Tutorial: Drawing Street Maps Made Easy

All links open in a new window.

I hate maps. Do you hate maps? I bet you do. I know you do. Everyone hates maps.

But what if I told you, there was a free vector map?

1. What if I said go to this link: http://www.openstreetmap.org/
2. Then search for your zipcode on the left.
3. Set your zoom. Go ahead, I’ll wait…
4. Ready? O.k. now at the top are tabs. Look for export.
5. Setup: Mapnik, then file type pdf, then export.
6. Now drop that PDF into CorelDraw x5. There will be a bitmap on the top(or bottom) layer that needs to be deleted, but the rest is vector.

Missing the fonts for the street names? Try this: http://dejavu-fonts.org/wiki/index.php?title=Download

Oh, and remember your copyright instructions. They need credit on the bottom of the map you produce to keep it free. : http://www.openstreetmap.org/copyright

I figured this all out last Friday. Thought I’d pass on the knowledge. Have a good Tuesday.