How do I use stamen maps with the static google maps api? - google-maps

I'd like to be able to use the stamen maps watercolor layer in conjunction with the static maps api from Google.
I'm hoping this is simple but I'm not sure how to implement it...
A static maps URL looks something like this:
https://maps.googleapis.com/maps/api/staticmap?center=40.714728,-73.998672&zoom=12&size=400x400&sensor=false
And the Stamen maps information is here:
http://maps.stamen.com/#watercolor
Thanks a lot for your help!

If you go to this page you'll see that you can center on an area, select the map style and the image size, and then press the "MAKE" button. This will generate a static image which you can then reference.
Stamen doesn't offer a static maps URL you can use to generate maps from a lat/lng pair, like Google does. If this is for a one-off map, you'll be fine. Otherwise, it doesn't seem like you'd be able to easily (see below) dynamically generate static map images.
P.S. If you're really really interested, you could take a look at the page's JavaScript source and see that by calling generateExportURL(), you'd get the URL to start a server-side rendering of a static watercolor map. You'd then need to poll that same URL (using (for instance) a server-side proxy, as cross-domain restrictions won't allow you to poll this page from your JavaScript source) to check when the map's "status" changes from "not_started" to "finished"... :-)

Related

Convert Google map with huge amount of data to a static using Google Static Maps

I need to convert a map built with Google Maps to a static map.
The problem is that map has an amount of data (mainly circles), and its representation has to be doing a path description of its circunference, and I need some kind of accurate, a pure circle has to be displayed in the static mode, so each circle description is about 500 chars (encoded).
The Google Static Maps url limit is 8192 and its not enough for rendering those shapes.
There is another way for doing it? I also tried to use html2canvas, but it is forbidden by Google.
Google actually recently extended the URL limit to 8192, but if you need more than that you probably need to resort to taking a screenshot of a Google Maps JavaScript API map, as suggested by xomena.
A tool like PhantomJS [1] can help you write a script to automatically take a screenshot of a webpage (which you've drawn using the Google Maps JavaScript API).
[1] https://github.com/ariya/phantomjs/wiki/Screen-Capture
I have a small example that uses PhantomJS to take a screenshot of the page.
Here's the JavaScript Map with some information: http://jsbin.com/pevizusana/2/edit
Here's the PhantomJS code that will take a screenshot on this site: http://pastebin.com/gEXhG1dP
And here's the result: http://i.imgur.com/Mj951aP.jpg
I hope you find this information helpful.
I'm the author of osm-static-maps, It's an open source project that you can use as a cli or js library or self-hosted http server. It mimics google static maps and you can pass any amount of data to the map as a geojson.
See the project here for more instructions https://github.com/jperelli/osm-static-maps

Query existing, public Google Map via the Google Maps API v3

I am trying to embed an existing, public Google Map into a website. Specifically this one:
http://goo.gl/maps/cHf2
Of course I could use the iframe embed to achieve this, but I would like a little more control over the map … I imagined being able to pull all the markers from the map and display them as an index next to the map. Kind of like Google already does, but embedded in my page with my own styles and images.
I have been digging through Google, Stack Overflow and the API instructions and couldn’t find any relevant posts. In the GET string of the map on Google we can see this chunk:
&msid=212828439842926497866.0004bfae4da003d8ffd1f&mid=1341413217
I thought in there might be a maps ID and I could use it to query the content of the map through the API? The intention is using Google Maps as a CMS for less technical minded people and not dealing with geo data in our own CMS.
Any help would be greatly appreciated. Maybe I am just missing the forest for the trees.
You can download the kml that specifies the markers in that page and display that on your API based map. This example defaults to displaying it using geoxml3, but you can hide that and display the KmlLayer version.
You should be able to just point KmlLayer to the link (I downloaded the kml and put it on my server so it would work with geoxml3).
Here is an example (taken directly from the documentation) that does that
here is the original

