[Qgis-user] Print Composer: Best Practices

Fri Jul 27 16:49:06 PDT 2012

Thanks to all who responded (and who may yet still). I'll try out the
various tricks.

I have used a variety of PDF printers but still get issues with color and
crispness (understanding that a autumn-crisp image will be a large file).

And I take back what I said about print composer being "useless" -- I just
didn't pay attention to how it was working. I saw the legend wasn't the
same in reloads, and assumed the rest was jacked up, too. Now I see it just
adds layers you might have excluded from the legend before. My bad!

-Gordon

On Thu, Jul 26, 2012 at 12:44 PM, Chris Henrick <chrishenrick at gmail.com>wrote:

> I heard a rumor a while back that someone was developing a plug-in to link
> QGIS to Inkscape, anyone know if this is true? I'm a print cartographer and work
> primarily in Adobe Illustrator, a program which is made for vector graphic
> design, with the Mapublisher plug-in, which allows you to bring in GIS data
> and keep it's attribute and spatial properties (ie you're not limited to
> importing SVGs). In my workflow I do use QGIS and GDAL/ogr2ogr to prep my
> data before hand. You can then use Illustrator's vastly rich text and
> graphic formatting tools to make really beautifully detailed or well
> designed simple maps fairly easily. It would be great to see an opensource
> equivalent plugin for QGIS to Inkscape.
>
> -Chris
>
>
> On Wed, Jul 25, 2012 at 11:01 PM, <qgis-user-request at lists.osgeo.org>wrote:
>
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>> Today's Topics:
>>
>>    1. working with google earth (john raskulinecz)
>>    2. Print Composer: Best Practices (Gordon Lane)
>>    3. Re: Print Composer: Best Practices (Alex Mandel)
>>    4. Re: Print Composer: Best Practices (pcreso at pcreso.com)
>>    5. QGIS on Android and Offline Google Maps (Saber Razmjooei)
>>
>>
>> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>> Message: 1
>> Date: Wed, 25 Jul 2012 14:40:51 -0700
>> From: john raskulinecz <jerasku at hotmail.com>
>> To: "qgis-user at lists.osgeo.org" <qgis-user at lists.osgeo.org>
>> Subject: [Qgis-user] working with google earth
>> Message-ID: <SNT143-W56713FE085B2A9CB3FE663BEC30 at phx.gbl>
>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
>>
>>
>> Dear List,
>>   I've seen this discussed before and tried to follow the links but still
>> do not know how, or if it's
>> possible, to load Google earth layers into a Qgis project. Any ideas
>> about how to make the two interactive
>> would be great.
>> Thanks in advance
>> John Rask
>>
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>> ------------------------------
>>
>> Message: 2
>> Date: Wed, 25 Jul 2012 22:49:15 -0400
>> From: Gordon Lane <gwslane at gmail.com>
>> To: qgis-user at lists.osgeo.org
>> Subject: [Qgis-user] Print Composer: Best Practices
>> Message-ID:
>>         <
>> CAH7AP9t1BV9z0+T8C9RiW2rYJQY0Wd5HN9dV1zvj7qmLEjpwaA at mail.gmail.com>
>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
>>
>>
>> Dear List:
>>
>> I'll give an overview of a general problem here, then ask for your
>> personal
>> Best Practices.
>>
>> I use GIS in a professional setting but am not a GIS professional. I
>> learned ArcGIS at school and am now trying to transition to the world of
>> QGIS. At the moment I typically deal with displaying data, and not so much
>> with analysis.
>>
>> My major problem is trying to export a good quality map. I typically make
>> maps for small-scale areas (50 sq. miles or so, with secondary maps for <1
>> sq. mi. details) for decision-making support. These maps aren't fancy, but
>> orthos are standard additions to make them accessible to the end-users.
>>
>> I have played and tested and cajoled various outputs from Print Composer,
>> and still can't find a good workflow for a final product. The legends
>> typically are washed-out. The PDF files are waaaay to big (even with res
>> set at ~150 dpi), and load in a piecemeal fashion. PNG files are smaller
>> than TIFs, but sometimes still too big to email, and don't make legends
>> any
>> better. Some of this is because I have an old computer. But not all.
>>
>> Additionally, I have not found a way to deal with differences in legend
>> colors and shapefile colors when a transparency is set, and have not found
>>
>> a way to save anything more than a "template" print composer, which on
>> reload is essentially useless.
>>
>> So, Best Practices. None of the above have singular solutions. I'm hoping,
>> however, that you might be able to give a perspective on the *workflow*
>> that *you* use to export maps for consumption. I.e., you religiously use
>> one file format vs. another, or have some other settings, or always export
>> to another program.
>>
>> Looking forward to hear how you work!
>>
>> Thanks,
>>
>> -Gordon Lane
