Guide # Create a city map Creating a city map means turning open geodata into a readable map: choose the extent, grade the streets by importance, label what matters and leave out the rest. With QGIS and OpenStreetMap it costs nothing but time – with a ready-made vector base you start at step four. [ To the guide ↓ ](#schritte) [ Free plans ](https://schwarzplan.eu/en/site-plan-figure-ground-plan-shop/free-figure-ground-plans/) QGIS · OpenStreetMap 6 steps · free route available Decision ## Three routes – which one fits you? | Route | Time | Cost | Control | When it makes sense | |---|---|---|---|---| | Online generator | Minutes | free to moderate | limited | A one-off with no design ambition. Read the licence terms first – they vary a great deal. | | Yourself in QGIS | Hours to days | time only | complete | When the map has to look exactly the way you picture it – or when you want to learn the route once and for all. | | A ready-made vector plan as the base | Minutes | a few euros | complete from step 4 on | When the city is in the catalogue and time is short: sourcing and preparing the data falls away, but you still do the design yourself. | Guide ## Draw a city map – in six steps 1. 01 ### Decide on the extent and the purpose A city map for a poster shows something different from one for a brochure. Decide first how large the map will be and from what distance it will be read – how much extent fits and how small the type may go both follow from that. 2. 02 ### Get the geodata OpenStreetMap covers streets, buildings, green space, water and rail worldwide. Ready-made extracts come from Geofabrik, targeted queries from Overpass. For Germany, the open base geodata of the federal states comes on top. 3. 03 ### Load into QGIS and clip to the extent Each category as its own layer: streets, buildings, water, green, rail. Clip before you style, not after – a map holding half of Bavaria in memory redraws on every change. 4. 04 ### Grade the streets by importance This is the step that decides legibility. Motorway, main road, side street and footpath need different line weights – in OpenStreetMap the classification sits in the “highway” field and can be used directly as a styling rule. 5. 05 ### Label – and leave out Not every street gets a name. Label the ones people navigate by. Labels run along the line, not across it, and never overlap: in QGIS the collision detection handles that once you switch it on. 6. 06 ### Scale, legend, attribution and export A scale bar rather than a scale ratio, a north arrow, a short legend and the attribution for the map data. Export as vector PDF or SVG – then the map stays crisp from postcard to poster. [ Get free geodata → ](https://schwarzplan.eu/en/geodata/) [ Figure-ground plan instead → ](https://schwarzplan.eu/en/create-figure-ground-plan/) Craft ## What makes a city map legible Nobody fails on the data any more. Home-made city maps fail on five things, and all five are decisions, not tool questions. 01 ### Hierarchy before completeness A city map on which every street looks the same is unreadable – even when it is complete. Three or four line-weight levels are enough for a city of any size. 02 ### Leaving out is design The commonest mistake in a home-made city map is keeping everything the data contains. House numbers, fences, individual trees and car park areas belong out at most scales. 03 ### Few colours, clearly separated Water blue, green space green, everything else in greys – nearly every city map gets by on that. Colour is a signal; when everything is coloured, nothing signals any more. 04 ### Type is part of the map, not on top of it Labelling follows the geometry: street names run with the street, area names sit inside the area. A light halo around the type keeps it readable without erasing the lines beneath. 