Raster sheets, generally historical, are stitched into continuous layers. The layers are geolocated for display alongside Google Maps, Bing, Mapbox, Stamen and the like. Sheets making up the mosaic may be decollared and reprojected to fit.
Current vector layers are available from many other sources. We provide links to them, and may add our own layers in future.
200,000 individual sheets are already available online, not all of which are included in layers. Multiple editions of the same map may be available for comparison. All retain their collars, but many remain to be geo-located and reprojected.
OpenTiles provides search tools to locate maps of interest, and we hope to add a public API shortly.
OpenLayers and Leaflet are two open-source Javascript viewers with active communities. We showcase the OpenTiles service using them, and encourage contributors to add exciting alternative options to the OpenTiles platform.
Portsmouth, Ryde and The Solent. Soviet Genshtab 1:50,000
Interest people with your insightful articles based on what you discover. We can publish them, or link to them.
Improve quality by reviewing and challenging the geolocation of sheets and mapping area. Our algorithms for detecting corners are approx 98.5% accurate, not 100%.
Extend the service by contributing maps.
Improve user access by writing or extending the viewers.
It's easy to include maps hosted by OpenTiles in your own online projects.
Tiled maps are fast to display and don't use your bandwidth. Follow the How-To guides on this site.
Liege, Belgium. 1940 German map 1:100,000
Breslau. Allied map of German railways
OpenTiles is primarly a mapping project, rather than a pure software project.
It is built entirely using open-source software and we are happy to explain how it works. There is always room for improvement, and open-source capabilities continue to expand. You are welcome to contribute enhancements.
OpenTiles exists to facilitate discovery from using historical maps.
We can publish your findings, link to your external site and encourage constructive discussion.
Upper Silesia (now Poland). More about 1921 plebicite
It's early days for the project. Let's hope we can add some more names soon!
