How to download OpenStreetMap maps. OpenStreetMap - Free GPS Maps What is OSM

These are unofficial free cards. They are created by the Internet community OpenStreetMap (OSM). Another undoubted advantage is that they are not made by one person; each registered user can make changes to the map. They are constantly updated and in many regions they have more current information at the moment than official maps.

Instructions for installing OpenStreetMap maps for Navitel Navigator:

1. Make a copy of the memory card (just in case)
2. Copy the necessary *.nm2 files to any folder on the device or memory card (for example /sdcard/NavitelContent/Maps/AtlasOSM). If the regions do not border each other, then in order for the route to be laid out correctly, add a file with an overview map of Russia (Russia-overview-osm-nm2) to the folder with the selected maps.
3. In the Navitel program, open Menu - Settings - Map - Open atlas - middle icon with a folder at the bottom - select a folder and click “ok” (green checkmark)
4. After the indexing process is completed, the maps will be available for navigation

IMPORTANT! Maps of the OSM project are created in the only NM2 format; they work perfectly with the Navitel Navigator navigation program version 5.0.3 and lower without failures or limitations (better in version 3.5). Also, OSM maps work well on Navitel Navigator versions up to 9.10.xxxx

You can’t go anywhere without navigation, especially considering the state of our roads. Have you noticed that your navigator is not stable? Then you need to download OSM maps for Navitel as soon as possible. They contain all the necessary information about populated areas countries, these maps show POIs such as restaurants, bars, and cultural venues.

OSM maps for Navitel are something more than regular navigation. This is a project created by enthusiasts with their own hands. The service provides raster maps of the area, and navigation services based on them create the maps that we are accustomed to. This approach makes it possible to organize navigation as accurately as possible.

The OSM project is a completely non-profit project. This means that all maps are provided free of charge under a public domain license. Moreover, Open Street Map acts as a wiki, which allows everyone to make changes to the maps and this makes OSM even better, higher quality and more popular.

Why should OSM be used?

Open Street Map has a number of advantages over other projects of a similar nature:

• accuracy;

Navitel OSM maps are so detailed that with a 99% probability, every hump and uneven terrain that is on the maps will be found in real life. This is due to the fact that maps are constantly being improved by the OSM community on the Internet. As a result, edits are made, old versions are updated, and new maps are improved.

• free distribution;

The project is supported by donations. This made it possible to absolutely download all OSM maps for Navitel. At the same time, the quality will be far from worse than that of paid services.

• wide girth;

Unlike most projects, OSM maps for Navitel cover the entire Earth. Therefore, using them, you are guaranteed to know how to get to the place you need in an unfamiliar country or continent. Moreover, OSM is superior in accuracy to some of its paid “brothers” - TomTom/Tele Atlas. According to the study, Open Street Map is 27% more accurate than these maps.

• convenient use;

Maps can be imported into any convenient format– PNG, JPEG, SVG, PDF or PostScript. Also, it is possible to load them into Garmin, GisRussa.

The WIKI format allowed OSM to create a unique mapping project. After all, the fact that maps are finalized by local residents provides undeniable advantages. Firstly, the accuracy is extremely high, and secondly, reliability is ensured. And thirdly, this is the general availability of the OSM map for Navitel. You can download them on our website completely free of charge and without SMS.

Read about how to install cards.

Overview map of Russia (Russia-overview)
Altai (Russia-AL)
Altai Territory (Russia-ALT)
Amur Region (Russia-AMU)
Arkhangelsk region (Russia-ARK)
Astrakhan region (Russia-AST)
Bashkiria (Russia-BA)
Belgorod region (Russia-BEL)
Bryansk region (Russia-BRY)
Buryatia (Russia-BU)
Chechnya (Russia-CE)
Chelyabinsk region (Russia-CHE)
Chukotka Autonomous Okrug (Russia-CHU)
Chuvashia (Russia-CU)
Dagestan (Russia-DA)
Ingushetia (Russia-IN)
Irkutsk region (Russia-IRK)
Ivanovo region (Russia-IVA)
Kamchatka region (Russia-KAM)
Kabardino-Balkaria (Russia-KB)
Karachay-Cherkessia (Russia-KC)
Krasnodar region and Adygea (Russia-KDA)
Kemerovo region (Russia-KEM)
Kaliningrad region (Russia-KGD)
Kurgan region (Russia-KGN)
Khabarovsk Territory (Russia-KHA)
Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug (Russia-KHM)
Kirov region (Russia-KIR)
Khakassia (Russia-KK)
Kalmykia (Russia-KL)
Kaluga region (Russia-KLU)

In this article, I will share simple and convenient tools (maps and programs) that I use myself to plan my simple walking routes and navigate them in the process.

