Rendering

Rendering a map from raw geodata, gives us the flexibility to style it in many different ways. OpenStreetMap's free and open geodata offers tremendous power, and a range of tools are available for rendering with OpenStreetMap

Rendering of a map is the process of making a visual image on the basis of raw geospatial data and tags. The word often applies more specifically to the production of a raster image, or a set of raster tiles, but it can refer to output in a vector-based format. "3D rendering" is also possible taking map data as an input. The ability to render maps in new and interesting styles, or highlighting features of special interest, is one of the most exciting aspects having open access to geodata. Developers in and around the OpenStreetMap community have created a wide variety of software for rendering OpenStreetMap data. The data can also be converted to other data formats for use with existing rendering software.

Rendering on OpenStreetMap servers

The most obvious examples of rendering OpenStreetMap data, are those found on the openstreetmap.org homepage. Click the layer picker button on the right to switch between layers showing different rendering styles. There are several layers created using Mapnik software including the default 'Standard' layer. To understand more about the infrastructure involved in rendering and serving these tiles' map styles, see Component overview and Mapnik Rendering.

There are limitless dimensions of flexibility involved in rendering. Most rendering software supports some kind of stylesheet for controlling things like colour, line widths, text orientation, icons for points of interest, and many very subtle visual factors.

Server and command line tools

Name	Target platforms	Target languages	License	Notes
Carto	JavaScript	N/A	Apache v2	convert CartoCSS style sheets into Mapnik's own XML styling language
Mapnik	Windows, macOS, Linux	C++, JavaScript, Python, Ruby, Java	LGPL	The most popular server-side 2D map renderer. Requires PostgreSQL and various C++ libraries. Designed to be fast and is suitable for tile generation on high-end servers but it isn't particularly easy to set up.
MapOSMatic	Cross-platform	Python	AGPLv3	Can render maps with a grid and street index. Written in Python/Django + mapnik.
Smrender	Cross-platform	C	GPLv3	a rules-based rendering engine written in C
TileServer GL	Cross-platform		BSD	Tile server for raster and vector tiles.
Map Machine	Cross-platform	Python	MIT	A simple renderer for OpenStreetMap with custom icons intended to display as many tags as possible.

Client-side GUI applications

Name	Target platforms	License	Notes
Kosmtik	Node.js	WTFPL	CartoCSS style development tool (style preview) based on Mapnik.
Maperitive	Windows, macOS, Linux	Proprietary	local file (.osm, .osm.bz2 and GPX) desktop rendering application, with rendering rules defined in a text file. Generates BMP, PNG and SVG output. Not designed for high performance rendering or huge volumes of data, but easy to set up and flexible, and a good option for one-off rendering (e.g. a map of your city). It also has a tile generator, hillshading, elevation colouring and lots of other features.
OSM2World	Java SE	LGPL	Tool that creates 3D realistic models from OSM data files
OSMBuildings	JavaSript (WebGL)	...	Tool that creates 3D models from OSM data files
OSM go	JavaScript	GPL	Tool that creates 3D simple models with selectable OSM-Objects from OSM data files
Phototiler	Linux, macOS, Windows	Proprietary	A tool to create high quality maps using photo-realistic shading and vector tile data.
TileMill	Windows, macOS, Linux	3-clause BSD	development environment for CartoCSS styles

