You're reading from Learn QGIS - Fourth Edition

Product typeBook

Published inNov 2018

Reading LevelBeginner

PublisherPackt

ISBN-139781788997423

Edition4th Edition

Languages

Python

Tools

QGIS

Concepts

Geospatial Analysis

Authors (2):

Andrew Cutts

Anita Graser

View More author details

Running QGIS for the first time

In recent years, QGIS has become the most popular open source desktop GIS software. Some people are using it just to view and query data, while others are using it for much deeper analyses. Maybe you are an ecologist or a town planner needing to use GIS as part of your job. Maybe you have a background in proprietary GIS software and want to migrate some of your common workflows to open source. Or maybe you are a student that needs to use GIS for a project. Whatever your driving reason is for opening this book, welcome to an amazing community that is passionate about open source and GIS.

The following screenshot shows how QGIS 3.4 will look when it is first opened. In this case, there are no recent projects here and the interface is uncustomized:

How QGIS appears once opened for the first time

On the first run, not all toolbars are enabled. You can enable all the default toolbars (meaning the ones not associated with any additional plugins) via Toolbars in the View menu. Set up the QGIS environment according to your personal preferences via the Toolbars option shown in the following screenshot:

Setting the toolbars

Leave the default settings enabled for this book. We will guide you through the toolbars and panels in detail in later sections.

Plugins

Plugins are a unique feature of QGIS. In Chapter 6, Extending QGIS with Python, we will cover how to build your own. Plugins are available to be installed as you need them to enable further analysis. If what you want to do is not available within your current QGIS setup, search in the plugins as someone may have developed a tool to help you reach your solution. To access the Plugins, navigate to Plugins in the menu and then select Manage and Install Plugins:

Opening the Plugins menu

By clicking on the preceding option, the following window will be displayed:

List of plugins currently installed

The Plugins window will display the number of plugins installed in parentheses. In the preceding example, 272 are shown. You can search for plugins in the search box, install or upgrade individual plugins, or Upgrade All. Plugins are activated by ticking the check boxes beside their names. In QGIS 3.4, an icon will appear in the bottom-right corner of the information bar if there are any updates available for the your installed plugins.

For a list of all the available Plugins, including the latest and most popular, navigate to https://plugins.qgis.org/. This is an ever-growing list!

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Authors (2)

Andrew Cutts

Andrew Cutts holds a geography degree and a masters degree in GIS and has almost 20 years of experience in working with geospatial technology. He currently works as a freelance geospatial consultant. He has worked in local government, large multinational companies, and small and medium-sized enterprises. He has run a geospatial blog for almost 3 years and is a co-host of the #scenefromabove podcast. Andrew has spoken at events worldwide on GIS and Earth observation. He is a keen user of Python, especially for rapid prototyping for geospatial challenges. Currently, he is working with clients to maximize their investment with geospatial technology through direct consulting, training, and technical writing.
Read more about Andrew Cutts

Anita Graser

Anita Graser is a spatial data scientist, open source GIS advocate, and author with a background in geographic information science. She is currently working with the Center for Mobility Systems at the Austrian Institute of Technology in Vienna and teaching QGIS classes at UNIGIS Salzburg. She serves on the QGIS project steering committee. and has published several books about QGIS. Furthermore, she develops tools, such as the Time Manager plugin for QGIS. You can follow her on Twitter @underdarkGIS.
Read more about Anita Graser

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