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Using QGIS to apply a 1777 style to today's OpenStreetMap data

manuelclaeysbouuaert.be

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Re: Using QGIS to apply a 1777 style to today's OpenStreetMap data

#41

Post by nonrandomstring »

martin_a wrote: post #37

Side note: I love this style of "artwork". I also enjoy old books with paintings, older maps and whatnot and can look at them for hours. Maybe it's because I work in print media and know how fast and good modern tools are, so I can estimate (and value) how complicated it was to create all the graphics in former times. So: Great project to bring back the old style for modern data.

There needs to be an icon set for gallows, gibbets, witch pyres, and dragon lairs and for coastal areas, sea monsters, whirlpools, mermaids, treasure, and of course an edge of the flat world.

Re: Using QGIS to apply a 1777 style to today's OpenStreetMap data

#42

Post by thrdbndndn »

ktpsns wrote: post #11
WesolyKubeczek wrote: post #8

The old maps had way better contrast, it seems.

Modern Google/Apple maps are incredibly low contrast and I don't know why. Seems like they want to have streets and land stand back to make room for features such as pin locations, buisness markings (advertising) or dedicated layers such as traffic. I really don't get it. Here in Germany, in the last century, "road atlases" were a thing, big maps with great overview and detail maps which were basically at maximum con…

>road atlases

This type of map is good (or even necessary) for paper map. If you can't find the name of the place you want to go, you're doomed.

It's not for a digital one where you can zoom (to show different levels of detail/labels) and search.

Re: Using QGIS to apply a 1777 style to today's OpenStreetMap data

#44

Post by widerporst »

kqr wrote: post #31
ktpsns wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Modern Google/Apple maps are incredibly low contrast and I don't know why. Seems like they want to have streets and land stand back to make room for features such as pin locations, buisness markings (advertising) or dedicated layers such as traffic. I really don't get it. Here in Germany, in the last century, "road atlases" were a thing, big maps with great overview and detail maps which were basically at maximum con…

Yeah, this is ridiculous: https://i.xkqr.org/gmapsvsosm.png The top one is completely unusable if you want to do anything other than drive a car on the highway, in which case it's actually quite good. (I picked this area specifically because it contains highway, railway, footpaths, water, residential area, industrial area, open fields, forest, and wetland. You wouldn't know, though, if you only looked at the top map.…

I really don't get it why Google doesn't show forests at >13 zoom. I've read people claim that this makes the map easier to read. But I can't be the only one who orients himself on a map based on boundaries between forests, residential areas, and fields.

Re: Using QGIS to apply a 1777 style to today's OpenStreetMap data

#45

Post by [deleted] »

ssl232 wrote: post #21

I dabbled in web-based mapping a couple years ago and found the tech stack to be really quite polished. Starting from a database of features from e.g. OpenStreetMap hosted in a Postgres-based PostGIS map server, and geographical boundaries via special shape files, you can write XML files representing the features you wish to see on each layer of the map (using SQL queries intended for PostGIS), and CSS-like style fil…

[deleted]

Re: Using QGIS to apply a 1777 style to today's OpenStreetMap data

#46

Post by navbaker »

ssl232 wrote: post #21

I dabbled in web-based mapping a couple years ago and found the tech stack to be really quite polished. Starting from a database of features from e.g. OpenStreetMap hosted in a Postgres-based PostGIS map server, and geographical boundaries via special shape files, you can write XML files representing the features you wish to see on each layer of the map (using SQL queries intended for PostGIS), and CSS-like style fil…

QGIS is enormously valuable to those of us who need to do what I would non-authoritatively term "intermediate level geospatial analysis" in jobs that might not have geospatial analysis as part of the official job description, but don't have thousands of dollars available for the ludicrously expensive ArcGIS license.