Client-side libraries

Main article: Frameworks

Name	Target platforms	Target languages	License	Notes
CartoType	Windows, iOS, Android, macOS, Unix, Web Assembly	C++, C#, Java, Swift, Objective C	Proprietary	Rendering and routing library. Uses OpenGL ES hardware acceleration. Customizable style sheets and route profiles. Supports perspective and 3D buildings.
GLMap	iOS, Android	Objective-C, Swift, Java	Proprietary	Offline or online vector map rendered on device using OpenGL ES
libosmscout	Linux, macOS, iOS, Windows, Android, Qt	C++, Java	LGPL	Offers simple, high-level interfaces to offline rendering and routing functionalities based on OpenStreetMap data.
Mapbox Maps SDK	Android, iOS, Web	Kotlin, JavaScript, Swift	Proprietary	Displays Mapbox-hosted and offline Mapbox Vector Tiles using OpenGL ES and WebGL
Mapbox Unity SDK	Cross-platform	C#	Apache/BSD	Provides data for generating custom 3D scenes in Unity
MapLibre GL JS	Web	JavaScript	BSD	Community led fork derived from Mapbox GL JS v1.13 prior to their switch to a non-OSS license
MapLibre GL Native	Android, iOS	Java, Objective-C, Swift, Interface Builder	BSD	Community led fork derived from Mapbox GL Native 1.6.0 prior to their switch to a non-OSS license
Mapsforge	Android, Java ME	Java	LGPLv3	free and open toolbox that enables the community to easily create new OpenStreetMap-based applications. Provided tools and APIs include solutions for map rendering, route planning and navigation, POI indexing and search, map overlays and more.
MapTiler JavaScript Maps SDK	Web	JavaScript	BSD	Fork of MapLibre GL JS
Prettymaps	Cross-platform	Python	GNU AGPLv3	2D raster and vector graphics rendering using Python. Based on osmnx, matplotlib and shapely libraries.

Historical

The following renderers are no longer maintained but are of historical interest:

• AlaCarte - A tile rendering engine for Windows and Linux. No project progress since 2016. AGPL
• Hardware accelerated real-time rendering, .NET, proprietary, using graphics card to render images in real-time, instead of displaying prerendered tiles
• Kartograph – AGPL licensed Python framework to create SVG maps, officially dead since 2016
• Kartograph, LGPL, JavaScript library to display vector generated maps in any browser
• Kendzi3d – plugin for JOSM, allows viewing of edited data in 3D
• Kothic JS – JavaScript, BSD, full-featured JavaScript map rendering engine using HTML5 Canvas. It was initially developed as a JavaScript port of Kothic.
• Kothic – GPLv3 licensed, Python, a MapCSS/0.2 python rendering engine (project is dead, last activity in 2015)
• LunaRender, Windows, Lua, MIT license, XML2SVG renderer
• Mapbox GL – Originally BSD-licensed and available for Android, iOS, macOS, QT, and the Web. Superseded by MapLibre (open-source) and Mapbox Maps SDK (proprietary).
• Mapweaver - Successor of mapgen.pl Perl rendering, OSM to SVG and with Inkscape to PNG or PDF, automatic map key. Supports street and POI lists, grids and coordinate overlays. Automatic extraction of desired place out of OSM file. Not running under Windows.
• MapSurfer.NET - proprietary, .NET, framework for map styling and publishing (rendering, caching) geospatial data to the web
• Memphis – a map-rendering application and a library for OpenStreetMap written in C using eXpat, Cairo and GLib. It's licensed under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License.
• Osmarender - XSLTs which does OSM XML to SVG transformation. tiles@home was a project which uses Osmarender to create a tile set for serving a map layer alongside Mapnik's, but Osmarender can also be a good option for doing one-off renderings. SVG format allows you to do post-processing tidy up tweaks (see other options below). It was withdrawn from the main map at osm.org on 1th March 2012.
• osmbrowser – can load large areas of OSM data and render them in vector graphics.
• osmrender.pl - simple maps easily drawn with a Perl program. Uses *.osm as input.
• XNavigator, Java SE, GPLv2, 3D renderer, last release in 2012 according to OSM wiki page
• Osm2pov - Tool for creating isometric maps from OSM data
• Pyrender – a collection of ideas, and some code in Python for various rendering server steps
• Tangram – 2D and 3D map renderer using WebGL by Mapzen
• Tangram ES – 2D and 3D map renderer using OpenGL ES by Mapzen
• TileSweep – a tile server for Mapnik
• V^TM – cross-platform vector tile renderer developed by the OpenScienceMap project

See also

• Creating your own tiles - Various options with quick descriptions
• List of OSM based Services - mainly a list of different map renderings
• Category:Renderers - wiki category for pages about renderers
• 3D Development
• OSM on Paper
• GPS tracks#Rendering