05 ### One scale, one level of detail A map showing every building in the centre and only main roads at the edge looks unfinished. Either the detail is even throughout – or the transition is deliberately designed and visibly meant. What it is good for ## City map, figure-ground plan, site plan, location map Four maps of the same place, four different purposes. Build the wrong type and you do the work twice. | Type | What it shows | For what | |---|---|---| | City map this page | A readable map of an urban area with street hierarchy and labelling | Orientation, brochure, poster | | [Schwarzplan (figure-ground plan)](https://schwarzplan.eu/en/create-figure-ground-plan/) | Nur Gebäude, schwarz auf weiß – bebaut gegen unbebaut | Urban design, analysis | | [Lageplan (site plan)](https://schwarzplan.eu/en/site-plan/) | One plot with its surroundings, true to scale | Planning, building application | | [Location map](https://schwarzplan.eu/en/create-location-map/) | A simplified route to a destination; may distort | Invitation, letterhead, legal notice | Legal position ## Which data you may use You may use OpenStreetMap, commercially too, with the attribution “© OpenStreetMap contributors”. You may not use a screenshot from Google Maps as your base – their terms allow embedding the map, not freely reusing an extent in your own material. On top of that come the open base geodata of the German federal states, usually under Datenlizenz Deutschland with a prescribed attribution. If you pass the data on as a dataset rather than as a finished map, OpenStreetMap additionally requires you to observe the ODbL. This overview describes common practice and is not legal advice. Read on - [Create a location map](https://schwarzplan.eu/en/create-location-map/) - [City map as a vector file](https://schwarzplan.eu/en/city-map-vector-file/) - [Free geodata](https://schwarzplan.eu/en/geodata/) - [Licence and copyright](https://schwarzplan.eu/en/licence-copyright/) Shortcut ## Start at step four Steps two and three – fetching, loading, clipping the data – are the dull ones. A ready-made vector plan brings them along: streets, buildings, water, green and rail on separate layers, true to scale and already cropped. You still do the design yourself, and that is the part worth doing. 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Deutschland 10 € ](https://schwarzplan.eu/lageplan-osnabrueck/) [ Paderborn Deutschland 10 € ](https://schwarzplan.eu/lageplan-paderborn/) [ Palermo Italien 10 € ](https://schwarzplan.eu/lageplan-palermo/) [ Pardubitz Tschechien 10 € ](https://schwarzplan.eu/schwarzplan-lageplan-pardubitz/) [ Paris Frankreich 15 € ](https://schwarzplan.eu/lageplan-paris/) [ Passau Deutschland 10 € ](https://schwarzplan.eu/lageplan-passau/) [ Pfaffenhofen an der Ilm Deutschland 10 € ](https://schwarzplan.eu/lageplan-pfaffenhofen-an-der-ilm/) [ Pforzheim – Singen – Remchingen Deutschland 10 € ](https://schwarzplan.eu/lageplan-pforzheim-singen-remchingen/) [ Posen Polen 10 € ](https://schwarzplan.eu/schwarzplan-lageplan-posen/) [ Potsdam Deutschland 15 € ](https://schwarzplan.eu/lageplan-potsdam/) [ Prag Tschechien 10 € ](https://schwarzplan.eu/lageplan-prag/) [ Radolfzell Deutschland 10 € ](https://schwarzplan.eu/lageplan-radolfzell-bodensee/) [ Ravensburg Deutschland 10 € ](https://schwarzplan.eu/lageplan-ravensburg/) [ Regensburg Deutschland 10 € ](https://schwarzplan.eu/lageplan-regensburg/) [ Reichenberg Tschechien 10 € ](https://schwarzplan.eu/schwarzplan-lageplan-reichenberg/) [ Reykjavik Island 0 € ](https://schwarzplan.eu/lageplan-reykjavik/) [ Riga Lettland 0 € ](https://schwarzplan.eu/lageplan-riga/) [ Rom Italien 0 € ](https://schwarzplan.eu/lageplan-rom/) [ Rosenheim Deutschland 10 € ](https://schwarzplan.eu/lageplan-rosenheim/) [ Rostock Deutschland 10 € ](https://schwarzplan.eu/lageplan-rostock/) [ Rotterdam Niederlande 10 € ](https://schwarzplan.eu/lageplan-rotterdam/) [ Rudolstadt – Saalfeld – Bad Blankenburg Deutschland 10 € ](https://schwarzplan.eu/lageplan-rudolstadt-saalfeld-bad-blankenburg/) [ Saalfelden a. st. Meer Österreich 10 € ](https://schwarzplan.eu/schwarzplan-lageplan-saalfelden/) [ Saarbrücken Deutschland 10 € ](https://schwarzplan.eu/lageplan-saarbruecken/) [ Saint Tropez, Sainte Maxime Frankreich 10 € ](https://schwarzplan.eu/lageplan-saint-tropez-sainte-maxime/) [ Salmünster – Bad Soden Deutschland 10 € ](https://schwarzplan.eu/lageplan-salmuenster-bad-soden/) [ Salzburg Österreich 10 € ](https://schwarzplan.eu/lageplan-salzburg/) [ San Francisco USA 0 € ](https://schwarzplan.eu/lageplan-san-francisco/) [ Sankt Petersburg Russland 10 € ](https://schwarzplan.eu/lageplan-schwarzplan-sankt-petersburg/) [ Sarajevo Bosnien und Herzegowina 0 € ](https://schwarzplan.eu/lageplan-schwarzplan-sarajevo/) [ Schleswig Eckernförde Rendsburg Deutschland 15 € ](https://schwarzplan.eu/lageplan-schleswig-eckernfoerde-rendsburg/) [ Schwerin Deutschland 10 € ](https://schwarzplan.eu/lageplan-schwerin/) [ Seattle USA 0 € ](https://schwarzplan.eu/lageplan-seattle/) [ Siegen Olpe Deutschland 10 € ](https://schwarzplan.eu/lageplan-siegen-olpe/) [ Sindelfingen – Böblingen Deutschland 10 € ](https://schwarzplan.eu/lageplan-sindelfingen-boeblingen/) [ Singapur Singapur 0 € ](https://schwarzplan.eu/lageplan-singapur/) [ Sofia Bulgarien 0 € ](https://schwarzplan.eu/lageplan-sofia/) [ Sonthofen Immenstadt Oberstdorf Deutschland 10 € ](https://schwarzplan.eu/lageplan-sonthofen-immenstadt-oberstdorf/) [ Split Kroatien 10 € ](https://schwarzplan.eu/lageplan-split-kroatien/) [ St. Gallen Schweiz 10 € ](https://schwarzplan.eu/lageplan-st-gallen/) [ St. Peter-Ording Deutschland 10 € ](https://schwarzplan.eu/lageplan-st-peter-ording/) [ St. Poelten Österreich 10 € ](https://schwarzplan.eu/lageplan-st-poelten/) [ Starnberg Deutschland 10 € ](https://schwarzplan.eu/lageplan-starnberg/) [ Stettin Polen 10 € ](https://schwarzplan.eu/lageplan-stettin/) [ Stockholm Schweden 10 € ](https://schwarzplan.eu/lageplan-stockholm/) [ Straßburg – Offenburg Frankreich 10 € ](https://schwarzplan.eu/lageplan-strassburg-offenburg/) [ Stuttgart Deutschland 10 € ](https://schwarzplan.eu/lageplan-stuttgart/) [ Sursee Schweiz 10 € ](https://schwarzplan.eu/lageplan-sursee/) [ Sylt Deutschland 10 € ](https://schwarzplan.eu/lageplan-sylt/) [ São Paulo Brasilien 0 € ](https://schwarzplan.eu/lageplan-sao-paulo/) [ Tallinn Estland 10 € ](https://schwarzplan.eu/lageplan-tallin/) [ Tampere Finnland 10 € ](https://schwarzplan.eu/lageplan-tampere/) [ Targu Mures Rumänien 10 € ](https://schwarzplan.eu/lageplan-targu-mures/) [ Tegernsee Deutschland 10 € ](https://schwarzplan.eu/lageplan-tegernsee/) [ Tel Aviv Israel 10 € ](https://schwarzplan.eu/lageplan-tel-aviv/) [ Thun – Spiez Schweiz 10 € ](https://schwarzplan.eu/schwarzplan-lageplan-thun-spiez/) [ Tokio Japan 0 € ](https://schwarzplan.eu/lageplan-tokio/) [ Toulouse Frankreich 10 € ](https://schwarzplan.eu/lageplan-toulouse/) [ Trier Deutschland 10 € ](https://schwarzplan.eu/lageplan-trier/) [ Trondheim Norwegen 10 € ](https://schwarzplan.eu/schwarzplan-lageplan-trondheim/) [ Tübingen – Reutlingen Deutschland 10 € ](https://schwarzplan.eu/lageplan-schwarzplan-tuebingen-reutlingen/) [ Ulm Deutschland 10 € ](https://schwarzplan.eu/lageplan-ulm/) [ Utrecht Niederlande 10 € ](https://schwarzplan.eu/lageplan-schwarzplan-utrecht/) [ Valencia Zentrum Spanien 0 € ](https://schwarzplan.eu/lageplan-valencia/) [ Vancouver Kanada 0 € ](https://schwarzplan.eu/lageplan-vancouver/) [ Venedig Italien 0 € ](https://schwarzplan.eu/lageplan-venedig/) [ Venlo Niederlande 10 € ](https://schwarzplan.eu/lageplan-venlo/) [ Verona Italien 0 € ](https://schwarzplan.eu/lageplan-verona/) [ Villach Österreich 10 € ](https://schwarzplan.eu/lageplan-schwarzplan-villach/) [ Villingen-Schwenningen Deutschland 10 € ](https://schwarzplan.eu/lageplan-villingen-schwenningen/) [ Vilnius Litauen 10 € ](https://schwarzplan.eu/schwarzplan-lageplan-vilnius/) [ Warschau Polen 15 € ](https://schwarzplan.eu/lageplan-warschau/) [ Washington D.C. USA 0 € ](https://schwarzplan.eu/lageplan-schwarzplan-washington-d-c/) [ Weimar Deutschland 10 € ](https://schwarzplan.eu/lageplan-weimar/) [ Wernigerode Deutschland 10 € ](https://schwarzplan.eu/schwarzplan-lageplan-wernigerode/) [ Wien Österreich 10 € ](https://schwarzplan.eu/lageplan-wien/) [ Wismar Deutschland 10 € ](https://schwarzplan.eu/lageplan-wismar/) [ Wittmund – Jever Deutschland 10 € ](https://schwarzplan.eu/lageplan-wittmund-jever/) [ Wolfsburg Deutschland 0 € ](https://schwarzplan.eu/lageplan-wolfsburg/) [ Wolnzach Deutschland 10 € ](https://schwarzplan.eu/lageplan-wolnzach/) [ Worms Deutschland 10 € ](https://schwarzplan.eu/lageplan-worms/) [ Wuppertal – Solingen – Remscheid Deutschland 10 € ](https://schwarzplan.eu/lageplan-solingen-remscheid-wuppertal/) [ Würzburg Deutschland 10 € ](https://schwarzplan.eu/lageplan-wuerzburg/) [ Zagreb Kroatien 0 € ](https://schwarzplan.eu/lageplan-zagreb/) [ Zakopane Polen 10 € ](https://schwarzplan.eu/lageplan-zakopane/) [ Zlín Tschechien 10 € ](https://schwarzplan.eu/schwarzplan-lageplan-zlin/) [ Zug Schweiz 15 € ](https://schwarzplan.eu/lageplan-zug/) [ Zürich Winterthur Schweiz 15 € ](https://schwarzplan.eu/lageplan-zuerich-winterthur/) [ To the full shop → ](https://schwarzplan.eu/en/site-plan-figure-ground-plan-shop/) [ Which file format? ](https://schwarzplan.eu/en/city-map-vector-file/) FAQ ## Creating a city map – questions and answers ### How do I create a city map? In six steps: decide the extent and purpose, get geodata from OpenStreetMap, load it into QGIS and clip it, grade the streets by importance, label and leave out, then export as a vector PDF with a scale bar and attribution. To skip the data work, take a ready-made vector plan as the base and start at step four. ### Can I create a city map for free? Yes. OpenStreetMap data and QGIS are free, and together they are enough for a full city map. What it costs is time: several hours is realistic for your first one, most of it on design and labelling rather than on the data. ### Which software do I need for a city map? QGIS for the data work – free and built for exactly this. For the fine design most people then move on to Illustrator, Affinity Designer or Inkscape. Starting from a ready-made vector base lets you skip the data stage and work straight in the graphics program. ### May I use a city map I made myself commercially? Based on OpenStreetMap, yes, commercially too – attribution “© OpenStreetMap contributors” is required. What is not permitted is using a screenshot from Google Maps or another map service as the base: their terms allow embedding the map, not freely reusing an extent. ### What is the difference between a city map and a figure-ground plan? A city map is made to be read: streets are graded by importance, the names that matter are shown, colour separates water from green. A figure-ground plan (Schwarzplan) shows only the buildings as black areas on white and serves urban analysis – it is meant to show built structure, not the way. ### At what scale is a city map made? For a city-centre extent 1:5000 to 1:10000 is usual; for a whole urban area 1:20000 to 1:50000. What matters is not the number but the relation between output size and reading distance: a poster takes more extent than a brochure page.