FAQ

The maps are available in a grayscale and a color version. The service includes layers with land use, streets, water areas, buildings etc.

Our gallery will give you a basic idea of the map design. You can also try the service for free for 14 days. So you can see how the service will look like in your application.

The OpenStreetMap data is updated continuously from the OpenStreetMap project.
As part of our commitment to providing robust and reliable map services, we delay data imports by up to two days. This delay allows us to monitor for any large-scale errors and vandalism and pause imports if necessary.
We have developed custom software that automatically detects large-scale vandalism, keeping our database in a clean state. Our import chain will prevent any vandalized data from appearing in your maps during the update process.

The OpenStreetMap data itself is licensed under the terms of the Open Data Commons Open Database License (ODbL). Our resulting maps can be used under the terms of the CC-BY 4.0 license.

In any case you are required to provide a proper attribution for our maps. The maps from our WMS services already contain the attribution in the lower right corner. You need to add the following attribution on your own, if you integrate our maps into your web application as tiles or if you print out our maps:
© 2024 maps.omniscale.com, Map Data: OpenStreetMap - (License: ODbL)

On web applications you need to link back to maps.omniscale.com and OpenStreetMap. Refer to our examples for OpenLayers and Leaflet on how to do this.

You can query the maps of our services tiled or untiled. There are two separate services available for the two options. Both can be queried via WMS-compatible GetMap requests. Therefore our services can easily be added as a WMS service in most WebGIS systems.

WMTS and TMS requests are also supported. They are limited to the Webmercarto projection, compatible with Google Maps, OpenStreetMap and the like. You can access our maps via WMS if you need other map projections and dynamic map scales. Of course, you do not need to worry about speed: our server architecture ensures that your WMS GetMap requests have the same speed as our WMTS or TMS services.

You can add maps into any web application, that allows you to add a WMS layer. We have documented the integration into OpenLayers and Leaflet.

In order to offer our maps with high speed, we cache the requested maps for a short time. In order for this to work, it is necessary that your application requests the maps at a fixed number of map scales. You are free to define the scales on your own, though.

Please note that, in contrast to our services for desktop application, our web application services do not support the complete OGC WMS standard. If you have any questions regarding the adding of the services, please contact our support team.

Every package includes a free contingent of tile and WMS requests. You should choose a package that correspondes to the typical use of your application. An press release, an unexpected event or a re-launch of your website? No problem. Once per quarter we allow you to exceed your quota. Only if you exceed your contingent again, we will contact you and talk about a plan upgrade. In any case, we do not automatically charge any extra fees. Please check the Terms Of Service for details.

Our data is synchronized with the OpenStreetMap database once a minute. A new house, a new park or a new street: every change will be available directly.

In order to offer the highest possible speed, we cache some tiles for a short period. For example in a scale of 1:100,000 for some hours and in a scale of 1:1,000 for not more than 5 minutes.

You can use our services in web applications: publicly or for closed user groups, on the internet or intranet. In addition, we offer special services for desktop applications.

Mass downloads are not permitted. Intermediate storage with special proxies or cache-applications is also not permitted (e.g. with MapProxy, GeoWebcache or TileCache). Of course, normal HTTP proxies and typical web browsers complying with the HTTP specifications are allowed.

All! Our services automatically identifies the configuration of your application based on the tile requests. You just need to access our service with 256x256 sized WMS requests, wich is the default for most tile based clients like OpenLayers or Leaflet.

Tile-based applications generally require a fixed alignment of the individual tiles and fixed scales. Google Maps, Bing or OpenStreetMap use the Webmercator-projection and a set of about 20 map scales. Other scales and other projections like UTM or Gauss-Krueger usually require a special tile grid that needs to be configured on the client side as well as on the server side.

Our services do not need this step. You can use your own tile grid, with your projection and your set of map scales. The only requirement is that your application specifies the map scales to your users.

Our map services for web applications can be used exclusively within web applications on the internet or intranet. For the use in desktop applications please use our dedicated services. You can manage these services with the same log in to maps.omniscale.com.