Disadvantages of topographic maps of the General Staff

Topographical maps of the General Staff (usually paper or already scanned) are good because they provide high-quality standardized information about the area. But sufficiently detailed maps are not always possible. And they cannot be used “quickly” by opening the cards on a computer or smartphone. They are not represented in their entirety and each area has to be searched individually and in advance.

After performing a certain dance with a tambourine, you can link a scan of the map to the coordinates in special programs and load it into the navigator. But again, this needs to be done in advance, you need a navigator, skill and time. What if you decide to just take a walk on vacation in a huge park or suddenly get lost somewhere in nature (especially in the mountains) and want to find a path? In such a situation, an application installed once on your smartphone will certainly help you out.

In addition, there are other goodies that are missing from topographic maps, which I will talk about later.

However, it is worth mentioning a good service that connects maps of the General Staff into a unified online map - Routes.ru. But so far I have not found such maps in applications on smartphones.

- modern topographic maps

For myself, I long ago found a replacement that covers most of my goals (simple tracking). These are maps built using OpenStreetMap (OSM) data.

These are open non-profit online maps all over the world, created jointly by the participants of this project.
To create maps, data from personal GPS trackers, aerial photography, video recordings, satellite images and street panoramas provided by some companies, as well as project participants.

In fact, it is data about objects created by a huge community of people different ways. And anyone can freely build maps based on this data.

So why is OSM better? topographic maps of the General Staff?

1. Completeness of coverage. They represent the whole world.
2. Detail and precision provided information about the area and location of objects.
3. Hiking trails. A large number of accurate information about hiking trails based on GPS trackers. Moreover, this is precisely what allows you to use the map for direct navigation along the trails. And if you find yourself in conditions of unexpectedly fallen snow and a swept path, poor visibility, such information will help you find the lost path. This has saved me more than once.
4. Lots of easy to use programs and services for all kinds of devices and operating systems that use these cards. All thanks to an open license. Most of them provide the ability to save maps offline on your device for navigating the area without using the Internet.
5. Opportunity map export in all sorts of formats. Be it PNG, JPEG, SVG, PDF, PostScript or even Garmin and Polish format for other navigation programs.
6. Some programs and services overlay data from other maps and sources on these maps supplementing information and functionality. For example, data from Wikimapia
7. If you have internet, you can download the desired area on the spot.

In addition, there is everything that is in topographic maps:

1. Terrain type. Rocks, forests, fields, rivers, ponds and everything else.
2. Availability altitude information(OpenCycleMap, Landscape, OpenTopoMap).
3. Water sources

The list of advantages is far from complete and represents only what most clearly reflects the advantages from my point of view and for my purposes (tracking).

OSM based maps

The main and first map built on this data has the same name OpenStreetMap and is located at the address of the project itself. Often represents more useful information about the terrain than the next two, but does not display heights.

These maps are available online both on the osm website itself and on its own domain.
The most interesting layers for tracking with elevations are OpenCycleMap and Landscape itself (available only at http://www.opencyclemap.org).

The Landscape map (layer), in my opinion, provides more information about the area.

I recently discovered these cards. Despite their name, they are also built on the OpenStreetMap database, but are more reminiscent topographic maps and are similar in many ways to the Landscape layer mentioned above.

Wikimapia
The slogan of the project: “Let's describe the whole world!” An international project, an online geographic encyclopedia whose goal is to mark and describe all geographic objects on Earth. And they cope with this very successfully. Wikimapia has more than 2.4 million registered users and more than 26 million objects added to the map (as of 2016). On its website the project uses different cards, including OSM. It displays these objects on them. Wikimapia data is often used by other services to overlay on their maps.

Computer programs with OSM cards

To plan a route on your computer, you can use online maps in your browser. But this is not entirely convenient.

I use the program SAS.Planet for Windows. The program accumulates all of the above cards, except Landscape. As well as many other cards including General Staff cards from the service Routes.ru, GooglMaps, YandexMaps and many others.

