QGIS tips and tricks
Our topic: QGIS tips and tricks
Beginners are always welcome
In some ways, learning QGIS from scratch is easier than moving to it from another program - you’re not going to tripped up by what you think you know. We’re going to create a map with multiple points on top of a simple choropleth map - with an eye to a few things that might make you stop and waste time searching for simple answers. Tim Broderick, who works for the Daily Herald, will be leading this event.
What we will do
- Remember projections. In ESRI, if you import a layer with a different projection than the one you currently have, a dialog pops up and it automatically applies the default projection. It’s amazing how I’ve become accustomed to this - QGIS simply places the layers with two different projections and leaves you to figure out why your points aren’t showing up on your map. They’re there, but they’re in Nova Scotia because you didn’t set their projection.
- Exporting from Mac Excel. This one was kind of weird, and I actually got a response from one of the QGIS developers. When you export out data that you want to use in QGIS from Mac Excel, you need to save it as Windows CSV. Otherwise QGIS won’t pick up the values as comma-separated and will import as one long string.
- Creating a CSVT file. Never heard of this before I started with QGIS. But to ensure the data is the right type (string, integer etc) you need to have a CSVT file right next to it.
- Creating a custom color palette. The tutorial series I pointed out is a little out of date regarding this.
- Saving as SVG (for print) with the ability to edit the text. If you’re setting this up to open and edit in Illustrator for print, you need to make sure the text is editable. Especially if you use open source items, because there can be spelling errors or other oddities (like special characters that might not work right depending on the font you use).
You will need
Event Details:
- When: Tuesday, June 14, 7:30 PM to 9 PM (come at 6 PM if you want food)
- Where: ChiHackNight, Braintree office, 8th floor, Merchandise Mart
- Contact: Emily Zvolanek or Steven Vance.
Join us: Tuesday, Jun 14 2016