How to make black and white Road network map in Mapbox Studio

Mapbox Studio is a platform used by developers to prepare maps for mobile, desktop and web applications.

In this post, we are going to prepare a black and white road network map similar to what you see below.

There are many startup web applications that allow you create this kind of map and download it for a fee! In few moments, you will learn how to make your own maps and you don't have to spend money buying maps.

See an example below that cost $59.

Step-by-step instructions

• Sign up for a free account on MapBox.com and login to MapBox Studio.

• Create a new map by clicking on "New Style" button.

• Select from the map style templates (here we will use the Blank Template)

• Rename the map to a suitable name and add map components and layers.

To achieve this type of map, we need to add the following map components and layers:-

1. Road Network
2. Land, Water and Sky
3. Administrative Boundaries

On each component/layer adjust the settings to fit what you wanted. For example, I set the administrative boundaries base to white etc.

After which you can publish and share the map as WMTS for use in a desktop software like QGIS for further map processing as you will see below in a moment.

City Map of Abuja

As an example, lets prepare the city map of Abuja. 

Copy the WMTS URL from above and add it to QGIS via WMS/WMTS widow.

Zoom in to the city of Abuja and create a map layout.

Add title and other text details that you wish and export the map as image or pdf for printing purpose.

See the final output here below.

Note: You can add border lines and other aesthetics in QGIS layout or export it to a graphics software to add such designs.

Happy Mapping!