Which way to download and style osm data?

Help and support
1

since i like to play with maps, i would like to create a map with my own style. similar to the new tracetrack topo style, but with some individual styling. i would like to use my finished maps offline (qgis/qfield). i would like to create them with a lot of detail (e.g. benches and signs) and also for larger areas.

apps like pocket earth or organic maps don’t appeal to me because some features are often not displayed. i want to have full control here. which is the “easiest” way for an osm beginner? i only have some experience with qgis so far, but all the options and formats are overwhelming at the moment. i have found two ways so far:

Way 1 Openmaptiles and Maputnik

  1. download the osm data as vector tiles from openmaptiles
  2. download predefined style from openmaptiles as .json
  3. configure your own style based on 2. in maputnik

Disadvantages:

-OSM data from openmaptiles is old. I could theoretically install openmaptiles on linux and create current extracts?

-The predefined style has no icons

Way 2 Mapbox

  1. import the OSM data as shp from geofabrik
  2. customize the style in the online editor
  3. download the style as .json and use it in qgis

Disadvantages:

-upload data only up to 300 mb
-no icons here either

Do you have any tips for me in which direction I should look? it’s all a bit overwhelming to start with.

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If you want to create your own vector tiles, Tilemaker may be an option for you. There are various example configs for it, including OpenMapTiles. The documentation is significantly more “followable” than most other projects in this area.

You’re not limited to the OpenMapTiles schema, and may find that in order to include the features that you want you need to choose another one, or even design your own; but that’s a decision that you can defer until you’ve got the basics working.

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i have looked at tilekin and have come to the conclusion that it is probably too complex for me to start with.

i discovered the vector tiles from pnorman and found out that i can change the style with maputnik or in qgis. i don’t have the data available offline yet, but i can familiarize myself with the material.
now i’m trying to find out if the vector tiles give me all the information i want. the attributes in qgis are very different from the usual osm (mapping) scheme and i’m missing the classification of the tracks, for example.

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