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wtf is maptoposter?

originalankur/maptoposter — explained in plain English

Analysis updated 2026-06-24

13,144PythonAudience · generalComplexity · 2/5Setup · easy

TL;DR

A Python command-line script that generates printable minimalist map posters of any city in the world using OpenStreetMap data, with multiple color themes and support for non-Latin scripts.

Mindmap

mindmap
  root((repo))
    What It Does
      City map poster
      Printable PNG output
      Color themes
      Non-Latin scripts
    Inputs
      City and country name
      Theme selection
      Map radius
      Output size in inches
    Data Sources
      OpenStreetMap
      Google Fonts
    Output Formats
      Print A4
      Instagram post
      4K wallpaper
      Mobile wallpaper

Code map

Detail Auto

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filefunction / class

Why would anyone build with this?

REASON 1

Generate a printable street map poster of any city in a chosen visual theme such as midnight blue, neon cyberpunk, or japanese ink.

REASON 2

Create a 4K wallpaper or Instagram-sized map image of your city with the correct resolution for each format.

REASON 3

Produce a map poster with the city name displayed in Japanese, Arabic, Korean, or another non-Latin script using Google Fonts.

REASON 4

Generate one poster per color theme in a single command to compare all visual styles side by side.

What's in the stack?

PythonOpenStreetMapGoogle Fonts

How it stacks up

originalankur/maptoposterdbcli/pgclihunxbyts/ghosttrack
Stars13,14413,15713,158
LanguagePythonPythonPython
Setup difficultyeasyeasyeasy
Complexity2/52/52/5
Audiencegeneraldeveloperops devops

Figures from each repo's GitHub metadata at analysis time.

How do you spin it up?

Difficulty · easy Time to first run · 5min

Recommended to run via uv so dependencies are handled automatically without a manual virtual environment.

Wtf does this do

MapToPoster is a Python script that generates minimalist map posters of any city in the world. You give it a city name and country, and it downloads street map data from OpenStreetMap and turns it into a printable poster image that you export as a PNG file. You run it from the command line. The basic command takes a city and country, and the script handles everything else: fetching the map data, rendering the streets and roads, adding a label with the city name, and saving the result. You can also fine-tune several settings, including the radius of the map area around the city center, the size of the output image in inches, and the visual theme. The themes are where the visual variety comes from. The repo includes named color schemes such as sunset, midnight blue, neon cyberpunk, japanese ink, terracotta, blueprint, forest, and others. Each one applies a different palette to the background, roads, and text. You can list all available themes with a flag, or generate one poster per theme in a single run to compare them. The script supports non-Latin scripts through Google Fonts. If you want the city name displayed in Japanese, Arabic, Korean, Thai, or another script, you pass the display text in your language along with the Google Fonts font family name, and the font is downloaded automatically and cached locally. For sizing, the README includes a table mapping target resolutions (Instagram post, A4 print, 4K wallpaper, mobile wallpaper) to the inch values you should pass in. The recommended installation method is uv, a Python tool runner that handles dependencies automatically, so you can run the script without manually setting up a virtual environment first.

Yoink these prompts

Prompt 1
Give me the command to generate a MapToPoster street map of Tokyo, Japan using the midnight blue theme at A4 print resolution.
Prompt 2
Show me how to create a MapToPoster image of my city with the name displayed in Arabic script using an appropriate Google Font.
Prompt 3
List all available color themes in MapToPoster and generate a poster for each one of New York City in a single command.
Prompt 4
How do I adjust the map radius in MapToPoster so the poster covers a wider area around the city center?

Frequently asked questions

wtf is maptoposter?

A Python command-line script that generates printable minimalist map posters of any city in the world using OpenStreetMap data, with multiple color themes and support for non-Latin scripts.

What language is maptoposter written in?

Mainly Python. The stack also includes Python, OpenStreetMap, Google Fonts.

How hard is maptoposter to set up?

Setup difficulty is rated easy, with roughly 5min to a first successful run.

Who is maptoposter for?

Mainly general.

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