Google Maps image?

Question

Is there any way to capture the image of a Google Map? I can't use the static map because I have my own polylines in the map and I want them in the "screenshot".

Basically I want a user to navigate the map, add some polylines, and when he clicks Save I'm saving the lines, coordinates, zoom, but I would also like to have an image to present as a thumbnail in lists.

Tks in advance.

Answer 1

Masashi Katsumata has come up with a Snapshot Control that takes a snapshot of a Google Maps with a path on it and creates an image from it.

• Blog post: http://googlegeodevelopers.blogspot.com/2009/09/snapshotcontrol-10-using-static-maps.html

Answer 2

Using Google Maps Content outside of the Service is a violation of the Google Maps API Terms of Use, so although techniques exist for creating the snapshots, Google doesn't give you permission to do so.

To achieve your intended functionality legally, you either need to use static maps (possibly with reduced content, particularly if the user is using MSIE where the max URL length is quite small) or small real Google Maps.

I don't seem to have privilege yet to add or edit comments to the question, so I'll mention here that the URL limit in at least some Maps compatible versions of MSIE is 2083 characters, not 8k like it is in most other browsers.