure that you have 50MB of available disk space. Be sure to note where you have saved the file.

Other browsers and other operating systems have different methods to achieve this result. On Macintosh computers, clicking and holding will produce the context sensitive menu. If you need more detailed instructions, please use the contact form to request them. Staff will respond to you as soon as possible.

Here are the links to the King County Zoning Atlas and Land Use Atlas Adobe Acrobat files:

• ftp://ftp.kingcounty.gov/ddes/acrobat/gis/zoning-atlas.pdf
• ftp://ftp.kingcounty.gov/ddes/acrobat/gis/landuse.pdf

For downloading problems: A browser setting set to "passive" may be required in order to download. For Internet Explorer, go to Tools > Internet Options > Advanced and under Browsing, ensure "Use Passive FTP (for firewall and DSL modem compatibility)" is checked, then try again. See helpful hints for more information.

Printing the atlases

Once you determine that you have everything you need to print the atlases, follow these steps to print them out:

• Open Adobe Acrobat Reader.
• From the "File" menu select the "Open..." option.
• In the resulting window, browse to the folder that you saved the atlas Acrobat file in, and select that file.
• From the "File" menu select the "Print Setup..." option and select your color printer and specify 11" x 17" paper with portrait orientation.
• From the "File" menu select the "Print..." option.
• In the resulting window, set the print range to "All 44 pages". Set the Print Quality to as high as possible. Set the number of Copies to as many as you would like, check the Shrink to Fit box and not the Print to File box. Then click the "OK" button.
• The file will begin printing and may take many minutes to complete.

DDES provides these files as a service to those who have the capability to take advantage of it. Most people will not have the capability to print the Zoning Atlas to their satisfaction. If, however, you believe that you do have that capability but are having problems printing the atlases on your equipment, please use the contact form to request assistance and DDES will provide what assistance it can.

If you are not able to print the atlases, please remember that individual atlas pages can be accessed online at www.kingcounty.gov/property/permits/gis/ZoningAtlas.aspx or www.kingcounty.gov/property/permits/gis/LandUseAtlas.aspx. 

Purchasing the atlases

Hard copy atlases also are available for purchase from the cashier's booth at DDES in Renton (see map and directions). 

Each complete bound atlas is $45 and individual pages can be purchased for $1. These prices are subject to state and local sales tax.  To reach the cashier by phone, call 206-296-7065.