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ok so i'm trying to understand the structure of the whole OSM project. i generally like it but it's confusing and i'm confused.

i'm specifically looking for satellite image data (landscape as seen from above, no infrastructure data, just real photography). i like satellite images a lot because it provides a much better feel for the landscape than infrastructure data alone. such as: how many trees are there, how much nature is there around, ...

does OSM itself do this? (ideally without having to be logged in)

i found OpenMapTiles which seems to also provide satellite data; but i'm not sure what their relation to OSM is. are they a separate project?

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[-] gandalf_der_12te@feddit.org 2 points 17 hours ago* (last edited 17 hours ago)

ok so it seems that OpenMapTiles is just a frontend for https://www.maptiler.com/ which is a company different from Maxar / MapBox and you can buy their services to embed maps in your own application / website. so it's a commercial thing, if i understand this correctly.

but they do offer some type of tiles (= pre-rendered map parts) freely, namely those that are based on open data sources. so the infrastructure map tiles are free to use, but satellite tiles are not, if i understand this correctly.

this post was submitted on 01 Jun 2026
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Everything #OpenStreetMap related is welcome: software releases, showing of your work, questions about how to tag something, as long as it has to do with OpenStreetMap or OpenStreetMap-related software.

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https://mapcomplete.org/ is an easy-to-use website to view, edit and add points (such as shops, restaurants and others)

https://learnosm.org/en/ has a lot of information for beginners too.

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