Is it possible to customize the color scheme of a Google Map?

Question

I'm using the Google Maps API and would like it to render a very simple image of countries/continents.

I also want to draw them in a suitable color that will work well with my site's color scheme.

Would I need to create my own tile-server? Or can I customize this somehow through the API?

Answer 1

I don't think you can customise this through the Google Maps API. However, the Google Chart API has a map chart type that has customisable colours.

You might also want to investigate OpenLayers, which is an open source web-based mapping engine.

Answer 2

No, when using the Google Maps API, you cannot change the maps themselves in any way. What you can customize, though, are the icons, logos, etc that you use.

Answer 3

You will indeed need to create your own tiles.

If you just need a simple map, you can use a program like MapTiler to break up a high-res image into tiles.

If you want to implement an all-out tile server, take a look at Mapnik and TileCache.

Answer 4

Google recently announced support for Styled Maps in the Google Maps API. You can extensively customize the color scheme used by Google Maps.