File format
City map as a vector file
A city map as a vector file is a city map whose geometry is stored as curves and areas rather than as pixels. It scales to any size without loss, separates into layers, and can be edited in Illustrator, AutoCAD or QGIS – line weights, colours and labelling all stay changeable.
PDF · DWG · DXF
Separate layers · true to scale
Separate layers · true to scale
Difference
Vector or pixel – how to tell
A screenshot of an online map is a pixel image: every enlargement blurs it further, and the buildings cannot be separated from the background. A vector file knows every building as its own area.
| Question | Vector file | Pixel image (PNG, JPG, screenshot) |
|---|---|---|
| Enlarge to poster size? | Without loss, the edges stay crisp | Goes blurry and shows jagged edges |
| Colour individual buildings? | Yes, every building is its own object | No, only by cutting them out afterwards |
| Hide the streets? | Yes, they are their own layer | No, everything sits in one image |
| Change the scale? | Yes, the geometry stays dimensionally correct | Only the image size, not the scale |
| Keep drawing in CAD? | Yes, as lines and polygons | Only as a background image to trace over |
Formats
Three vector formats – PDF, DWG and DXF
All three contain the same extent and the same layers. They differ in where they go: PDF into graphics, DWG and DXF into construction.
| Format | What it is | Intended for | Boundary |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vector PDF per ISO 32000 | Illustrator, Affinity Designer, InDesign, print | No coordinate reference – for drawing, not for surveying | |
| DWG | Native AutoCAD drawing format | AutoCAD, ArchiCAD, Revit, Vectorworks | Vendor format: very old programs cannot read newer revisions |
| DXF | Open CAD interchange format | Rhino, QGIS, Blender, SketchUp, Vectorworks | Larger file than DWG for the same content |
Which format for which program
When in doubt: PDF for anything graphic, DXF for anything spatial. This recommendation is about our files; what a program can otherwise read changes with every release.
| Program | Take | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Adobe Illustrator | Opens as curves, and the layers stay layers | |
| Affinity Designer | Same route as Illustrator, without a subscription | |
| Adobe InDesign | Place it rather than open it – the plan stays linked and crisp | |
| AutoCAD | DWG | Native format, nothing gets converted |
| ArchiCAD, Revit | DWG | The usual exchange route in building design |
| Vectorworks | DWG | Reads DWG directly, DXF works just as well |
| Rhino | DXF | Curves arrive cleanly as curves |
| QGIS | DXF | Read as a vector layer and ready for further processing |
| Blender, SketchUp | DXF | Open format with an importer available everywhere |
Structure
Which layers the files contain
The geometry is separated by theme, not delivered as one drawing. The figures below are counted, not estimated: they state in how many plans each layer is actually present.
| Layer | Geometry | Present in |
|---|---|---|
| Buildings | Polygons | 223 of 223 plans |
| Streets | Polylines | 219 of 223 plans |
| Water | Polygons | 221 of 223 plans |
| Green spaces | Polygons | 218 of 223 plans |
| Forest | Polygons | 132 of 223 plans |
| Farmland | Polygons | 132 of 223 plans |
| Railways | Polylines | 132 of 223 plans |
| Boundaries | Polylines | 219 of 223 plans |
| Contour lines | Polylines | 182 of 223 plans |
Contour lines come at 1 m or 5 m intervals depending on the city; the interval is stated on each city page. Which layers a particular plan contains is listed individually on its product page – before you buy.
Where this stops
When we are the wrong place
We keep a curated catalogue of 232 cities, not an arbitrary extent. Every plan is cropped to its city centre, typeset and checked. If you need a freely chosen frame around an arbitrary address, this is not it.
In that case two routes lead to the goal: a generator such as CADMAPPER, which produces any extent automatically, or your own OpenStreetMap export prepared in QGIS. The first is faster, the second is free, and the choice is entirely yours.
One more limit: our plans are a basis for drawing and planning. They do not replace an official cadastral extract or a qualified site plan for a building application.
In short
- A fixed city from the catalogue, ready to use: you are in the right place.
- Any extent around an address: a generator or your own OSM export.
- Legally binding evidence: the cadastral office or a licensed surveyor.
