pinching OS maps off the internet

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pinching OS maps off the internet

43 posts & 26 voices | Started 3 years ago by pantsonfire | Latest reply from simonfbarnes

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pantsonfire - Member

I have come across a couple of sites on the web that have OS maps in 1:25000 which you can print off but they only give you a small area for free.

Is it possible to copy and paste these small fragments of map and join them up to build up a route map.

I know its naughty but I want to do some rides in different areas and the cost of buying 1:25000 maps I might only use once is eye watering. Has anyone done this is it easy for a computer numpty like me and do I have to buy Photoshop or something similar.

Posted 3 years ago #
Stoner - Member

Ive done it before but it gets tiresome.

Some whizz did an automated online site that did it but OS tore him a new rsole and he took the site down.

Quo by Mapyx is pretty inexpensive.

Posted 3 years ago #
simonfbarnes - Member

how can it be pinching if you've already paid for a paper map ? I don't think I'd ever ride anywhere without having the relevant map

Posted 3 years ago #
Stoner - Member

how can it be pinching if you've already paid for a paper map ?

because the OS make an explcit distinction between the use of paper maps and digital mapping data

http://www.freeourdata.org.uk/blog/?p=147

Posted 3 years ago #
clubber - Member

I've done it in the past - built up one big image of my local area from the free online OS maps and then loaded it to my phone so that I can use it on the odd occassion that it's helpful (I know my local area pretty well so it's more for finding an escape route back when something's gone wrong)

Posted 3 years ago #
aracer - Member

It is possible to automate the process

Quo by Mapyx is pretty inexpensive.

Not exactly the word I'd use for 1:25k mapping even from there!

From what I can work out, creating maps like this for personal use isn't even naughty - it's only if you try publishing / reselling / distributing that you get into problems. The data is after all in the public domain, and is perfectly legal to download - I don't think they can tell you what you are allowed to do with legal data after you've downloaded it to your computer.

Posted 3 years ago #
zokes - Member

Copy and paste from getamap into excel cells?

Posted 3 years ago #
Stoner - Member

no-one suggesting it is naughty Chris.

providing an automated service proabbly is though, but dont let that stop you (just mail me the link eh? )

Posted 3 years ago #
aracer - Member

providing an automated service proabbly is though

Indeed - I suspect posting a link to software on here might be slightly dodgy as well (as I'd be publishing), though happy to e-mail.

Copy and paste from getamap into excel cells?

Have you tried copying and pasting from Getamap (if not I recommend having a go to see what happens!)? Though in any case we're mostly talking here about using Streetmap now (you can copy and paste from that, though that's not the point - you can also grab images from Getamap if you know what you're doing), since the resolution is twice as good as with Getamap.

Posted 3 years ago #
molgrips - Member

I downloaded and printed off a whole Polaris area from streetmap.co.uk once, cos I was overseas and wanted to study the map before the event. Took flippin ages tho and there were three of us working on it.

Posted 3 years ago #
buzz-lightyear - Member

Got two friends who have written software for systematically scraping large numbers of tiles from the old multimap website and assembling them into large maps. But they changed the system since then.

From streetmap [url]:

http://www.streetmap.co.uk/img.srf?image=ST54NE31.gif&loc2=d4&type=O25&road=Y

You can see there is an addressing system (OSGB Grid?) that corresponds to maptiles, so it's possible to lift them automatically and assemble afterwards.

Posted 3 years ago #
aracer - Member

Got two friends who have written software for systematically scraping large numbers of tiles from the old multimap website and assembling them into large maps. But they changed the system since then.

ISTR thinking the previous system was more difficult - in any case it's fairly straightforward with their current db - if a bit of a pain regarding addressing since not only is their 1:25k grid based on lat/long, it's also non-linear! Fortunately Streetmap has now entered the fray, and things become far more straightforward, and my Multimap ripping project lays abandoned...

From streetmap [url]:

If you've missed the previous discussion, have you tried selecting different map tiles by editing the URL? Have a go and see if you can work out where the difficulty is

Posted 3 years ago #
david_r - Member

I think the OS have a problem with their printing.

I ordered a map of Thetford forest the other week and all of the contour lines were missing! How crap is that?

Posted 3 years ago #
Stoner - Member

ha! you should see the scottish maps. None of the bridleways are marked!

Posted 3 years ago #
aracer - Member

I tried sd345678 "http://getamap.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/getamap/frames.htm?mapAction=gaz&gazName=g&gazString=sd345678" as a test location, and thought they'd lost all the data until I zoomed out and found where I actually was!

Edit: better make that non-clicky too!

Posted 3 years ago #
Stoner - Member

I can see a cockle from here!

Posted 3 years ago #
mudslinger - Member

I've recently done this & it is a bit painful. On streetmap there is an option to increase the map size so you get a grid of 6x6 tiles. That makes it a bit more bearable!

Posted 3 years ago #
allyharp - Member

I've got plenty of maps I've build in the past from copying/pasting and joining up all the lines. Takes a while but once you get used to it it's actually not that slow.

What I want to know is what's the best way to print them?

Printing from Windows I only seem to be able to print either the whole lot in high res which spreads over about 12 pages, or shrink the whole thing onto 1 page which is so small you can't see. I'd like something in between.

And before anyone says, I'm happy to buy maps of my local area but can't really afford 8 quid for those which I'll use just once.