Max url length with Google Maps static image

I need to create a static image of google map with several markers, and each marker has a custom icon.
In the Api DOC there is the note: Static Map URLs are restricted to 2048 characters in size. In practice, you will probably not have need for URLs longer than this, unless you produce complicated maps with a high number of markers and paths.
The url is very long.... There is the position for each marker and the URL for the custom icon for each one.
I've already tried with POST request ma it is not supported.
There is another way to create a static map image without max length limitation?
A possible way might be this, but i don't know if is it possible: I've create my custom map using the function in GMaps, and i have added all the markers i need.
There is a way to access in static way to this particular map? so in the url i have to give only the center of the map and other parameters (zoom, ...), but all the markers are already positioned.
Or... another idea... Can i submit the URL of a KML with all markers positioned instead each single marker position+icon url?
FYI, Google recently updated the limit to 8192.
Have you tried using a URL shortener for the icon urls? I believe the static map API will respect services that make URLs shorter... might save you a few characters.
You might wanna check out toopola´s API to help working with Google Static Maps, I am about to make my own attempt.
Another idea
find map area that contains all the markers
divide the map area into rectangular pieces (4 pieces for example)
create image url for each part, but include in url only markers and icons visible on map
show images
Мethod of division depends on the markers position.
Yes, you can definitely do this with the Javascript API.
I have built a few applications using that API. It can be a little tricky to get your head around, but it is pretty good. For what you want to do, it would not be too difficult. If the user has to be able to interact with the map and add pins and such, it starts to get a little more complicated because you have to capture clicks and such.
Does the map its self need to be available as a URL, or does it just need to be embedded on some page and that URL can be used?
The Javascript API will work best if you can embed the map into an existing webpage.

google maps: use directly on google server?

Usually u have to set up a little script + htmlpage on your server to run google maps,
but i was wondering - is it possible to use google maps directly?
i mean by just calling an url with parameters (gpoint coordinates, zoomfactor ..) and it loads the map fullscreen without having to use my own server?
Sounds like you might be after the static maps api. You can build a URL specifying the properties of the map like:
zoom
position
markers (including custom markers)
image size
etc
and you will get back a rendered image of the map. Something like:
Obviously this just gives you a fixed image of the map you are after. If you need a dynamic Google map, then you will need to use the Google Maps Javascript API.
Not hosted by Google. You might find some other website that uses the API to do the same thing.
Google Maps API

How could a share a Google map mashup with my own datapoints and links back to my site?

I currently have a map mashup that has locations that I'm populating from my own database. A few users would like to also show that map on their site(s). I'd like to give them the ability to do that, but would like to retain the actual functionality of the map on my own site: like add "stuff" to places on the map through my a web form on my site. I could open the entire API to allow them to create their own form along with the data points, but most of the people wanting to put up the map aren't developers, they are just enthusiasts that have put together a personal page that they want to spice up.
I was thinking I could just provide a JavaScript of some kind that they could then take to place on their site, or maybe an IFRAME of some type, or...any ideas? Anyone implemented this? TIA.
I haven't done anything like this myself, but I think your idea to utilise an iframe is on the right track. In fact, this is how Google Maps generates its embed code.
Your app will need to generate a URL with all relevant Google Map parameters such as bounds, zoom level as well as your application-specific params. Any event that triggers the map to re-draw (drag, zoom, etc.) will generate a new URL.
If you try the embed link in Google Maps as an example, it generates a URL that looks something like this:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&sll=45.434035,12.339057&sspn=0.003294,0.004812&ie=UTF8&ll=45.432724,12.338966&spn=0.006588,0.009624&t=h&z=17
This URL can then be wrapped up in an iframe which your end users can place on their web pages.
Re: resizing
Yes, it's possible to dynamically resize it if width/height is part of your application params that generates the embed code. Again using Google Maps as an example:
<iframe
src="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&sll=45.434035,12.339057&sspn=0.003294,0.004812&ie=UTF8&ll=45.432724,12.338966&spn=0.006588,0.009624&t=h&z=17&output=embed"
width="(width-param)" height="(height-param)"></iframe>
If you mean resized by user, after it's been displayed, I'm not sure.. most likely, yes.