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>> ------------------------------
>>
>> Message: 3
>> Date: Wed, 25 Jul 2012 21:06:31 -0700
>> From: Alex Mandel <tech_dev at wildintellect.com>
>> To: Qgis-user at lists.osgeo.org
>>
>> Subject: Re: [Qgis-user] Print Composer: Best Practices
>> Message-ID: <5010C247.1020708 at wildintellect.com>
>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
>>
>>
>> On 07/25/2012 07:49 PM, Gordon Lane wrote:
>> > Dear List:
>> >
>> > I'll give an overview of a general problem here, then ask for your
>> personal
>> > Best Practices.
>> >
>> > I use GIS in a professional setting but am not a GIS professional. I
>> > learned ArcGIS at school and am now trying to transition to the world of
>> > QGIS. At the moment I typically deal with displaying data, and not so
>> much
>> > with analysis.
>> >
>> > My major problem is trying to export a good quality map. I typically
>> make
>> > maps for small-scale areas (50 sq. miles or so, with secondary maps for
>> <1
>> > sq. mi. details) for decision-making support. These maps aren't fancy,
>> but
>> > orthos are standard additions to make them accessible to the end-users.
>> >
>> > I have played and tested and cajoled various outputs from Print
>> Composer,
>> > and still can't find a good workflow for a final product. The legends
>> > typically are washed-out. The PDF files are waaaay to big (even with res
>> > set at ~150 dpi), and load in a piecemeal fashion. PNG files are smaller
>> > than TIFs, but sometimes still too big to email, and don't make legends
>> any
>> > better. Some of this is because I have an old computer. But not all.
>> >
>> > Additionally, I have not found a way to deal with differences in legend
>> > colors and shapefile colors when a transparency is set, and have not
>> found
>>
>> > a way to save anything more than a "template" print composer, which on
>> > reload is essentially useless.
>> >
>> > So, Best Practices. None of the above have singular solutions. I'm
>> hoping,
>> > however, that you might be able to give a perspective on the *workflow*
>> > that *you* use to export maps for consumption. I.e., you religiously use
>> > one file format vs. another, or have some other settings, or always
>> export
>> > to another program.
>> >
>> > Looking forward to hear how you work!
>> >
>> > Thanks,
>> >
>> > -Gordon Lane
>> >
>> >
>>
>> Here is one possible workflow, I and several others use (and we taught
>> in a cartography class a couple of years ago).
>>
>> QGIS -> Print Composer -> SVG or PDF (Sometimes with SimpleSVG plugin)
>> -> Inkscape
>>
>> Sadly SimpleSVG export does not support the New Symbology or New
>> Labeling engine. And PDF also has issues with labels not being preserved
>> as text which makes them really hard to edit in the next step.
>>
>> Final output is usually PDF (Standalone or printing), though depending
>> on where it's going Tiff or PNG(web)
>>
>> Once you have a PDF or Tiff you can easily eye dropper the fill and then
>> bucket fill the legend color boxes to match using GIMP or Inkscape.
>>
>> If your page size is big and you want quality your files will be big.
>> The best answer then is use a file hosting service and send people links
>> to download the PDF.
>>
>> The alternate workflow I've been exploring lately is:
>> QGIS data prep
>> Tilemill styling (Using CSS)
>> Mapnik for output or as the base for online tiles.
>>
>>
>> Now some examples, everyone started with Arc or QGIS and Finished with
>> Inkscape or Illustrator. I'll let you guess which was done with what.
>> http://geography.ucdavis.edu/gallery/classes/geo-290-f10-cartography
>>
>> Enjoy,
>> Alex
>>
>>
>> ------------------------------
>>
>> Message: 4
>> Date: Wed, 25 Jul 2012 21:44:53 -0700 (PDT)
>> From: pcreso at pcreso.com
>> To: Qgis-user at lists.osgeo.org
>>
>> Subject: Re: [Qgis-user] Print Composer: Best Practices
>> Message-ID:
>>         <1343277893.57245.YahooMailClassic at web122006.mail.ne1.yahoo.com>
>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
>>
>>
>> My preferred print composer is not part of QGIS.
>>
>> For Open Source cartography GMT (Generic Mapping Tools) is hard to beat.
>> Impeded by an arcane command line interface which suits technophiles... but
>> delivers outstanding printed maps. If you have pretty repeatable
>> requirements, such as as described by Gordon, it can be worth spending some
>> time setting up some template scripts which can be reused as required.
>>
>> See (example outputs below the scripts):
>> http://gmt.soest.hawaii.edu/gmt/html/GMT_Docs.html#x1-1360007.10
>> http://gmt.soest.hawaii.edu/gmt/html/GMT_Docs.html#x1-1490007.23
>> http://gmt.soest.hawaii.edu/gmt/html/GMT_Docs.html#x1-1480007.22
>> http://gmt.soest.hawaii.edu/gmt/html/GMT_Docs.html#x1-1520007.26
>> http://gmt.soest.hawaii.edu/gmt/html/GMT_Docs.html#x1-1540007.28
