QGIS Custom Style XYZ Google maps label is too small or blurry for high resolution printing

Question

I am trying to print a map with one of the layer I use Google Maps data for street name label by using QGIS, since Google has more detail and complete street name label than OSM, but the problem is the Google map text is too small for high resolution printing. I usually export the document at 300dpi minimum, but the Google text is too small for normal reading.

I use below xyz tilemaps of google based data, below xyz url will display only google street name label, which later i combined with other map layer to compose for print.

https://maps.googleapis.com/maps/vt?pb=!1m4!1m3!1i{z}!2i{x}!3i{y}!1m4!1m3!1i11!2i1628!3i1059!1m4!1m3!1i11!2i1629!3i1058!1m4!1m3!1i11!2i1629!3i1059!1m4!1m3!1i11!2i1630!3i1058!1m4!1m3!1i11!2i1630!3i1059!1m4!1m3!1i11!2i1631!3i1058!1m4!1m3!1i11!2i1631!3i1059!1m4!1m3!1i11!2i1628!3i1060!1m4!1m3!1i11!2i1628!3i1061!1m4!1m3!1i11!2i1629!3i1060!1m4!1m3!1i11!2i1629!3i1061!1m4!1m3!1i11!2i1630!3i1060!1m4!1m3!1i11!2i1630!3i1061!1m4!1m3!1i11!2i1631!3i1060!1m4!1m3!1i11!2i1631!3i1061!2m3!1e0!2sm!3i536258950!3m17!2sen!3sUS!5e18!12m4!1e68!2m2!1sset!2sRoadmap!12m3!1e37!2m1!1ssmartmaps!12m4!1e26!2m2!1sstyles!2zcC52Om9mZixzLnQ6M3xzLmU6bHxwLnY6b24scy50OjN8cy5lOmwudC5mfHAuYzojZmYwMDAwMDAscy50OjN8cy5lOmwudC5zfHAudjpvZmY!4e0

My workaround is by locking the zoom level. For example, if I want to print A3 size document, zoom level 16 is enough for the street label coverage. And then I will compose separate document which is only consist of the Google Maps street name label, but with the half of the A3 size, like A4 or quarter of A3 size like A5, but I will make the dpi larger like 1200 for the A4 or 3000dpi for the A5, and then export it as PNG files and then place that smaller file on top the large document and resize it to fit the larger document.

With this trick, the text can be read easier, but still the text quality is not sharp enough and blurry.

Is it possible to render Google Maps data in much higher resolution? In order to get larger text? If yes, then how to implement it on above xyz url?

here i added a file generated in 96dpi as requested by Erik https://drive.google.com/file/d/1_NB6YttUdaO6My-tS5ZZDv76ltL_My2_/view?usp=sharing the layers supposed to be transparent, but i add white background for easier reading.

Answer 1

Use scale=2

to obtain something like this (pdf output from the Layout manager):

create a new connection with the following additional parameters:

&size=200x200&scale=2

for example:

https://mt1.google.com/vt/lyrs=r&x={x}&y={y}&z={z}&size=200x200&scale=2

vs:

the default value of scale is "1", and accepted values are "1" or "2".

Reference:

https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/maps-static/start#URL_Parameters

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Another non-answer which could save you from useless efforts.

I went a slightly different route, that of looking how to increase the size of text elements via API/styling. After doing some research, unfortunately I found out that label sizes are not editable using Google Maps' styles.

References:

1. text styling is not foreseen int the API: https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/maps-static/start and https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/maps-static/styling

2. nor in the visual style editor: https://mapstyle.withgoogle.com/

You can show/hide labels, apply different colors and all effects foreseen within the styler, and even only the text, rendering only the label backdrop, but I found no option to increase text size.

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Lastly, I found this nifty encoder for creating apistyle-compliant URLs:

https://github.com/julienben/gmaps-apistyle-encoder