Potlatch

Potlatch
Author:	Richard Fairhurst and contributors GitHub
License:	WTFPL
Platforms:	macOS and Windows
Status:	Actively maintained
Version:	3.0 releases (2020-12-30)
Language:	English
Website:	https://www.systemed.net/potlatch
Source code:	systemed/potlatch3 GitHub
Programming language:	ActionScript
Intermediate-level editing software
Features Feature Value Map Display Display map yes Map data Source Rotate map 3D view Shows website Shows phone number Shows operation hours Routing (Not set) Navigating (Not set) Tracking (Not set) Monitoring Monitoring Show current track Open existing track yes Altitude diagram Show POD value Satellite view Show live NMEA data Show speed Send current position Editing Add POIs yes Edit / Delete POIs yes Add way yes Edit geometries yes Edit arbitrary tags of existing OSM objects yes Edit relations yes View notes Create notes Edit notes Work offline cache Support imagery offset DB no Upload to OSM yes Rendering (Not set) Accessibility (Not set)

Potlatch is an OpenStreetMap editor for Mac and Windows desktop.

The current version is 3.0 which runs as a desktop application. Previous versions (2.x, 1.x) ran as in-browser editors on openstreetmap.org using Adobe Flash Player.

You can download the latest version at https://www.systemed.net/potlatch.

Potlatch's distinguishing characteristic is that it's extraordinarily ergonomic for moderately familiar users, without ever having too complex an interface. With a handful of keyboard shortcuts you can zip about the map and perform common editing actions efficiently: for example, you can skip 10 nodes back/forward along a way with one keypress, jump to the other end of the way with another, then assign a set of multiple tags to the way (which you've previously recorded) with another single keypress.

As yet, Potlatch does not run reliably on Linux systems due to Adobe AIR for Linux being discontinued. However, it will reportedly run under Wine.

Development of 3.0 was supported financially by the OpenStreetMap Foundation.

Keyboard shortcuts

Cheat sheet of Potlatch keyboard shortcuts

At present, shortcuts may vary or be non-functional for non-UK/US keyboards.

Moving around the map

• Cursor keys to move one step at a time.
• Page Up and Page Down to zoom in/out.

Editing

• Click on a blank area to start a new line.
• Double-click on a blank area to insert a new point of interest.
• Esc to cancel an edit or a new line.
• Z to undo.
• When drawing a line:
  • ↵ Enter to stop drawing a line.
  • ⌦ Del to remove the previous point.
• When a way is selected:
  • ⇧ Shift+Click on this way to insert a new point.
  • Control+Click on another way to merge them, if they share an end-point. (Command/Apple key on a Mac.)
  • ⇧ Shift+Click on the relation button to add the way to the last used relation.
  • ⌦ Del to delete an entire way.
  • P to create parallel ways.
  • T to straighten a way - especially useful in grid systems. If used on a closed way, makes it into a smooth circle.
• When a point is selected:
  • Click an end-point to extend the way.
  • X to split a way.
  • ⌦ Del to delete a point.
  • - to remove a point from the current way only.
  • ⇧ Shift+Click to start a new way from this point.
  • / to select another way which shares this point (useful for ways 'hidden' under other ways).
    • Note: If using an internationalized keyboard, you might need to use the '/ or ÷ at the numeric keyboard. (And if you use a laptop you will perhaps need to press Fn-/ or Fn-÷ , usually printed in some color.)
• K to lock or unlock a way/POI.
• S to save your changes and add a commit message (if editing with save).
• C to close the changeset (and add a commit message if editing live).

Map display

• Function keys to select background:
  • F1 to turn background off.
  • F2 for Yahoo! Aerial Imagery.
  • F3 for OSM Mapnik layer
  • F4 for OSM Osmarender layer
  • F5 for OSM Maplint (errors) layer
  • F6 for Cycle map
  • F7 for out-of-copyright map
  • Hold ⇧ Shift to make it lighter.
• g to load GPS data for current area.
• ⇧ Shift+G to load GPS data from current user only for current area.
• Hold Space while dragging to move the background imagery only (if it's misaligned).
• L to show the latitude and longitude of the current mouse position.
• ⇪ Caps Lock or D to make ways and POIs a light, translucent colour (useful for seeing the background).
• M to minimise/maximise the editor (fill the entire browser window).

Tags/attributes

• + or = to add new key/value.
• r to repeat last attributes.
• ⇧ Shift+R to repeat last attributes but ignore name/ref.
• 1 – 9 to select a preset from the menu.
• § or ' or ` to cycle between preset menus.
• B to add a source tag based on the current background.
• N to go straight to the name tag (adding one if it's not there already).

Tags/attributes memory

• Ctrl+Alt+1 – Ctrl+Alt+9 add preset tags to memory 1-9

Example: set bridge=yes and layer=1 on a way and press Ctrl+Alt+1 to save it to memory 1 (via cookie)

• ⇧ Shift+1 – ⇧ Shift+9 use preset tags previously saved to memory 1-9

Example: ⇧ Shift+1 to set tags from memory 1 on a selected way or node

History

• H to show history of the selected way, and revert to a previous version.
• U to show deleted ways, and optionally undelete them.

Initial development

Potlatch 3 is the successor of Potlatch 2. It uses a different technology stack, because the Adobe Flash was discontinued. The OpenStreetMap foundation financially supported the major redesign. The first beta version was announced on 18 December 2020. A full version was announced on 1 January 2021.

The Potlatch 3 source code is open source and available from GitHub.