Including images in styles

Image-URL

There are different ways to reference images in styles:

Build in images

You can reference the build in images. To browse the available icons, unpack the josm-*.jar file with any program that can handle a zip-archive. The image files are located in the images subfolder. Omit the first folder in the file path (not images/presets/food/restaurant.svg, but presets/food/restaurant.svg). Example:

node[amenity=restaurant] {
    icon-image: "presets/food/restaurant.svg";
}

Local images

Provide the path of an image file on the local file system, either absolute or relative to the current .mapcss file. Example:

node[amenity=restaurant] {
    icon-image: "/home/username/osm/my-restaurant.png";
}

or

node[amenity=restaurant] {
    icon-image: "my-restaurant.png";
}

URL of an image on a remote server

Full URL of an image from the web. Make sure direct linking is tolerated by the website owner. The images are loaded on demand and cached on the client computer (for one week, usually).

node {
    icon-image: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/9d/Commons-logo-31px.png";
}

Images within a zip-archive

It is possible to pack your style and all required resources in a zip archive, in order to simplify distribution. When the user loads the zip file as a style, JOSM will automatically detect the .mapcss file within the archive and find all the images.

node {
    icon-image: "image/file/within/archive.png";
}

Embedded image data

data:-URL according to ​RFC2397. Examples:

node {
    icon-image: "data:image/png;base64,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";
}

or

node {
    icon-image: "data:image/svg+xml,<svg><rect x='10' y='10' width='50' height='20' fill='white' stroke='blue' stroke-width='2px'/><line x1='18' y1='37' x2='50' y2='5' stroke='black' stroke-width='1.5px'/></svg>";
}

Images on the OSM-Wiki

Image files from the OSM-wiki can be linked in a special way. This is supposed to be compatible with the wiki:symbol-Tag, see ​DE:Hiking. Example:

node {
    icon-image: "wiki://Symbol_Jakobsweg.png";
}

Image formats

Raster formats

JOSM can display the following raster formats: png, jpeg, gif and bmp.
(Basically all formats that are supported by the Java Runtime Environment)

Vector formats

There is also build-in support for scalable vector graphics (svg). svg icons are preferred over raster format icons because of lossless scaling on hidpi screens. Most svg-images should be rendered correctly, but in some cases the result may be flawed. This is due to limitations of the used ​svg-library.

One thing you can be sure of, is that the rendering is consistent on all systems. So either the result looks OK, or it does not.

In case it does not, try to "simplify" the svg in a way that it can be handled by JOSM. See also the svg related hints at DevelopersGuide/DefaultPresets#NewIcons.

---

Back to JOSM Map Styles