EMF — Enhanced Windows Metafile
Open BetaEMF (Enhanced Metafile) is Windows' 32-bit vector format, successor to WMF and the standard intermediate format for printing and pasting graphics into Microsoft Office. Our exporter works directly, without Inkscape: the map is rendered through QGIS to SVG, then paths are parsed into polylines and written as binary EMF records (EMR). Honestly: the output is stroked outlines (black pen, no fills or labels), convenient for pasting into Word, Visio, and PowerPoint and scaling without pixelation.
Key Features
About EMF Format
EMF is a vector format of Windows, the successor of the old WMF. It is the internal graphics language of the system itself: Windows uses it to send a drawing to print and to store vector insets in documents. That is why Word, PowerPoint and Visio accept EMF as a native format and scale it without pixelation.
A map is exported to EMF when the scheme is needed right inside an office document: a terrain plan in an explanatory note, an inset in a presentation, a base under a diagram in Visio, printing a large sheet through an ordinary Windows plotter driver. Putting a PNG picture there means getting a blur when it is enlarged, while EMF stays crisp at any scale.
The export works directly, without Inkscape: the map is rendered to SVG, the paths are broken into polylines and written as binary EMF commands. Honestly about the result: what you get is line outlines in a black pen — roads, buildings and water bodies as lines, without fills and without text labels. If you need a color map with street names, take SVG or PDF.
What Program Opens EMF Files
The following programs and applications can open, edit, and work with EMF — Enhanced Windows Metafile (.emf) files exported from OSM2CDR:
Format specifications
- Proprietary format
- 2D only
- Lossless (no quality loss)
- No attributes
- Output: 1 file
- A 32-bit Enhanced Metafile written directly via binary EMR records (QGIS -> SVG -> polylines); stroked black outlines with no fills or labels, for pasting into Office.
Who Uses EMF Maps
How to Export EMF
How to Open After Export
- Word and PowerPoint — Insert → Pictures → pick the .emf; the image stays vector and can be dragged by a corner without losing crispness.
- Visio — insert the file and ungroup it: the outlines turn into ordinary shapes that can be given a color, a line weight and a fill.
- Inkscape, CorelDRAW or LibreOffice Draw — open it and add color: the outlines arrive clean, the fills are added by hand.
- Printing on a plotter — EMF goes through the standard Windows driver, so a large sheet is printed without intermediate conversions.
- If you need colors and labels — download SVG or PDF: there both the fills and the names of the objects are preserved.
Popular maps in EMF
Get EMF — Enhanced Windows Metafile map exports
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