⚡ GMapsBook.com is crafted by Jozef Sorocin (🟢 Book a consulting hour) and powered by:

g-Xperts (Google Cloud & Business Profile Partner)
Spatialized.io (Elasticsearch & Google Maps consulting).
and Garages-Near-Me.com (Effortless parking across Germany)

Remember the last time you took a trip with Uber/Lyft/Bolt? Just as the trip ended, you probably got an email containing the receipt and trip summary. This trip summary then contained the route “screenshot”:

Sample Uber trip summary

The map “screenshot” is what we call a static map.

In contrast to dynamic maps which you can zoom, pan, and move, static maps are image snapshots (GIF, PNG, or JPEG) of a given viewport.

<aside> 🔑 As you remember from the chapter on map tiles, dynamic raster maps are themselves composed of styled image tiles. The Static API lets you request the very same tiles — on demand.

</aside>

In this chapter, you’ll learn how to leverage the Google Maps Static API to:

generate map images consistent with your brand,
correctly place custom markers,
and efficiently draw semi-transparent polylines.

Scenario

For my ride-hailing app I’m working on an email that contains an image snapshot of the route. I’d like to visually differentiate between the origin and the destination. Plus, I need to make sure the map pins are correctly positioned:

A static map consistent with my brand displaying visually distinct markers

Scenario

Approach