Scale issues with Google Roads XYZ tiles in QGIS layout

Question

I am trying to include Google Roads as XYZ Tiles in QGIS in a map that I want to export as PDF as a Layout.

Google roads features and the text looks ok on QGIS and in the Layout, however, after I export the map, the text is very small (tiny) in the PDF. I played with the map scale, and when I exported the map with a 1:100 up to 1:1000 scales it is ok, but it is quite small for 1:1000 to 1:3000 scales and almost impossible to read for anything larger. I have tried to change the properties but nothing works for the exported PDF.

I looked for info online, like the following posts

OpenLayers low resolution and/or shifts in QGIS print composer?

Print composer problems Qgis 2.8 Wien with Google Satellite

Problem with print composer when exporting a map with Google Maps Plugin in the background

but most of them are related to issues when the maps are brought through the OpenLayers Plugin or QuickMapServices. I imported Google Roads as XYZ Tiles, as I find it easier, but do not know how to adjust the scales in the output in this case. Does anyone know how to do this?

Answer 1

Increasing text size for readability

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

Note: Answer is a duplicate of that to a similar question:

https://gis.stackexchange.com/a/411218/142513

I added it here because it might be useful for future reference

Answer 2

This depends of the export settings, especially the resolution. QGIS sets the default resolution to 300dpi, so the rendering process will ask the Server for 300dpi images. You can play around with the values and you will see the different results with the google street layer.