Description
QGIS installer for your operating system, available from the QGIS websiteLinks to an external site.
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GEOG 360: GIS & Mapping
Instructions:
1. We will start by downloading and installing QGIS. Go to www.qgis.org and click on the
“Download Now” button of the QGIS homepage.
a. The QGIS website should be able to detect what type of operating system you
have on your computer and direct you to the right section, but if it doesn’t, click
on the appropriate section (Download for Windows, Download for macOS, etc.).
b. Follow the instructions provided to download the “Long term release” version of
QGIS.
TIP: There will be two options provided: one that is labeled “Latest release
(richest in features)” and another that is labeled “Long term release (most
stable).” Because the “Long term release” has been much better tested for bugs,
that is the version we will be using in this course.
c. Once you have downloaded QGIS, go ahead and install it on your computer by
clicking install and following the prompts provided.
Unable to download QGIS on your computer?
If you can’t download QGIS on your computer, the other option is to use a remote
desktop connection. This simply means you use a program on your computer to connect
to another computer (for us, a computer on the UW campus) using the internet. As a
geography student, you can set up an account with the Center for Studies in Demography
and Ecology for remote access computing. You can find information and instructions for
how to request an account and connect to the terminal servers at
https://csde.washington.edu/computing/resources/. Once you have set up a CSDE
account and followed their instructions for connecting to the terminal server, you can
then use your computer to run QGIS through CSDE’s servers (i.e. you are running QGIS
on their computer, but accessing it using your screen, keyboard, and mouse).
2. Open QGIS.
a. Every time you open it, there will be a tip of the day. If you wish, check the box
to disable it or feel free to read through it.
b. You will notice that the screen that first appears has a number of panels and
toolbars. The largest window is your mapping window. On the left-hand side
there is also a ‘Browser’ panel and a ‘Layers’ panel.
GEOG 360: GIS & Mapping
TIP: If you don’t see the Browser panel or Layers panel it is possible that they are
not turned on. To turn them on, simply click View → Panels and then select those
panels. You can also turn them on by right clicking on the empty space in the
toolbars at the top of your screen and checking the boxes for each panel.
c. Take a few minutes to check out some of the tools in the toolbars at the top of
your screen. You can hover over a tool with your mouse and it will tell you what
it is. As you become more familiar with QGIS over the course of the quarter, you
will learn what the important tool symbols are.
TIP: You can also add additional toolbars by going to View → Toolbars and
clicking on the toolbars you want to add or by right clicking in the empty space in
the toolbar area. Additionally, most of the tools that you see in the toolbars can
also be found under the various dropdown menus at the top (ex. Layer, Settings,
Plugins, Vector, Raster).
3. Always start by saving your file.
a. Map files must be saved in the same relative position to the data you are using.
In order to save space, map files don’t copy the data you bring in into them, but
rather simply links to them. This means that if you have your data and map
stored in the same folder, you can move that folder without issue, but if you
have them stored in different places and/or you move one and not the other,
you can break the link between the data and the map and the map will not be
able to render. As such, I highly recommend saving all of your work and data in a
single folder for this class (you can have subfolders within that if you like) so that
if you need to move to a different computer, you can simply move the whole
folder together.
b. To save your file, click ‘Project’ in the top menu bar and select ‘Save As.’ Give it a
name and save it to the folder you have dedicated to your GIS work for this class.
TIP: In the future, if you want to open that file, you would click “Project” and
then “Open” and navigate to the file you wish to work on.
4. Now, let’s create a map.
a. In the ‘Browser’ panel (likely on the left-hand side of your screen), scroll toward
the bottom and you’ll see something listed that says ‘XYZ Tiles.’ If you click on it,
you’ll see ‘OpenStreetMap’ appear underneath. Double click on
‘OpenStreetMap’ (or click and drag it into your ‘Layers’ panel).
GEOG 360: GIS & Mapping
b. You should see a world map appear in your mapping window. Notice that when
your cursor is over the map your cursor turns into a hand. Play around with
clicking and dragging the map to move it around.
c. We can also zoom in and out. If you have a scroll wheel on your mouse, you can
use it to zoom in and out. You can also use the magnifying glass buttons with +
and – on them in your toolbar to turn your cursor into a tool for zooming in (+) or
zooming out (-).
TIP: If you zoom in/out or scroll so far that you lose your map, you can find it
again by right clicking on the layer (in this case OpenStreetMap) in the Layers
panel and selecting “Zoom to Layer”.
5. We can add data onto this map.
a. Download the Lab 1 Data folder from Canvas.
i. Once you have the data folder downloaded, you’ll have to unzip it (on a
Mac just double click it, on a Windows PC, right click on it and click
“Extract All…”).
ii. Save the entire unzipped Lab 1 Data folder in the folder where you saved
your map earlier (hopefully, a designated folder for your GIS work in this
class).
iii. Now open that folder and take a look at what is there. You’ll notice that
each item has multiple components, each with a different file extension
(ex. .shp, .prj, .dbf, etc.). These are the different components of a
shapefile. A shapefile is a digital vector file that stores the geographic
location of points, lines, or polygons and their associated information.
