Zoomstack vector tiles
Last updated
Last updated
A vector tile represents a specific area of the earth’s surface and contains geographic information about the coverage area. Each tile can contain many layers of features such as buildings, roads, rivers, greenspaces, etc. They are packets of geographic data, packaged into tiles for transfer over the web. The information they contain can be used to deliver styled web maps to the end-user.
OS supplies data in the Mapbox Vector Tile Specification, packed in a single MBTiles file (which is based on the SQLite database).
Vector tiles offer users the following benefits:
Styling - customise your map with full and dynamic design control.
File size - lightweight tiles that are efficient and super-fast to render in the client.
Pixel perfect - high resolution, beautiful mapping for all devices.
Open standard - created under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 US License.
Smooth - an improved, seamless user experience when zooming in and out of maps.
Advanced features - Vector Tiles contain actual geographic data (not just images) which can be interrogated and analysed.
Offline maps - store the tiles locally to take your maps offline.
With Zoomstack vector tiles you get one single MBTiles file that is around 3GB in size. It is light enough to be fast on the web and suitable for offline use. OS has pre-selected the right content for each zoom level and supply stylesheets to give you a great starting point. This can save a considerable amount of time and effort.
The instructions that follow are for installing Zoomstack Vector Tiles in Mapbox Studio, Cadcorp SIS Desktop, and QGIS. Please refer to the relevant section based on the GIS software you’re using. Note that the GIS software packages above were used for demonstrative purposes in this guide and that many other GIS software applications can be used with the Zoomstack product.
There are many choices for hosting and serving your own Vector Tiles. Here is a list of the available options for Vector Tiles and some more here relating specifically to MBTiles.
If you want to export the MBTiles file to a directory of files, then you can use Tippecanoe or MBUtil.
It is possible to use OS styles on Vector Tiles you’ve created. Follow the steps below to do this.
You will need to download the folder of stylesheets. You can also view the stylesheets on GitHub.
Once you’ve downloaded and unzipped the folder of stylesheets, navigate to Vector Tiles → Mapbox GL Styles where you will find four styles.
Choose the style that you want to use and open the .json file (e.g. OS Outdoor.json) in a text editor.
Find this chunk of code near the top of the file and paste your data source where it says ADD-SOURCE- URL-HERE:
You can find more information on the different source types here.
Save the .json file.
This style is now ready to use. If you want to customise the style, then Maputnik is a good open source map editor for this job.
Click on the Upload button.