This next step will take a while so be patient. and change the drop menu to All Files so you can save it as an HTML file (mine was 'map.html'). From experimentation, it seems the largest map size that Screengrab can save is around 7000x7000 pixels so shoot for that. Looking at the image, it has inputs for the map width and height. The first line is what we're concerned about.

Copy the contents of the 'Paste HTML to embed in website' textbox and paste it into Notepad. Click on the Link button, which will bring up a menu like the one in the first picture. Now, look in the upper right corner of the Google Maps screen. I found the 3rd or 4th lowest zoom to be a good level of detail by showing street names but not wasting too much space with extraneous detail. Adjust the zoom level to the level of detail you desire. Back? Ok, now navigate over to Google Maps and center the map at a point that is convenient for you (your house, apartment, workplace, etc.). (I have also recently discovered a program called ' Google Map Buddy' that does the next couple steps for you but haven't tried it). You'll have to restart the browser for it to fully install so go ahead and do that. First you'll need to download and install a Firefox Addon called Screengrab. Lucky for me I found this Answer on Instructables that pointed me to a nifty little video that illustrated the following trick that takes advantage of the Google Maps Embed function. I had done this process before the hard way - that is, using Print Screen off of Google Maps, pasting into Photoshop, cropping, and repasting into the large map file over, and over, and over, and over until I filled up the entire bitmap.

How to create a custom map for my book