New Tutorial | Stop Downloading - Design Custom Maps in QGIS with OSM Vector Tiles

[Chinmay Shaligram]

Dear Members,

We are sharing a new tutorial published on the QGIS India User Group website titled "Stop Downloading - Design Custom Maps in QGIS with OSM Vector Tiles."

In this tutorial, Arjun Gangadharan (Ark Arjun) demonstrates how to use OSM Vector Tiles in QGIS to design custom maps without downloading data locally. The tutorial walks through setting up the Shortbread vector tile connection, loading and styling vector tile layers using the OSM tagging schema, filtering features like roads with custom symbology rules, and exporting a clipped map using the Atlas tool in Print Layout. This approach lets you stream only the data you need for your area of interest, avoiding the usual download-and-preprocess steps.

A recording of this tutorial from the QGIS India Community Day - March 2026 is also available: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eoTDM-PNmXY&t=563s

Full tutorial: https://in.qgis.org/tutorials/osm-vector-tiles/

Members are welcome to share their reflections with the author or continue the discussion within the group. Best, Chinmay Shaligram QGIS India User Group