Art Maps: Posters, Neon, Blueprint from OpenStreetMap

A city map is not just a navigation tool. It's a pattern of streets, rivers, and parks that is unique to every place. Art maps transform this pattern into a work of graphic design: a wall poster, a gift for a friend, or an interior element.

What Are Visual Products

osm2cdr's visual products are stylized maps created from real OpenStreetMap data. Unlike standard exports, the focus here is on aesthetics: the map goes through rendering in one of 8 artistic styles, is clipped to a mask, and enhanced with typography.

8 Art Map Styles

1. Minimal Poster

Clean minimalist style: black lines on a white background (or inverted). Only streets and water features, no labels or POIs. Ideal for large-format printing.

Best for: modern interiors, offices, gifts.

2. Neon City

Neon colors on a dark background. Roads glow blue, buildings purple, water turquoise. A "city at night" effect with glow effects.

Best for: bars, clubs, gaming rooms, youth-oriented interiors.

3. Blueprint

White lines on a dark blue background, simulating an engineering drawing. Scale grid, coordinates along edges, technical fonts.

Best for: architecture studios, engineering firms, loft interiors.

4. Vintage

Aged map: warm beige tones, wear effects, classic serif typography. Brown roads, muted blue water, olive parks.

Best for: classic interiors, restaurants, historic buildings.

5. Watercolor

Watercolor simulation: soft blurred colors, transparent layers, "organic" boundaries. Green parks flow into blue water, streets as thin lines.

Best for: children's rooms, creative studios, gifts.

6. Dark Mode

Elegant dark style: dark gray background, light gray streets, accent colors for water and parks. Modern and stylish, reminiscent of navigation apps.

Best for: tech companies, IT offices, presentations.

7. Satellite Overlay

Stylized map over a satellite image. Semi-transparent street and building layers overlay a real photograph of the area.

Best for: real estate agencies, urbanists, researchers.

8. Monochrome

One color in several shades. Choose a base color: blue, green, red, purple. All map elements rendered in shades of the chosen color.

Best for: corporate gifts (in brand colors), themed interiors.

6 Clipping Masks

The mask defines the outline by which the map is clipped. Instead of a standard rectangle, the map takes the shape of:

Heart

The most popular mask for gifts. A map of the neighborhood of your first date or wedding city in heart shape — a classic romantic gift.

Circle

Elegant simplicity. A circular map looks great in frames, as part of a gallery wall, or as a sticker.

Hexagon

A geometric modern shape. Several hexagonal maps of different cities can be arranged on a wall in a honeycomb pattern.

Star

An unusual shape for emphasis. A map of your favorite city in star shape — a striking decorative element.

Diamond

The map is rotated 45 degrees and clipped to a diamond. A dynamic shape for modern interiors.

Octagon

A classic shape between circle and square. Balanced, calm, suitable for formal interiors.

How to Create an Art Map

Step 1: Choose a Place

On osm2cdr.ru, find the desired city or district. Art maps work best with: - Historic city centers (dense street network) - Waterfront cities (rivers and embankments add contrast) - Areas with distinctive geometry (Barcelona, Manhattan, St. Petersburg)

Step 2: Choose a Style

In the "Visual Products" section, select one of 8 styles. For your first try, we recommend Minimal Poster or Blueprint — they're universal and look stylish in any interior.

Step 3: Choose a Mask

Default is rectangle. For a gift, try Heart or Circle.

Step 4: Configure Parameters

• Size: from A4 to A1 (for printing, A3 or A2 recommended)
• Caption: text below the map (usually city name and coordinates)
• Color: for Monochrome and Neon styles, you can choose a base color

Step 5: Export

Choose a format: - PDF — for commercial printing (300 DPI, CMYK) - SVG — for editing in Illustrator/Inkscape - PNG — for home printing or photo labs

Gift Ideas

Birthday

A map of the city where someone was born, in Vintage style with caption "Moscow, 1990" — a personal gift with a story.

Wedding

Two cities (where the bride and groom are from) in heart shapes, alongside the wedding city. Minimal or Watercolor style.

Housewarming

A Blueprint-style map of the new neighborhood with the house marked. Practical (explore the surroundings) and stylish.

Travel

A set of hexagonal maps of visited cities on the wall. Each city is a separate hexagon, and the pattern grows with each trip.

Corporate Gift

A city map in brand colors (Monochrome style), with the company logo in the caption.

Technical Details

Rendering

Visual products are rendered through a separate pipeline. Data from PostGIS goes through SVG rendering with custom styles, then the mask is applied and typography is added.

Print Resolution

For quality printing, we recommend: - A4 (210x297 mm): minimum 3508x4961 px at 300 DPI - A3 (297x420 mm): minimum 4961x7016 px at 300 DPI - A2 (420x594 mm): minimum 7016x9933 px at 300 DPI

SVG files scale to any size without quality loss.

Color Profiles

PDF files are created in sRGB. For offset printing, we recommend converting to CMYK (Adobe Acrobat, Illustrator) or requesting a CMYK version via the API.

License

OpenStreetMap data is distributed under the ODbL license. To sell printed maps, you must include attribution: "(c) OpenStreetMap contributors." See our article about the ODbL license for details.

Conclusion

Art maps are a way to turn geographic data into art. 8 styles and 6 masks give 48 combinations for any occasion: from a minimalist wall poster to a romantic heart-shaped gift. On osm2cdr.ru, you can create an art map of any city in the world in just a couple of minutes.