Posted 3 years ago #
druidh - Member

Use something like Paint to crop the image to the area you want and then print it?

Posted 3 years ago #
allyharp - Member

Paint is terrible for showing you how it's actually going to print though. Can you even get a print preview?

The problem is that too many image programs won't show you the page boundaries so you've got no idea where it'll spill over.

Posted 3 years ago #
Brother_Will - Member

Does nobody else here think OS provide an invaluable service?

Posted 3 years ago #
druidh - Member

Brother_Will - Member

Does nobody else here think OS provide an invaluable service?

I think they do. UK OS maps are amongst the very best in the world. But they're a government agency so one should expect some financial benefit of being a taxpayer

Posted 3 years ago #
druidh - Member

allyharp - Member

Paint is terrible for showing you how it's actually going to print though. Can you even get a print preview?

The problem is that too many image programs won't show you the page boundaries so you've got no idea where it'll spill over.

The "proper" mapping programs have all of this down pat of course. That's what you're partly paying for - ease of use and program development.

Posted 3 years ago #
scaredypants - Member

soooo,

If I were to get a map image (bmp/jpg - say by scanning (or whatever ), what could I do with it then ?

I have a pocket pc thingy with a decent size screen that'll link to a bluetooth GPS wotsit. Is there a way of making it "see" the map properly ??

Posted 3 years ago #
TomB - Member

Don't want to fork out for a map? Libraries let you borrow them for nothing, and will order any they don't have in. Not so high tech, though....

Posted 3 years ago #
Ewan - Member

Having looked into it briefly (just now), it would appear that streetmap offer the best quality images, but store their images as a smaller gifs (one 1:25000 map square) which they then tile to make up the whole view. Annoyingly they appear to check the http referer (where the request has come from) so if you just pop in the address of the gif, say (http://www.streetmap.co.uk/img.srf?d=y&image=TQ05NW09.gif&road=Y&loc2=b6&type=O25) it won't work. I think, I can't test it because it now thinks i'm ok to test that grid square (can't be bothered to do a proxy).

It's much easier to nick them off multimap, not least because in the multimap developers bit they pretty much tell you how to do it. You can also make the squares much bigger (1000x1000) so you have to download less squares. Images are lower quality tho, and skewed)

The quickest way to do it (assuming you want the whole country) would be write an autohotkey (http://www.autohotkey.com/) script to download each grid square (incrementing by 1) and then to use imagemagiks command line to stich them all together.

Posted 3 years ago #
pantsonfire - Member

TomB - Member

Don't want to fork out for a map? Libraries let you borrow them for nothing, and will order any they don't have in. Not so high tech, though....

I have tried that my local library has about 4 maps and will only get a map in if you pay its £1 if another library in the borough has a copy. If they dont have a copy in the borough you can put in a request for a map but its £3 and it can take months before they get it in.

Posted 3 years ago #
joe1983 - Member

I have all the OS mapping. Mail in profile

Posted 3 years ago #
thats_not_my_name - Member

Quo by Mapyx is pretty inexpensive.

Not exactly the word I'd use for 1:25k mapping even from there!

What, a 10km x 10km OS 25k tile at £1.95 from Quo is expensive?

Posted 3 years ago #
Tracker1972 - Member

Love looking at maps and planning trips (the vast majority of which never see the light of day) but a huge amount of OS mapping rather than Google Earth would be great to browse.

Posted 3 years ago #
aracer - Member

What, a 10km x 10km OS 25k tile at £1.95 from Quo is expensive?

Yes! That still makes the typical area of a paper map £11.70, so almost twice the price of the paper one, or ~£5000 for the whole country.

Ewan - the streetmap squares seem to come across fine if you select individual ones. How did you get the idea they didn't? Quicker than your suggestion would of course be to write a bit of software which automatically downloads squares and stitches them together...

Thanks for the tip about Multimap developers bit - didn't realise that existed, and it would have been very useful for the month or so I spent playing with Multimap 1:25k data before the better stuff appeared on Streetmap!

Posted 3 years ago #
allyharp - Member

I use print screen then select the area to copy in GIMP.

Then using the paste into command you can paste every new screen shot and the exact area of the map will be selected, so just copy it, and paste into your other file matching the grid lines. Simple!

Posted 3 years ago #
crotchrocket - Member

you could just find the Torrent or emule for memory map Ver.4 (and key gen) then DL the entire UK as a series of image and data files. you can get most of the UK as a 1:50K scale & the best bits as 1:25K.
I think the total is about 5gb, but you can pick out the bits you need for 350Mb per 'area'.
Personally: I bought it, then found about the DL options afterward. Obviously this is totally illegal to 'share' the software, but you takes your choice....

Posted 3 years ago #
HTTP404 - Member

Ive done it before but it gets tiresome

I think you can use a panarama photo stitching software to do it pretty easily for you.

Posted 3 years ago #
sqwheeler - Member

If I were to get a map image (bmp/jpg - say by scanning (or whatever [:wink:] ), what could I do with it then ? I have a pocket pc thingy with a decent size screen that'll link to a bluetooth GPS wotsit. Is there a way of making it "see" the map properly ??

scaredypants - you could import the image to a nice bit of free GIS software - mapwindow - then georeference it using known locations (basically you click on points on the image and tell it the grid ref for each). Then you have a georeferenced image. Whether or not that'll work with your thingy and wotsit, I dunno.

Posted 3 years ago #

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