You can overlay data from other maps and databases on one map, thus creating personal information content. Allows you to plot routes, measure distances, save marks, export maps and data to other formats. Allows you to connect a navigator and much more.

In this practical article, we will look at services that help download maps from the OpenStreetMap online service for subsequent conversion to other cartographic formats in order to use them offline without an Internet connection.

It's summer, and for many this is the prime time to travel. Therefore, it’s time to get out navigators, or install special navigation software on tablets and smartphones so as not to get lost in unfamiliar places. Moreover, there is no shortage of such programs in the current era of GPS and mobile devices not visible. It offers users both geographic Internet services like Google Maps and Microsoft Bing, as well as specialized software like 2GIS with its own maps.

The latter option, with local maps that users pre-download and install for their navigation software, is in many cases not only more convenient, but also the only possible solution. Since the Internet in a particular area may be expensive or may not work at all. But at the same time, the necessary offline maps of a specific area may also be missing.

Below we will consider options for downloading map data from the OpenStreetMap (OSM) online service with the subsequent goal of converting this data into a specific map format for your navigation program. We have already talked in detail about the OpenStreetMap project. This is an open mapping web service, similar to Google Maps, the data of which is collected by the users themselves and is available to everyone under an open license. In the article, as an example, we will consider converting OSM data for the OsmAnd program for Android devices, which we also discussed in detail on the KV website.

Official OSM website

So, we need to download OpenStreetMap cartographic data for a specific area. First of all, this can be done from the official website of the service www.openstreetmap.org.

Directly on the online resource map there is an “Export” link, when clicked, a data export panel will appear. Here, using the blue button “Manually select a different area”, you need to select a rectangle of the desired territory on the map, then select “OpenStreetMap XML Data” from the list of formats and click the “Export” button.

As a result, a file with the osm extension will be downloaded. This is a text xml file with map data, which can then be converted to other formats.

However, the official website imposes restrictions on the amount of downloaded map data. The downloaded map should not contain more than 500 nodes. And any city will always be more than 500 nodes. But there are other services that allow you to download the desired geographic area without such restrictions.

The whole planet

Here you need to select the desired area on the OSM map, and in special fields indicate your e-mail address and set the name of the selected map. It is important that the service makes it possible to download a map not only in OSM format, but also convert it into ready-made formats Garmin, Navit, Esri.

Since the “extraction” of a specific terrain map on the service comes from planet.osm, this takes some time. The result will be ready in 15-30 minutes, depending on the size of the card area and the load on the service. As soon as the card extraction process is completed, the user will be notified to the e-mail address he left.

Convert

Thus, having received cartographic data of a specific region in the form of a text osm file, you can begin converting it into a ready-made map format with vector or raster graphics for a navigation application. For example, for the OsmAnd software GPS navigator, you need to convert OSM map data into OBF format.

There is a special converter for this, OsmAndMapCreator. This application is written in Java and is cross-platform. Runs after unzipping, depending on operating system, sh or bat script. But the program has a graphical interface.

You need to convert the osm file through the "File" menu - "Create obf file from osm file." After that, a file with the obf extension will appear in the pre-specified folder, which needs to be transferred to the /sdcard/osmand/ directory on the Android device. Now the map of this area will be available in OsmAnd in offline mode.

Using OsmAndMapCreator, you can create OBF maps using data from other online mapping services. But a review of these program capabilities is beyond the scope of this article.

Mikhail ASTAPCHIK

2) Vectors, available in editors and for downloading as files

To navigate the area, maps need to be loaded into the device with which you will go to this area - capable of receiving a GPS signal, drawing a map and your position on it. If the device can still plot a route, that’s generally good.

Today we will talk about converting OpenStreetMap maps to display them in Russa or Navitel Navigator programs. Accordingly, these maps can be downloaded into devices running one of these programs.

Generally speaking, you can download ready-made maps of some regions of Russia and some other countries, but these maps do not cover the whole world and are not always made as desired. By converting the card yourself, you can achieve much more, if you don’t mind the time, of course.

Briefly and for those in the know, the conversion looks like this: .osm -> .mp -> .rus / .nm2

Disclaimer - I am describing the method that I use myself. If you know an easier way, please write it in the comments.