Catalogue
Vector city maps for 217 cities
All Plans
217 plans available
Aachen
Germany
10 €
Amsterdam
Netherlands
10 €
Antwerp
Belgium
0 €
Apeldoorn
Netherlands
15 €
Arnhem
Netherlands
15 €
Aschaffenburg
Germany
10 €
Athens
Greece
0 €
Atlanta
United States of America
0 €
Augsburg
Germany
10 €
Backnang
Germany
10 €
Bad Segeberg
Germany
10 €
Barcelona
Spain
0 €
Basel – Weil am Rhein – Lörrach
Germany
15 €
Bath
England
10 €
Bautzen
Germany
10 €
Beirut
Lebanon
15 €
Belgrad
Serbia
0 €
Bengaluru
India
0 €
Bensheim
Germany
10 €
Berlin
Germany
10 €
Bern
Switzerland
10 €
Bietigheim-Bissingen
Germany
10 €
Bilbao
Spain
10 €
Bologna
Italy
10 €
Bonn
Germany
10 €
Bordeaux
France
0 €
Boston
United States of America
0 €
Bozen
Italy
10 €
Bratislava
Slovakia
10 €
Brașov
Romania
10 €
Breda
Netherlands
10 €
Bregenz
Austria
10 €
Bremen
Germany
10 €
Bremerhaven
Germany
10 €
Brno
Czech Republic
10 €
Broons
France
10 €
Bruges
Belgium
15 €
Brussels
Belgium
10 €
Budapest
Hungary
0 €
Budweis
Czech Republic
10 €
Bukarest Zentrum
Romania
0 €
Cagliari
Italy
10 €
Cambridge
United Kingdom of Great Britain
0 €
Catania
Italy
10 €
Chemnitz
Germany
10 €
Chicago
United States of America
0 €
Cluj-Napoca
Romania
10 €
Coblenz
Germany
10 €
Coburg
Germany
10 €
Cologne
Germany
15 €
Copenhagen
Denmark
10 €
Cottbus
Germany
10 €
Dallas
United States of America
0 €
Darmstadt
Germany
10 €
Den Haag, Delft, Leiden
Netherlands
10 €
Dijon
France
10 €
Dolomites – Cortina d’Ampezzo
Italy
10 €
Donostia-San Sebastián
Spain
10 €
Dortmund
Germany
10 €
Dresden
Germany
10 €
Dublin
Ireland
0 €
Düsseldorf
Germany
15 €
Edinburgh
United Kingdom of Great Britain
0 €
Eindhoven
Netherlands
10 €
Eisenstadt – Wiener Neustadt
Austria
10 €
Erlangen
Germany
10 €
Flensburg
Germany
10 €
Florence
Italy
0 €
Frankfurt (Oder)
Germany
10 €
Frankfurt on the Main
Germany
15 €
Freetown
Sierra Leone
0 €
Freiburg im Breisgau
Germany
10 €
Freising
Germany
10 €
Fribourg
Switzerland
10 €
Gdansk
Poland
10 €
Geneva
Switzerland
0 €
Genova
Italy
10 €
Gießen
Germany
10 €
Glasgow
United Kingdom of Great Britain
0 €
Goteborg
Sweden
10 €
Graz
Austria
10 €
Groningen
Netherlands
10 €
Haarlem
Netherlands
10 €
Halle (Saale)
Germany
10 €
Hamburg
Germany
10 €
Hamm – Soest
Germany
10 €
Hannover
Germany
10 €
Heidelberg
Germany
10 €
Heilbronn
Germany
15 €
Helsinki
Finland
0 €
Herford – Bad Salzuflen
Germany
10 €
Hildesheim
Germany
10 €
Hollywood – LA
United States of America
0 €
Hong Kong
Hong Kong
0 €
Hradec Kralove
Czech Republic
10 €
Innsbruck
Austria
10 €
Island of Rügen
Germany
10 €
Istanbul
Turkey
0 €
Jerusalem
Israel
0 €
Kaiserslautern
Germany
10 €
Karlovy Vary
Czech Republic
10 €
Karlsruhe
Germany
10 €
Kassel
Germany
10 €
Kathmandu
Nepal
0 €
Katowice
Poland
10 €
Klagenfurt
Austria
10 €
Krakow
Poland
10 €
Landshut
Germany
10 €
Lausanne
Switzerland
10 €
Le Mans
France
10 €
Leipzig
Germany
10 €
Leonberg
Germany
10 €
Liberec
Czech Republic
10 €
Lille
France
10 €
Lindau (Lake Constance)
Germany
10 €
Lisbon
Portugal
0 €
Liverpool
United Kingdom of Great Britain
0 €
Ljubljana
Slovenia
0 €
London
United Kingdom of Great Britain
10 €
Lubeck
Germany
10 €
Lucerne
Switzerland
15 €
Luxembourg
Luxembourg
10 €
Lyon
France
10 €
Maastricht
Netherlands
10 €
Madrid
Spain
0 €
Mainz – Wiesbaden
Germany
10 €
Malmö
Sweden
0 €
Manila
Philippines
0 €
Marburg
Germany
10 €
Marseille
France
10 €
Meran
Italy
10 €
Metz
France
10 €
Miami
United States of America
0 €
Milan
Italy
10 €
Minden – Bad Oeynhausen
Germany
10 €
Minsk
Belarus
10 €
Montpellier – Lunel
France
10 €
Moscow
Russia
0 €
Mulhouse
France
10 €
Mumbai
India
0 €
Munich