Re: Using QGIS to apply a 1777 style to today's OpenStreetMap data

#47

Post by Bedon292 »

Several of the original maps have some added topology on them, and I think a simplified hill shade could help pop the new ones in a similar manner. You can put it on with something like 90% transparency and get a bit of a pop to add more depth to it. I used to do this back when I still made paper maps, but it should work just as well in a totally digital format.

Edit: On the github readme the author addresses this some. General elevation data isn't in OSM, so it was deemed out of scope for this project.

Re: Using QGIS to apply a 1777 style to today's OpenStreetMap data

#48

Post by kall »

ktpsns wrote: post #11
WesolyKubeczek wrote: post #8

The old maps had way better contrast, it seems.

Modern Google/Apple maps are incredibly low contrast and I don't know why. Seems like they want to have streets and land stand back to make room for features such as pin locations, buisness markings (advertising) or dedicated layers such as traffic. I really don't get it. Here in Germany, in the last century, "road atlases" were a thing, big maps with great overview and detail maps which were basically at maximum con…

You might enjoy the Mobile Atlas tiles from Thunderforest [0].

I think the low contrast on Google Maps is uniquely ridiculous. You don't have to go all the way to OSM / road atlas. I think Mapbox Streets, Apple Maps (somewhat) and Gaia Topo Lite (my go to) are all perfectly fine maps with roughly the same "feel".

Google Maps contrast is so ridiculous that I have a private app called "Kontrast Maps" that is just the Maps SDK with a high contrast style applied. Me and a friend with a visually impairment get a ton of use out of that. I would love to publish it if it weren't for the insane pricing on Maps iOS SDK.

I'm also disappointed enabling "High Contrast" in Apple operating systems doesn't apply a high contrast maps style. Seems like a super obvious accessibility feature.

[0] https://www.thunderforest.com/maps/mobile-atlas/

Re: Using QGIS to apply a 1777 style to today's OpenStreetMap data

#49

Post by dylan604 »

tuyiown wrote: post #13
ktpsns wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Modern Google/Apple maps are incredibly low contrast and I don't know why. Seems like they want to have streets and land stand back to make room for features such as pin locations, buisness markings (advertising) or dedicated layers such as traffic. I really don't get it. Here in Germany, in the last century, "road atlases" were a thing, big maps with great overview and detail maps which were basically at maximum con…

One explanation would be that roads are not the useful information on modern map, you search for you POI or address, and then query an itinerary, and then you have a very contrasty road, the one you need. I suspect just looking at maps to find your way is a more and more cornered case.

I find this quite sad and humorous at the same time. Personally, I'm one that loves looking at maps to familiarize myself with street names in an area of interest rather than the specific route the great Map gods of the cloud have decided for me. I tend to not rely on turn by turn navigation, and actually find it quite annoying with its incessant "in 500ft", "in 400ft", "in 300ft" kind of nagging. Being around people that are absolutely dependant on turn-by-turn directions make gives me a laugh though. On a cross country trip where you're on the same major high going West for >1000m doesn't need turn by turn, yet I've been on a trip with someone that had a damn near panic attack because I started driving without the navigation running. Sad they were that stressed about it, but still damn funny

Re: Using QGIS to apply a 1777 style to today's OpenStreetMap data

#50

Post by dylan604 »

widerporst wrote: post #44
kqr wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, this is ridiculous: https://i.xkqr.org/gmapsvsosm.png The top one is completely unusable if you want to do anything other than drive a car on the highway, in which case it's actually quite good. (I picked this area specifically because it contains highway, railway, footpaths, water, residential area, industrial area, open fields, forest, and wetland. You wouldn't know, though, if you only looked at the top map.…

I really don't get it why Google doesn't show forests at >13 zoom. I've read people claim that this makes the map easier to read. But I can't be the only one who orients himself on a map based on boundaries between forests, residential areas, and fields.

Is there a way to make Goog's turn-by-turn to not be street name based but instead give directions like old timers did using landmark navigation?

At the old farm house, turn left. After going aways down the road, turn right at by the building with the white archways. Take the next left when you get to the statue of the first mayor.

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