Exported maps, credits and notes

When a report that holds a Map visual is exported to PowerPoint or PDF, the map goes into the file as a picture. The picture carries its own band along the bottom: the legend, a size key, the notes about what the picture leaves out, and the credit for the map's data sources. This page explains that band; the export flow itself is on Export reports and data.

What the band holds

The band exists only in exported pictures; the map on screen does not carry it. It runs along the bottom edge, outside the data, so nothing of it covers the map, and the credit keeps to the band: a picture never prints it in a corner at the top.

The band holds:

• the legend of the measure that colours the map, with a size key beside it when it fits;
• the notes about what the picture leaves out;
• the credit for the map's data sources.

When there is room, the legend and the credit share one row, with the credit on the right. In a narrow picture, the credit drops to a row of its own under the legend. A picture 320 px wide or wider always carries the legend; a narrower picture keeps the credit alone. When the band runs out of room, the legend title gives way first; the swatches, the ticks and the No data entry stay, with No data printed wherever it fits.

Read the credit on the picture

The credit is printed as text, and it names the sources of the map:

• A map without terrain reads © DataMind · © OpenStreetMap · openstreetmap.org/copyright.
• While the 3D view draws terrain, the credit adds the terrain source and its attribution page, so it reads © DataMind · © OpenStreetMap · © Mapterhorn · openstreetmap.org/copyright · datamind.earth/attribution.
• Maps that draw on sources beyond OpenStreetMap, such as GeoNames for city names or World Bank for district boundaries, add datamind.earth/attribution to the credit as well. That page carries every licence notice.

A picture carries no links, so the credit is plain text. The clickable credit and the Licences button stay with the map; Map data and licences describes them and lists every source.

The notes a picture carries

The band states what the picture leaves out, so the file is not read as complete when it is not:

• First <cap> rows: the result was cut short by the map's row limit. The number is the limit that run was given, not a guess from the rows shown.
• Shapes simplified: shapes carried more detail than the map draws and were thinned for drawing. Map visual describes the shape limits.
• <N> rows not placed (or 1 row not placed): this many rows hold values that matched no place, so they are not drawn. An editor of the report can pin those values; see Map locations, matching and pins.

Before the picture is taken

An export does not take the picture while the map is still loading. It waits for the map to settle:

• A flat map settles once it is quiet, with every tile loaded.
• A terrain map waits for a second confirming pass, because the ground surface arrives after the first quiet moment and settles the camera again.
• The wait has a ceiling. If the ceiling is reached first, the picture is taken anyway, and the export warns that the map may be incomplete.

The waiting times themselves are on Map buildings and the 3D view.

Labels the edges would cut

An exported picture carries a frame along its four edges and along the top of the band. The frame is invisible in the picture: a label that the edge or the band would cut collides with the frame and is left out, so a name is printed whole or not at all. The frame exists only in exports.

Questions, answered

What appears at the bottom of an exported map picture?

A band carrying the legend, a size key beside it when there is room, the notes about what the picture leaves out, and the credit for the map's data sources. It runs along the bottom edge only, and the credit never sits in a corner at the top of the picture.

Is the legend always in an exported picture?

Yes, from 320 px wide. A picture 320 px wide or wider carries the legend; a narrower picture keeps the credit alone. When room runs short, the legend keeps its swatches, ticks and the No data entry, and the title is the first thing to go.

Why is the legend title missing from my export?

The band ran out of room for it. When space is tight, the legend title gives way first; the swatches, the ticks and the No data entry stay.

Why does my exported map say "First 50,000 rows"?

The result was cut short by the map's row limit, and the note names the limit that run was given. It is not a guess from the rows shown: a result that happens to end exactly on its limit, with nothing beyond it, carries no note. See Map visual for the row limits.

Why does the exported picture say "Shapes simplified"?

Some shapes carried more detail than the map draws, so the map thinned them, and the picture says so. The shape limits are on Map visual.

Why does the picture count rows that were not placed?

Rows whose values matched no place on the map are not drawn, and the note counts them so the picture is not read as complete; a single row reads 1 row not placed. An editor of the report can pin the values; see Map locations, matching and pins.

Why did my export warn that the map may be incomplete?

The export waits for the map to settle before it takes the picture, but the wait has a ceiling. If the ceiling is reached first, the picture is taken as it stands and the export warns that the map may be incomplete. The waiting times are on Map buildings and the 3D view.

Can I click the credit on an exported picture?

No. A picture carries no links, so the credit is printed as plain text. The clickable credit and the Licences button stay with the map; Map data and licences lists the sources.

Why is a place name missing at the edge of the exported map?

The picture leaves out labels that its edge or the band would cut, so a name is printed whole or not at all. That trimming runs only in exports; the map on screen has no such frame.