Well, now - in detail:

1) Download.osm
.osm is a vector map format for OpenStreetMap. It is based on XML, i.e. actually text.
You can get the .osm file in the following ways:
1. Download by editors: JOSM or Merkaartor. Simply download the map rectangle you need from the server and save it to a file. I personally prefer to use JOSM, but it requires Java to be installed.
2. Download ready map some region from one of the hostings, for example:
- geofabrik.de - entire continents and divided into countries, some countries are divided into provinces/states/regions
- cloudmade.com - the whole world by country, some countries are divided into provinces/states/regions
Just download the file and extract bz2.
3. Download manually via XAPI
To work with XAPI, you need to make an HTTP request to the server, nothing complicated, everything is written in the link.

2) Cut .osm into pieces(If you want to)
.osm files, especially those prepared by country, can be quite large and do not undergo subsequent conversion (see below). Therefore they have to be cut.
For cutting I use splitter, it by default makes .osm files somewhere around 120 MB, which then almost always undergo subsequent conversion. If necessary, splitter can be configured using command line parameters.
Splitter requires Java to work.
Please also keep in mind that in Russa, routing only works with one map loaded. Those. If a map of one country is cut into pieces and loaded into Russa as an atlas, routing will not work.

3) Convert .osm to .mp
.mp is an ancient Polish map storage format. It is good because it is text-based and completely human-readable, and many programs understand it.
For conversion I use the osm2mp program. Unfortunately, the program requires Perl to be installed and is not very easy to use.
One way or another, after installing and configuring Perl (described in the link) and downloading osm2mp, the program can be used.
An arbitrary .osm file must also be pre-ordered - processed with the attached script osmsort.pl
Then you need to call osm2mp.pl specifying the conversion parameters.
Through lengthy experiments, I wrote a set of .bat files for myself, for example, a standard conversion with a sight for Russa:
echo Start %date% %time% >> std_err.log echo %1 >> std_err.log perl.exe osmsort.pl %1 > temp_del.osm 2>> std_err.log perl.exe osm2mp.pl --header header_russa. tpl temp_del.osm > %1.mp 2>> std_err.log echo Finish %date% %time% >> std_err.log
You need to call such a .bat file with 1 parameter - the name (and full path) of the .osm file
The 1st line writes the date and time the conversion started to the std_err.log file
The 2nd line writes the name of the .osm file to the std_err.log file
The 3rd line executes osmsort, information about the progress of the process (and errors) goes to the std_err.log file
The 4th line executes osm2mp, information about the progress of the process (and errors) goes to the std_err.log file
The 5th line writes the date and time the conversion ended to the std_err.log file
(The path to perl.exe must be specified either in the system or in your .bat file)

To convert maps of foreign countries, it is advisable to enable transliteration - otherwise the names. For example, adding the following parameters "--nametaglist int_name,name:en,name,name:ru,ref,int_re f,addr:housenumber,operator --translit" immediately after "osm2mp.pl"

To convert with a view for Navitel, you need to download a set of configuration files osm2navitel, rename the files there respectively to header_navitel.tpl, poly_navitel.cfg and poi_navitel.cfg; and add to the call osm2mp.pl the parameters "--osmbbox --navitel --disableuturns --header header_navitel.tpl --cfgpoly poly_navitel.cfg --cfgpoi poi_navitel.cfg"

For other conversions, you can also prepare poly*.cfg, poi*.cfg and header*.tpl

A large card may not be converted - for example, 32-bit Perl is limited to 2GB of RAM, as a result osm2mp cannot cope with .osm files ranging from 700MB in size, and sometimes crashes with a memory error on significantly smaller cards. In this case, the card must be cut (see step 2).

4) Convert .mp to .rus (or .nm2)
For this purpose there is an excellent program GPSMapEdit, which, as the name suggests, is also an editor. It is enough to load the .mp file into GPSMapEdit and Export it to the desired format.
But there are several pitfalls:
- Files.rus (and.nm2) saved from GPSMapEdit have a size limit of 16MB. I estimate this equates to about a 120 MB .mp file or about 600 MB .osm file.
- .nm2 files for Navitel 3.2.* versions are very demanding on the absence of errors on the map, so if “Export failed” occurs, you will have to correct the error on the displayed map, or select a different format, or convert the map with other settings (see step 3).

P.S. , and then convert it to .rus or .nm2.