Maps are complex, static images are simple: Using the Mapbox Static Images API for print, mobile, and location enlightenment
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Overview
Maps tell stories about a location – and static maps are the "stock photo" version of a map: a simple snapshot, complete with points and lines that direct the viewer to precise location knowledge.
How a map is distributed and consumed is as important as the cartography elements. A static map for print will need plenty of pixels for proper output. A static map for social media or messaging applications might look best as motionless, or the story could be enhanced with animation. The ultimate use case for a static map is to create an anchor to click through to your web or mobile map.
The Mapbox Static Images API can be used in applications where Javascript or an interactive maps cannot be used.
You’ll learn how to...
- Use Mapbox Studio to export high resolution images of custom map styles.
- Use the Mapbox Static Images API to create static map images from a URL.
- Use the Mapbox Static Tiles API to pull your Mapbox GL styled map into a print workflow using open source software for Geospatial such QGIS or GeoJSON.io
Examples
1. Image of a baseball field in Solano County, CA, produced using the Mapbox command line interface. The goal is to tell the story of a location through its metadata or physical dimensions:
2. Image of the Valley Fire in San Diego County, Sep 2020, created with Mapbox Styles + GeoJson.io for collaboration; text added in post processing. Stock MAKI icons, line fill and thickness done using Mapbox Simple Styling in GeoJSON.io (see it on Twitter):
3. sierraclubncg.org — Public education on the proposed Harvest Hills development near Escondido, CA. Map built for the Sierra Club, North County Group using the Mapbox Static Images API. Map was provided as a URL so that proper accounting could be done.
Rob's Projects
Static maps can be animated to give the proper affect – see The Valley Fire in San Diego County for an example of enabling "location enlightenment" to propagate widespread understanding of a piece of spatial information.
How to distribute a static map — visualizing the Harvest Hills Development in San Diego County:
- Get your attribution on to meet your obligations with Mapbox TOS: RobLabs.com/hh
Make a PDF of your Mapbox map (with attribution):
Using static maps or static tiles in other visualization tools such as GeoJSON.io & QGIS:
- twitter.com/RobChohan/status/1303726967162695680
- twitter.com/robchohan/status/1291891474779406336
- github.com/roblabs/xyz-raster-sources
Livestream Links
- Totally unrelated to static maps, an awesome tweet about Mapbox GL JS v2
- Rob's presentation
- Maki icon set (and editor)
- Our favorite maki issue ever
- geojson.io - an easy tool to create GeoJSON
- Mapbox CLI
- San Diego County Office of Emergency Services (OES) Map
- Stephen's sample static image for mobile/SMS delivery
- Code example: Improve perceived performance with a static map image