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One good way to get involved in the OpenStreetMap project is to upload GPS track logs. They are then added to the background of the editing map as thin lines or little dots. These lines and dots are one basis for the manually drawn lines that make up the map, like using aerial imagery. If you're having trouble uploading a GPX file, this page and the FAQ might help you sort things out.

For more information on using GPS devices and creating GPX files see Recording GPS tracks and Making GPX Tracks. Note that uploading GPS traces is a different process than editing the map, and is also different from bulk imports.

Contents 1 How to upload a GPX file 1.1 Tagging 2 What happens to my file after it has been uploaded? 3 Compressed files 4 Upload Waypoints 5 Applications supporting direct upload of GPS track logs

How to upload a GPX file

1. Log in to the main OpenStreetMap site.
   • If you don't have an account for the site, create an account first. The OSM account is different from this wiki's login.
   • The upload procedure described here is not the same as uploading images to illustrate the wiki pages.
2. Select the "GPS traces" tab.
3. Select "See just your traces, or upload a trace"
4. Use the "Browse" button to select the GPX file on your local computer.
5. Enter a Description and Tags, if you like
6. Select the Visibility of GPS traces.
   • If you do not want your GPX points to be seen by anybody else, stop here and do not upload. Instead, use an editor which can display GPX files from your local storage without uploading them, such as for example JOSM.
7. Click Upload.

The file will be uploaded to the OSM server, where it will join the queue of files waiting to be inserted into the database.

Tagging

Tags provide a simple way to describe your GPS traces. They make your GPX file findable with a single word and allow you to group the trace alongside other similar traces. For example, all the traces tagged 'Melbourne' are listed at http://www.openstreetmap.org/traces/tag/Melbourne. You may have seen tags elsewhere on the web, attached to photos, bookmarks, blog entries, and so on, and these follow a similar principle.

Each file can have many tags, and you can enter as many as you like with commas (",") between them. Usually the tags are the names of countries, cities and other places your trace concerns.

Note

Tags are case-sensitive - so Melbourne and melbourne may supply different results.

Tagging traces is completely separate from tagging OSM data itself. Don't get the two confused!

What happens to my file after it has been uploaded?

You will not see any streets drawn in over your tracks, until you (or somebody else) uses an editor to draw the streets as nodes and ways with tags. (Q:Why aren't my GPS traces shown on the maps?)

Your GPX file is parsed by the OSM server and points are extracted and inserted into the database. These uploads go into a queue on the server, and occasionally there is a backlog. Once completed however, you will be able to...

• See your trace listed on the GPS traces tab of the website
• Edit the map using your trace as a background (press edit beside any trace)
• Convert the GPS track to ways for editing in Potlatch.
• See your trace among all the others, while editing an area
  • In Potlatch toggle 'Show GPS tracks' (use the icon, or press 'g')
  • In JOSM on the download dialogue window, select Raw GPS data under Data sources and Types.
• Use the API to fetch your trace among others within given bounding box

Compressed files

A single file may also be uploaded after being compressed by gzip, having a .gpx.gz extension. If you have a big file or multiple files to upload, you may compress them into a zip archive and upload it. It will then be treated as one big gpx file (that is, only one entry in your trace list is created).

Upload Waypoints

GPS waypoints cannot be uploaded to the OSM database directly. However, they can be converted to tracks and then be uploaded temporarily, for example, so they can be displayed as background objects in Potlatch. See Upload Waypoints.

Applications supporting direct upload of GPS track logs

Software developers may be interested in the documentation for the GPX upload API.

The following applications support direct upload to OpenStreetMap:

• GPSLogger for Android is an Android application.
• OsmGpxUploader for Android Upload GPX tracks directly or from other android Apps such as Google My tracks or OI File Manager, AndExplorer, etc.
• Track'n Trail is an application for iPhone 3G.
• OSMTrack is another iPhone 3G application.
• Map Mobile Navigator is a J2ME application.
• Viking is a desktop-based GPS data editor and analyzer.
• JOSM is the java-editor for Openstreetmap. For uploading the GPS traces the DirectUpload plugin is needed.