I need to take data about a dynamic Google map and create a static Google map from it using API V3

Question

What I really want to do is to allow a user to create a map with google maps and save the image. I have attempted a work around that does this by using the google maps api V3 and also the static maps api.

The user can use the dynamic google map to scroll, zoom, etc and find a map they like. The user should then press a button which extracts the data from the google map (center, zoom level, etc) which sends the query to the static google map api. The static google map api will then return the image which can be saved.

I have this all working* except it doesn't always work. Sometimes the images returned by static google maps will be exactly what the user sees in the dynamic map. Other times the image may be off by a few meters (I believe this is because the dynamic google map api uses greater precision for longitude and latitude than the static api), or even thousands of kilometers (I have no idea why this happens). The images are usually off the greater the zoom level is (because of the precision differences).

I want to know if anyone has tried converting a dynamic map to a static map and came up with a non-buggy solution, or if there is a better solution that works.

Answer 1

"...I believe this is because the dynamic google map api uses greater precision for longitude and latitude than the static api..."

AFAIK In the both the Google Maps V3 and the Static Maps api Latitudes and longitudes have a precision to 6 decimal places. Precision beyond the 6 decimal places is ignored. This seems to be the point made in both these docs, athough the one pertaining to the Maps api does state (my emphasis).

"With the current zoom capabilities of Google Maps, you should only need 6 digits of precision after the decimal"

Static http://code.google.com/apis/maps/documentation/staticmaps/#Usage

Regular http://code.google.com/apis/maps/articles/phpsqlajax_v3.html

Without seeing the code you are using it is hard to say what the root issue of your problem is though.