Exporting Georeferenced Images from Tilemill Using Mapbox Layers

Question

I'm trying to export a georeferenced map image using Mapbox layers from Tilemill using the tilemill-reference-layer plugin. I am able to see my Mapbox reference map inside of Tilemill, however when I attempt to export an image, the Mapbox layer is not included.

Is it possible to get a simple georefferenced image from Mapbox/Tilemill? I just need simple lat/long for the corners and/or edges of the image.

The satellite and terrain layers are awesome in Mapbox...if only I could create a bounding box with known lat/long from it! :)

Answer 1

TileMill cannot export georeferenced images directly, but it's possible to convert from MBTiles to GeoTIFF or other georeferenced image formats using GDAL 1.10 or newer.

However the TileMill reference-layer plugin is intended for previewing only, you cannot use it to export tiles or images. The purpose of the plugin is to allow you to design an overlay layer while seeing how it will look combined with other layers once uploaded to your Mapbox account.

Depending on what you're trying to do, the Mapbox Static API might be useful. Check with the Terms of Service, though - redistributing the imagery is not permitted.