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- Open the website in a browser.
- Click on the Export tab on the top of OpenStreetMap web page.
- From the menu, go to Geofabrik Downloads.
- From the table, click on the Sub-Region your area of interested is located in. Some countries and regions are subdivided into smaller datasets.
- Find and click on the link with .shp.zip file extension, which yields ESRI compatible shape files when unzipped.
Assigning a Projection
Before exporting to CAD, it is important to assign a projection to the map. Without a projection, the data is not usable in CAD.
- In the Analysis tab, click Tools.
- In the search bar, type 'Project.'
- Click on the Project (Data Management Tools) tool.
- Select the layer from the 'Input Dataset or Feature Class' drop-down menu.
- Click the Select coordinate system icon next to 'Output Coordinate System'.
- Click the Projected Coordinate Systems folder. For a very specific GIS project, it is important to research the appropriate projection. However, if you are working on a general architecture project, there are several basic ways to choose which projection to use:
- Consult the map hanging above computer 3 in the GIS computer lab. Find the UTM zone where your area of interest is located and choose the projection that corresponds with this zone in the UTM folder.
- Use the search tool to search the country of your area of interest and choose a reasonable projection from the search results.
- Navigate to the National Grids folder and find the folder for the country where your area of interest is located. Choose a suitable projection from this folder.
- Run the projection on one layer first to make sure that it works.
- If this process is successful, use the projection on all layers using the Batch Project tool.
Now, you are ready to export to CAD.