mapmaker 1.3.0

Create map images from slippy map tiles.

Map Maker

mapmaker is a simple script to generate map images for “Slippy Tile” maps. Map tiles are downloaded from services such as OpenStreetMap and are combined into a single image.

Installation

Use the installation script:

$ python setup.py install

Or install using pip:

$ pip install mapmaker

Command Line Usage

Use mapmaker --help to show a detailed list of options.

Basic Usage

This will create a file map.png in the current directory. The map will cover the bounding box specified with two pairs of lat/lon coordinates:

$ mapmaker  47.44,10.95 47.37,11.13

One can also specify a center point and a radius:

$ mapmaker 63.0695,-151.0074 100km

If the coordinates start with a negative value, use -- to indicate the end of command line flags:

$ mapmaker -- -32.653197,-70.0112 100km

Coordinates can also be specified in DMS format:

$ mapmaker "63°4'10.2'' N, 151°0'26.64'' W" 4km

Use a single quote for minutes (') and two single quotes ('') for seconds. Note the quotes around the command line argument.

You can also specify the output file (default is map.png):

$ mapmaker 63.0695,-151.0074 100km denali.png

Additional Options

Specify the zoom level with the --zoom flag. The default is 8. Higher values mean more detail and result in larger map images.

$ mapmaker --zoom 12 63.0695,-151.0074 100km

Use --style to control the look of the map:

$ mapmaker --style human 63.0695,-151.0074 100km

Use the --shading flag to overlay a hillshading layer over the map image. Note that hillshading is not available for all regions.

$ mapmaker --shading 45.83,6.88 100km

Note that some map styles already come with hillshading.

To control the resulting image format, use --aspect:

$ mapmaker --aspect 16:9 45.83,6.88 100km

The aspect ratio is given in the format W:H (e.g. 4:3 or 19:9). The resulting map image will contain the given bounding box (or point w/ radius) and max be extended to North/South or East/West to match the aspect ratio. Note that the resolution of the image depends on the --zoom factor.

Create a Gallery

Use the --gallery flag to render a set of maps, one for each available style. In this case, you specify an output directory instead of a file (default is the current directory). This flag ignores the --style parameter.

Configuration

The configuration file is located at ~/.config/mapmaker/config.ini

Styles (Tile Servers)

You can specify additional map styles like this:

# ~/.config/mapmaker/config.ini

[services]
osm   = https://tile.openstreetmap.org/{z}/{x}/{y}.png
topo  = https://{s}.tile.opentopomap.org/{z}/{x}/{y}.png

Where osm is the name of the style (as used in the --style flag) and the URL is the URL pattern for downloading tiles.

The URL pattern contains three variables:

z:

zoom level

x:

X-coordinate of the tile

y:

Y-coordinate of the tile

See for example https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Tiles.

The URL may contain an additional placeholder for an API Key (see below):

atlas = https://tile.thunderforest.com/atlas/{z}/{x}/{y}.png?apikey={api}
                                                                     ^^^

Authorization

Authorization is needed for the following services:

Domain	Type	Homepage
tile.thunderforest.com	API Key	https://www.thunderforest.com/
maps.geoapify.com	API Key	https://www.geoapify.com/
api.mapbox.com	Token	https://mapbox.com/

Most services offer a free plan for limited/non-commercial use. Check out the URL from the table above.

Once you have registered, place your API Keys in a config file like this:

# ~/.config/mapmaker/config.ini

[keys]
tile.thunderforest.com  = YOUR_API_KEY
maps.geoapify.com       = YOUR_API_KEY
api.mapbox.com          = YOUR_API_KEY

Where tile.thunderforest.com is the domain from which the image tiles are requested.