I have access to a number of old maps. If I were to scan these maps to JPGs say, is there any way to then use these images as backgrounds for editing purposes? asked 10 Apr '15, 22:20  u003f |
2 Answers:
There's a technical and a legal side to this. Legally, the maps must be old enough to be out of copyright for you to use them (or they must have been un-copyrighted in the first place - details of this depend on the jurisdiction you're in). Technically, after scanning you will still have to align the map with the actual geometry - possibly using common reference points between the map and data already in OSM. This can be done either in the editor - JOSM has an image plugin for that - or in a separate step before, using an offline tool like Quantum GIS or a web site like Map Warper which will afterwards export the image as WMS or tiles which can then again be shown as an editor background. answered 10 Apr '15, 23:39  Frederik Ramm ♦ |
Hi, apart from the caveats mentioned, Mapwarper is a fantastic service. If you havent used it before I've created a few videos on the basic task that you can check out here https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Ireland/Mapping_Townlands answered 13 Apr '15, 15:27  DaCor |
Also, you shouldn't generally use old maps where any better source is available, and never without being able to verify (through survey) whether the details are still correct.