Every plan has a certain contingent of tile requests per month. All requests are deduced form this contingent. A request with 256*256 pixel is regarded as one tile. WMS requests are charged according to their size as several tiles: A request with 1024*768 pixel for example counts for 12 tiles (4*3 tiles). We count pixel exactly and do not round up individual requests.

You can see your current and previous usages in the administration area.

An API-key is a unique code that we use to relate a requests to your account. The API-key consists of an identifier you can freely choose and of random number generated by us. The identifier is a short name that helps you and us to see for which application the API-key is. Use your company name for example.

If you integrate our services in a web application, then a user could copy your key and use it in another application – using your tile contingent. To prevent this we offer public API-keys that require you to state the URL of your web application. With that URL our services are able to determine whether the request with your API-key came from your application, or from another.

Simply add the WMS URL to your desktop application. The URL contains a specially generated identifier which is unique for your account. Log in to see your custom WMS URL.

Our OpenStreetMap WMS offers a large selection of coordinate systems. If you cannot find the required coordinate system, please contact us via the contact form. We will try to provide the requested coordinate system.

Our OpenStreetMap WMS service supports the OGC WMS version 1.1.1 which is supported by all GIS clients and most CAD, planning an analysis software.

There is a more recent WMS version (1.3.0), but not all clients are implementing the standard according to specification. Since 1.3.0 doesn't bring any advantages for our services, we opted for the more compatible and widely used version 1.1.1.

maps.omniscale.com is operated by Omniscale GmbH & Co. KG from Oldenburg in Germany. We offer commercial map services based on OpenStreetMap since 2009.

We are not only a user of OpenStreetMap, we are also an active contributor to the open data and and open source community: Through memberships in the OSM-Foundation and the German FOSSGIS e.V., sponsorship of conferences, and publishing of open source software related to OpenStreetMap.

No, the registration will not generate any costs for you. You can also try our OpenStreetMap Services for free for 14 days. The free services will not automatically be converted into a paid service.

We accept payments via credit card and bank transfer. Bank transfers are only available to customers from countries within the Single Euro Payments Area.

The services are available to you directly after the order. You do not have to wait until payments arrive.

Our offerings are only valid for purchase on maps.omniscale.com on a self-service basis. Purchase orders and orders via e-mail, fax, mail are only available for our Business Plans (and higher).

We might need your official tax ID, depending on where you are from.

If you are from outside the EU: No, you don't need to provide a VAT-ID.

If you are from Germany: No, you don't need to provide a VAT-ID.

Otherwise (EU, but not from Germany): Yes, you need to provide a valid VAT-ID. We also need to validate the provided VAT-ID and your address with the tax authorities. So please make sure you're using the same spelling of your company name and address as your registration at your tax office. We can no longer provide our services to EU customers without a VAT-ID. This is due to changes in the tax regulations from 2015.

Of course, once the order has been completed, you will receive an invoice by email the following day. In addition, the invoice can be downloaded in the administration area.

You can downgrade or cancel your plan to the end of your payment period in the administration area of your account. This is possible up to one day prior to the end of your payment period.

An upgrade of the plan is always possible. We will automatically prorate the already payed amount based on the days left in your current payment period.

If no plan is active or only the free test account is activated, you can delete the account in the administration area. This action permanently deletes all data from our system.

Please note, that in case you have previously placed a paid order, the data will be stored in our system for the accounting.

We provide a free plan for students who want to use our maps in bachelor, master or doctor theses.

The first step is to register for free. Now you can try the service for free for 14 days. So you can see how the service will look like in your application.

If you want to use our service after the 14 days, please contact us and send us a short message which describes your thesis and your course of study. We will check your request and update your account afterwards.

Community and Open Source projects can use our maps for free.

The first step is to register for free. Now you can create a trail API-key and test the service for free for 14 days. So you can see how the service will look like in your application.

If you want to continue to use our service, please contact us and send us a short message which describes your project and how you are gonna use our services. We will check your request and update your account afterwards.