>> http://gmt.soest.hawaii.edu/gmt/html/GMT_Docs.html#x1-1350007.9
>>
>> GMT can create georeferenced bitmaps (with world files) so can generate
>> very good imagery for use with QGIS. It can also be used (via OGR & GDAL)
>> to compose maps from the same source data viewed in QGIS, so can be used as
>> a standalone cartographic tool for poster & scientific quality maps
>> alongside QGIS.
>>
>> Cheers,
>>
>> ?? Brent Wood
>>
>>
>>
>> --- On Thu, 7/26/12, Alex Mandel <tech_dev at wildintellect.com> wrote:
>>
>> From: Alex Mandel <tech_dev at wildintellect.com>
>> Subject: Re: [Qgis-user] Print Composer: Best Practices
>> To: Qgis-user at lists.osgeo.org
>> Date: Thursday, July 26, 2012, 4:06 PM
>>
>> On 07/25/2012 07:49 PM, Gordon Lane wrote:
>> > Dear List:
>> >
>> > I'll give an overview of a general problem here, then ask for your
>> personal
>> > Best Practices.
>> >
>> > I use GIS in a professional setting but am not a GIS professional. I
>> > learned ArcGIS at school and am now trying to transition to the world of
>> > QGIS. At the moment I typically deal with displaying data, and not so
>> much
>> > with analysis.
>> >
>> > My major problem is trying to export a good quality map. I typically
>> make
>> > maps for small-scale areas (50 sq. miles or so, with secondary maps for
>> <1
>> > sq. mi. details) for decision-making support. These maps aren't fancy,
>> but
>> > orthos are standard additions to make them accessible to the end-users.
>> >
>> > I have played and tested and cajoled various outputs from Print
>> Composer,
>> > and still can't find a good workflow for a final product. The legends
>> > typically are washed-out. The PDF files are waaaay to big (even with res
>> > set at ~150 dpi), and load in a piecemeal fashion. PNG files are smaller
>> > than TIFs, but sometimes still too big to email, and don't make legends
>> any
>> > better. Some of this is because I have an old computer. But not all.
>> >
>> > Additionally, I have not found a way to deal with differences in legend
>> > colors and shapefile colors when a transparency is set, and have not
>> found
>>
>> > a way to save anything more than a "template" print composer, which on
>> > reload is essentially useless.
>> >
>> > So, Best Practices. None of the above have singular solutions. I'm
>> hoping,
>> > however, that you might be able to give a perspective on the *workflow*
>> > that *you* use to export maps for consumption. I.e., you religiously use
>> > one file format vs. another, or have some other settings, or always
>> export
>> > to another program.
>> >
>> > Looking forward to hear how you work!
>> >
>> > Thanks,
>> >
>> > -Gordon Lane
>> >
>> >
>>
>> Here is one possible workflow, I and several others use (and we taught
>> in a cartography class a couple of years ago).
>>
>> QGIS -> Print Composer -> SVG or PDF (Sometimes with SimpleSVG plugin)
>> -> Inkscape
>>
>> Sadly SimpleSVG export does not support the New Symbology or New
>> Labeling engine. And PDF also has issues with labels not being preserved
>> as text which makes them really hard to edit in the next step.
>>
>> Final output is usually PDF (Standalone or printing), though depending
>> on where it's going Tiff or PNG(web)
>>
>> Once you have a PDF or Tiff you can easily eye dropper the fill and then
>> bucket fill the legend color boxes to match using GIMP or Inkscape.
>>
>> If your page size is big and you want quality your files will be big.
>> The best answer then is use a file hosting service and send people links
>> to download the PDF.
>>
>> The alternate workflow I've been exploring lately is:
>> QGIS data prep
>> Tilemill styling (Using CSS)
>> Mapnik for output or as the base for online tiles.
>>
>>
>> Now some examples, everyone started with Arc or QGIS and Finished with
>> Inkscape or Illustrator. I'll let you guess which was done with what.
>> http://geography.ucdavis.edu/gallery/classes/geo-290-f10-cartography
>>
>> Enjoy,
>> Alex
>> _______________________________________________
>> Qgis-user mailing list
>> Qgis-user at lists.osgeo.org
>> http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/qgis-user
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>> ------------------------------
>>
>> Message: 5
>> Date: Thu, 26 Jul 2012 07:00:54 +0100
>> From: Saber Razmjooei <saber.razmjooei at lutraconsulting.co.uk>
>> To: Qgis-user at lists.osgeo.org
>> Subject: [Qgis-user] QGIS on Android and Offline Google Maps
>> Message-ID: <1343282454.2591.11.camel at ioio>
>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8"
>>
>> Dear list,
>>
>> The recent version of Google Maps made it possible to cache maps locally
>> to use offline.
>>
>> Has anyone had any luck reading them in QGIS? I tried to search around
>> but apparently it is not supported in gdal yet.
>>
>> Cheers
>> Saber
>>
>>
>>
>>
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