We will open our shapefile from within QGIS, so don’t try to open any of
these components, but do pay attention to the fact that each shapefile is
comprised of multiple components which have to stay together. This is
why it is so important for GIS data to be well organized and to be saved
somewhere where these files can stay together (i.e. in your folder for this
class). Go ahead and close the folder and return to QGIS.
b. Now, let’s add those shapefiles to QGIS.
i. In the Browser panel, navigate to wherever your stored your folder for
this class and then to the Countries shapefile. When you find it either
double click on the Countries shapefile or click and drag it into your
Layers panel. Notice that while there are a lot of files in the Lab 1 Data
GEOG 360: GIS & Mapping
folder that comprise the Countries shapefile, you are only seeing one
version (Countries.shp) when you navigate to it through QGIS.
ii. Once you have added the Countries shapefile, you should see all of he
world’s countries appear on top of your OpenStreetMap base map.
iii. Go ahead and repeat this process (step i above) to add the States
shapefile to your map.
6. Let’s adjust the colors on our map.
a. QGIS will randomly assign a color to each shapefile you bring in, but you can
change that color yourself by right clicking on the Countries layer in the Layers
panel and selecting ‘Properties.’
b. Notice that there are a whole host of tabs down the left-hand side of the popup
window. We will use more of them later in the quarter, but for now, we want
the one that says “Symbology” and has an image of a paintbrush.
c. In here you can change the color by clicking on the color swatch after the word
‘Color’ about a third of the way down the window. You can also adjust the
transparency or opacity of your countries using the scale just above the color
menu. You’ll also see some options for symbols that have some gradation or
texture part way down the pop-up window. Spend a few minutes playing around
with the different options until you have found a color you like. Once you have,
click “OK in the bottom right.
d. Repeat this process (steps a-c above) with the States shapefile.
TIP: If your map disappears when you click “OK,” try clicking the “Zoom Full”
button (a magnifying glass with three arrows pointing out from it) in your
toolbar.
7. Now let’s add some map elements
a. Map elements are things like a scale bar, north arrow, title, legend, etc. In QGIS,
we add this using what is called a “Print Layout.” You can create a new print
layout by either clicking on the “New Print Layout” button (next to the save
button in your toolbar) or by clicking “Project” in the menu at the top of your
screen and selecting “New Print Layout.”
b. This will open a new window where you can professionalize your map. You will
have to give it a name before it lets you start. Feel free to name it whatever you
like.
GEOG 360: GIS & Mapping
TIP: If you ever close the Print Layout window and want to get back to it, click
“Project” in the top menu, click “Layouts” and select the name you assigned the
map you want to work on.
c. Once you have your Print Layout window open, you should see a blank page in
your main composition window. To add your map to the page, click on the “Add
new map” button in the column on the left-hand side of the screen (it looks like
a paper scroll with a green plus sign in the lower right corner). Nothing will
happen, but you can now click and drag a rectangle onto the page to position
your map. When you release your cursor, your map should show up and will
now be listed under Items in the window on the right-hand side of the screen.
d. Use the buttons on the left-hand side to add a legend, scale bar, text, etc.
Notice that as you insert things they appear in the Items window on the righthand side of the screen. If you click on them, the Items Properties window
(under the Items window on the right-hand side) will give you a lot of options to
adjust the settings of each map element. Take some time to play around with
the settings.
e. Remember to save often (simply click the save button).
TIP: Notice that you have an orange “Undo” arrow in your toolbar that can come
in handy if you make a change that you don’t like.
f. We will talk more about best practices in how to incorporate map elements, the
significance of colors, etc. as the quarter progresses. For now our primary goal is
for you to start feeling comfortable with a few of the common tools in QGIS, so
when you are done experimenting, go ahead and export your map to submit on
Canvas.
i. In the layout window, click on the “Export as image” button at the top of
the window (it is the one next to the printer icon, but remember that
hovering over a button will tell you it’s name). Note that once you export
it, you can’t easily make changes to the exported file, so be sure to save
the map document as well before closing QGIS.
ii. Embed your map image in the submission portal on Canvas. As this lab is
simply about experimentation, if your map includes the OpenStreetMap
basemap, the Countries shapefile, the States shapefile, and at least two
map elements (legend, scale bar, text, etc.) you will earn full points.
GEOG 360: GIS & Mapping
Skill Development Lab 1 Rubric
Criteria
Map
Ratings
20 pts.
15 pts.
10 pts.
0 pts.
Submitted Map
Demonstrates
QGIS
Experimentation
Map submitted,
includes
basemap, both
shapefiles, and
at least two map
elements
Map submitted,
shows clear
effort, but does
not include all
required
elements
Map submitted,
but lacking
major elements
(shapefiles,
basemap, map
elements).
No map
submitted.
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