This is a simple user guide for those with no previous knowledge of geographic information systems (GIS).
This guide will introduce users to downloading OS OpenDataâ„¢, creating simple maps with Quantum GIS (QGIS), and exporting the map as a PDF or JPEG file.
The aim of this exercise is to produce a map of Southampton at a scale of 1:20 000.
OS VectorMap® District (Vector) format is updated twice a year and is appropriate for maps of scale 1:15 000-1:30 000. If a greater level of detail is required we recommend OS VectorMap Local.
For more information on OS VectorMap District go to the product's overview and technical specification pages.
The topics covered in this guide include:
Once you are happy with the scale and position of your map, click Project > New Print Composer.
A window will open asking for an ID/Title, however it is not required. Click OK.
A new window will open showing a blank page. To insert the map from QGIS click on ‘Add new map’ (see below).
Left click and then drag a rectangle to select the dimension of the added map. Once added the position of the map within the frame can be adjusted by selecting ‘Move item content’ (see above).
Click on ‘Item Properties’ on the task bar on the right. The specific scale can be selected here, and if you scroll down there are several other options including ‘Position and Size’. Here the dimensions of the map on the page can be adjusted in millimetres. Careful, as when altering the position and size the scale will also change.
Once you are happy with the image you can export the map as an image or a PDF by selecting ‘Export as image’ or ‘Export as PDF’ respectively (see below). And save within an appropriate folder.
Your final JPEG image should looks similar to this:
Firstly OS VectorMap District (Vector) format needs to be downloaded from the OS Data Hub
Scroll to OS VectorMap District, ensure that the data type is Vector. Select grid reference square using the two letter reference list. Southampton lies in the SU grid reference square, so SU has been selected from the reference list.
Here is a larger image of the National Grid Reference squares:
Tick the box for Download (as seen in download page image). Scroll down to the bottom of the page and click Next.
Fill in the details required and you will receive an email with a link to download the data as a .zip file. Save to a designated folder. Once the download is complete, extract the file.
Now you should have a data folder with the all the components as SHX, SHP, PRJ and DRB files.
As the download doesn’t come with Styled Layer Descriptors (SLDs), these need to be downloaded from the Ordnance Survey GitHub: https://github.com/OrdnanceSurvey/OS-VectorMap-District-stylesheets
On the webpage click ‘Download ZIP’.
Save the file. Once downloaded, extract the file and this will create a folder which contains both ESRI Shapefile stylesheets and GML stylesheets. Later we will be using the ESRI Shapefile stylesheets.
For each layer present in the data the colours have been assigned randomly. To make the map legible the Styled Layer Descriptors can be applied to each layer.
To do this first right click on the ‘SU_Woodland’ layer and select ‘Properties’.
This will open a new window. Make sure the ‘Style’ tab on the left is selected.
Click ‘Load Style’ and a new window will open, navigate to the downloaded stylesheet folders
OS-VectorMap-District-stylesheets-master > ESRI Shapefile stylesheets > QGIS stylesheets (QML) > Full Colour style and select the Woodland QML file and click ‘Open’.
Repeat this for each layer selecting the respective QML file for each layer.
For maximum legibility rearrange the order of the layers to match the image below:
By clicking on the box next to the layer name the layer can be included or removed from the map.
The resultant map should look similar to this:
The map is most functional for scales 1:15 000-1:30 000. For this tutorial we want a map of an area of Southampton at a scale of 1:20 000. Use the ‘Pan tool’, ‘Zoom in’ and ‘Zoom out’ to position the map over Southampton at an appropriate scale, or alternatively set the scale of the map by typing in the scale bar, which is at the bottom of the screen.
• The map should now look similar to this:
Open QGIS from Start > All Programs > QGIS Brighton > QGIS Desktop 2.6.1
To add the OS VectorMap. Select ‘Add vector layer’ from the application toolbar
Click ‘Browse’ and navigate to the data folder OSVectorMapDistrict (ESRI Shape File)SU > data.
Click on the drop down menu next to File name and select ESRI shapefiles (*.shp, *.SHP).
Select all the shape files and click ‘Open’. Now you should have a map that looks similar to this:
Once open you can move about and investigate the map using some of these tools:
Pan tool Zoom in/Zoom out
To restore the image to its original view, right click on one of the vector layers and click ‘Zoom to layer’.