Germany
15 €
Nancy
France
10 €
Nantes
France
10 €
Napoli
Italy
15 €
New York
United States of America
0 €
Nuremberg
Germany
10 €
Oldenburg
Germany
10 €
Olomouc
Czech Republic
10 €
Oslo
Norway
10 €
Osnabrück
Germany
10 €
Paderborn
Germany
10 €
Palermo
Italy
10 €
Pardubice
Czech Republic
10 €
Paris
France
15 €
Passau
Germany
10 €
Pfaffenhofen an der Ilm
Germany
10 €
Potsdam
Germany
15 €
Poznań
Poland
10 €
Prague
Czech Republic
10 €
Radolfzell
Germany
10 €
Regensburg
Germany
10 €
Reykjavik
Iceland
0 €
Riga
Latvia
0 €
Rome
Italy
0 €
Rotterdam
Netherlands
10 €
Rudolstadt – Saalfeld – Bad Blankenburg
Germany
10 €
Saarbrucken
Germany
10 €
Saint Tropez, Sainte Maxime
France
10 €
Salzburg
Austria
10 €
San Francisco
United States of America
0 €
Sankt Petersburg
Russia
10 €
Sarajevo
Bosnia and Herzegovina
0 €
Schleswig Eckernförde Rendsburg
Germany
15 €
Schwerin
Germany
10 €
Seattle
United States of America
0 €
Siegen Olpe
Germany
10 €
Singapore
Singapur
0 €
Sofia
Bulgaria
0 €
Split
Croatia
10 €
St. Poelten
Austria
10 €
Starnberg
Germany
10 €
Stockholm
Sweden
10 €
Strasbourg
Germany
10 €
Stuttgart
Germany
10 €
Sylt
Germany
10 €
Szczecin
Poland
10 €
São Paulo
Brazil
0 €
Tallinn
Estonia
10 €
Tampere
Finland
10 €
Tel Aviv
Israel
10 €
Tokyo
Japan
0 €
Toulouse
France
10 €
Trondheim
Norway
10 €
Târgu Mureș
Romania
10 €
Tübingen – Reutlingen
Germany
10 €
Utrecht
Netherlands
10 €
Valencia Centre
Spain
0 €
Vancouver
Canada
0 €
Venice
Italy
0 €
Venlo
Netherlands
10 €
Verona
Italy
0 €
Vienna
Austria
10 €
Vilnius
Lithuania
10 €
Warsaw
Poland
15 €
Washington D.C.
United States of America
0 €
Weimar
Germany
10 €
Wismar
Germany
10 €
Wolfsburg
Germany
0 €
Worms
Germany
10 €
Wroclaw
Poland
10 €
Würzburg
Germany
10 €
Zagreb
Croatia
0 €
Zakopane
Poland
10 €
Zlín
Czech Republic
10 €
Zug
Switzerland
15 €
Zürich Winterthur
Switzerland
15 €
Ústí nad Labem
Czech Republic
10 €
FAQ
City map as a vector file – questions and answers
What is a city map as a vector file? +
A city map as a vector file is a city map whose geometry is stored as curves and areas rather than as pixels. It scales without loss, separates into layers and can be edited in graphics or CAD software. The usual formats are PDF, DWG and DXF.
Can I edit the city map in Illustrator? +
Yes. Use the vector PDF: Illustrator opens it as curves, and the thematic layers stay layers. You can colour buildings, hide streets, change line weights and add your own labelling.
Which format do I need for AutoCAD? +
DWG. It is AutoCAD's native format, so nothing is converted on opening. DXF works too and is the better choice if the file then moves on to Rhino, QGIS, Blender or SketchUp.
Are the vector files true to scale? +
Yes, the geometry is dimensionally correct. Because it is vector data, the output scale can be changed in CAD without loss. This does not mean a coordinate reference in the GIS sense – the plans are a basis for drawing, not survey documents.
Can I get any map extent as a vector file? +
No. We keep a curated catalogue of fixed cities, each cropped to its centre. For a freely chosen extent around an arbitrary address, a generator such as CADMAPPER or your own OpenStreetMap export prepared in QGIS is the better tool.
May I use the vector file commercially? +
Yes. Every purchase includes the commercial licence for project work, competition entries and presentations. For print in publications and publishing on the web there is the extended licence at a surcharge. The plan files themselves may not be passed on as a dataset – the data comes from OpenStreetMap and is licensed under the ODbL.