rescape

DXF workflow guide

Turn OpenStreetMap-derived context into a layered DXF

Choose a real area, export the useful context layers, then open a true-scale DXF in the CAD or vector application you already use.

Useful for

CAD users, urban designers, illustrators, students and anyone who needs editable geographic context

You will make

A layered DXF containing the selected open-data context—such as building footprints, roads, water, land use, vegetation and terrain—positioned at true scale.

Finished CAD context model of Paris showing terrain, buildings and roads
Open the Paris example Inspect the example region

From open map data to editable linework

  1. 1

    Choose an area with a clear purpose

    Open the example below or draw your own boundary around the site, corridor or district you need. Select only enough surrounding context to make the drawing useful: a smaller region stays faster to generate and easier to edit.

  2. 2

    Select DXF and the layers you need

    Choose DXF in Config, then include buildings, roads, water, terrain, land use or vegetation according to the drawing. Excluding unused layers makes the result more legible before it ever reaches CAD.

    Use the job configuration as the source of truth for included layers, units and export settings when handing the file to a collaborator.

  3. 3

    Generate, download and inspect the named layers

    Submit the job and download the DXF once it succeeds. Open or import it using the displayed units, keep source layers separate, and inspect a few known streets and buildings against a current aerial or authoritative reference.

  4. 4

    Adapt the linework for the destination drawing

    In AutoCAD, Rhino, Vectorworks, Illustrator or another DXF-capable tool, simplify, restyle, crop or trace the exported context for the intended drawing. Preserve the original as a reference layer rather than overwriting it.

  5. 5

    Replace information that must be authoritative

    Use the file as fast, editable geographic context. Verify property lines, proposed work, critical dimensions, current construction and any engineering or survey information from project-authoritative sources.

Open-data limits

Check the context before you design against it

  • OpenStreetMap-derived features reflect local mapping coverage and contributor updates; completeness and currency differ substantially by place and feature type.
  • Building footprints, road classifications, land use and vegetation are useful context but may be generalized, incomplete or differently interpreted than your project conventions.
  • Building heights are often estimated or absent, so treat massing as contextual rather than surveyed.
  • The DXF is editable geographic context, not a cadastral, survey, engineering, BIM or construction document.

Regions that demonstrate this workflow

Paris

Central Paris and the Seine — DXF + STL

Manhattan

Midtown Manhattan block cluster — DXF + STL

London

Westminster and the Thames — DXF + STL

Continue with a related guide

DXF · CAD context

CAD site-context model

Draw a project boundary, choose useful context layers and export a layered DXF with terrain, buildings, roads and water.

DXF · editable linework

City linework for illustration

Export a real place as layered DXF context, then simplify and style the linework in a vector or CAD workflow for an illustration, diagram or presentation.

Pricing Formats, limits and troubleshooting Compare Rescape and CADMapper