How to add image overlay on Google maps using gmplot in Python

Google maps are used to show a person’s location or highlight areas in applications. We can also extract information from Google maps using web scraping.

We can manipulate Google maps by adding markers, circles, or even an image like a car or bike using Python. To perform these tasks, we need to use the gmplot library.

In this Answer, we'll learn how we can add images on top of Google maps using a third-person library called gmplot. We can add the image using gmplot.GoogleMapPlotter class’s ground_overlay() method.

Syntax

We can add images from the internet on top of maps using ground_overlay() method. The syntax of this method is s follows:

GoogleMapPlotter.ground_overlay(url, bounds, opacity=1.0)
  • url: It is the string that is the URL of the image. It cannot load images from the local storage.

  • bounds: They are bordering lines that confine an area. The “north” bound refers to the latitude of the top border, while “south” refers to the latitude of the bottom border. Similarly, “east” is the longitude of the right border and “west” is the longitude of the left border. The bounds parameter is a dictionary whose keys are north, south, east, and west.

  • opacity: It is an optional parameter that sets the opacity of the image.

Code example

Let's look at the code below:

import gmplot
gmap = gmplot.GoogleMapPlotter(31.513503879050337, 74.33410182086186, 18)

url='https://openclipart.org/download/247271/hombre-hello-remix-cyberscooty.svg'

bounds = {'north': 31.51358166525338, 'south': 31.513210019476748, 'east': 74.33334500058436, 'west': 74.33283133607337}

gmap.ground_overlay(url, bounds)

gmap.draw("index.html")

Code explanation

  • Line 1: We import gmplot library to use its built-in packages.

  • Line 2: We pass the latitude, longitude, and zoom level of 18 in the constructor GoogleMapPlotter, and store it in the variable.

  • Lines 4–6: We store the URL of the image in the url variable.

  • Line 6: We store the directional coordinates called the bounds in a dictionary.

  • Line 8: We pass the url and bounds dictionary to the ground_overlay method.

  • Line 10: This line creates the index.html file and store the Google maps in the file.

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