Let OSM Work for You
- Anesadora Hightower
- Mar 10
- 3 min read
From disaster response to wheelchair accessibility, OpenStreetMap can be utilized for a variety of use cases. As an active YouthMapper and all-around busy individual, I am all about making life easier for myself and others. Whenever I learn a new tip or trick, my first thought is: who do I know who would benefit from this too? With that in mind, I compiled a few tips and tricks I use when mapping on the OSM web platform.
Here are a few tips to help OSM work for you, your projects, and your chapter.
Background Settings
You may be familiar with adjusting imagery offset; however, the Background Settings menu also includes adjustments for brightness, contrast, saturation, and sharpness. This is a particularly useful panel when available imagery is unclear or grainy. As a bonus, it can help reduce eye strain.
Adjusting Display Options:
After loading OSM, open the Background Settings panel by either tapping B on your keyboard or hovering your mouse over the navigation panel until you see Background Settings.
Next, scroll past the Background and Overlay options. You can also minimize the Background and Overlay menus by clicking on the heading.
Under Display Options, there are adjustable settings for brightness, contrast, saturation, and sharpness, which can be adjusted by clicking or sliding the button.
Adjust the Display Options to what best suits your needs. If necessary, there is a "return to original settings" button to the right of each setting..
And that is how to adjust Display Options! You can use this as frequently or infrequently as needed.
Practice Where You Know
If you are new to OSM or just want to practice, why not start with somewhere you know? Maybe a new store has opened down the block, or a new sidewalk was paved. Mapping somewhere you know, especially if the area is under-mapped, is a great way to practice because it reduces uncertainty.
Places you may know:
Your neighborhood
Around your university
Around your place of work
What to map where you know:
Structures
Pedestrian paths
Bike paths
Points of interest
Trees
Ongoing Construction
If the area where you know is already mapped, take a look at other mappers' work. Seeing how others map can help you become a better mapper.
Keyboard Shortcuts
Keyboard shortcuts are a great way to increase speed without sacrificing accuracy. The shortcuts can even be programmed into a multi-button mouse. By using keyboard shortcuts, you can spend more time mapping and less time clicking.
B – Opens Background Settings, which includes Display Options and Imagery Offset
Q – Square area
O – Round area
E – Extract point from an area
M – Move
R – Rotate
1 – Point
2 –Line
3 – Area
Control or Command + C – Copy
Control or Command + V - Paste
Control or Command + Z – Remove the last node
A full list of iD editor keyboard shortcuts can be found here.
Conclusion
Practicing where you know, using keyboard shortcuts, and adjusting display settings are a few ways to help OpenStreetMap work for you, your projects, and your chapter.
How do you help OSM work for you?
About the Author
Anesadora Hightower is a History and Anthropology double major at Arizona State University and the President of YouthMappers at A.S.U.
Comments