qgis_gui.rst

QGIS GUI

When QGIS starts, you are presented with the GUI as shown below (the numbers 1 through 5 in yellow ovals refer to the six major areas of the interface as discussed below):

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Figure QGIS GUI 1:

QGIS GUI with Alaska sample data

Note

Your window decorations (title bar, etc.) may appear different depending on your operating system and window manager.

The QGIS GUI is divided into five areas:

1. Menu Bar
2. Tool Bar
3. Map Legend
4. Map View
5. Status Bar

These five components of the QGIS interface are described in more detail in the following sections. Two more sections present keyboard shortcuts and context help.

Menu Bar

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The menu bar provides access to various QGIS features using a standard hierarchical menu. The top-level menus and a summary of some of the menu options are listed below, together with the icons of the corresponding tools as they appear on the toolbar, as well as keyboard shortcuts. Keyboard shortcuts can also be configured manually (shortcuts presented in this section are the defaults), using the [Configure Shortcuts] tool under Settings.

Although most menu options have a corresponding tool and vice-versa, the menus are not organized quite like the toolbars. The toolbar containing the tool is listed after each menu option as a checkbox entry. Some menu options only appear, if the corresponding plugin is loaded. For more information about tools and toolbars, see Section label_toolbars.

File

Menu Option	Shortcut	Reference	Toolbar
New Project	Ctrl+N	see sec_projects	File
Open Project	Ctrl+O	see sec_projects	File
Open Recent Projects -->		see sec_projects
Save Project	Ctrl+S	see sec_projects	File
Save Project As	Ctrl+Shift+S	see sec_projects	File
Save as Image		see sec_output
New Print Composer	Ctrl+P	see label_printcomposer	File
Composer manager		see label_printcomposer	File
Print Composers -->		see label_printcomposer
Exit	Ctrl+Q

Edit

Menu Option	Shortcut	Reference	Toolbar
Undo	Ctrl+Z	see sec_advanced_edit	Advanced Digitizing
Redo	Ctrl+Shift+Z	see sec_advanced_edit	Advanced Digitizing
Cut Features	Ctrl+X	see sec_edit_existing_layer	Digitizing
Copy Features	Ctrl+C	see sec_edit_existing_layer	Digitizing
Paste Features	Ctrl+V	see sec_edit_existing_layer	Digitizing
Add Feature	Ctrl+.	see sec_edit_existing_layer	Digitizing
Move Feature(s)		see sec_edit_existing_layer	Digitizing
Delete Selected		see sec_edit_existing_layer	Digitizing
Simplify Feature		see sec_advanced_edit	Advanced Digitizing
Add Ring		see sec_advanced_edit	Advanced Digitizing
Add Part		see sec_advanced_edit	Advanced Digitizing
Delete Ring		see sec_advanced_edit	Advanced Digitizing
Delete Part		see sec_advanced_edit	Advanced Digitizing
Reshape Features		see sec_advanced_edit	Advanced Digitizing
Offset Curves		see sec_advanced_edit	Advanced Digitizing
Split Features		see sec_advanced_edit	Advanced Digitizing
Merge selected Features		see sec_advanced_edit	Advanced Digitizing
Merge attr. of selected Features		see sec_advanced_edit	Advanced Digitizing
Node Tool		see sec_edit_existing_layer	Digitizing
Rotate Point Symbols		see sec_advanced_edit	Advanced Digitizing

After activating ^{Toggle editing} mode for a layer, you will find the Add Feature icon in the Edit menu depending on the layer type (point, line or polygon).

Edit (extra)

Menu Option	Shortcut	Reference	Toolbar
Add Feature		see sec_edit_existing_layer	Digitizing
Add Feature		see sec_edit_existing_layer	Digitizing
Add Feature		see sec_edit_existing_layer	Digitizing

View

Menu Option	Shortcut	Reference	Toolbar
Pan Map			Map Navigation
Pan Map to Selection			Map Navigation
Zoom In	Ctrl++		Map Navigation
Zoom Out	Ctrl+-		Map Navigation
Select -->		see sec_selection	Attributes
Identify Features	Ctrl+Shift+I		Attributes
Measure -->		see sec_measure	Attributes
Zoom Full	Ctrl+Shift+F		Map Navigation
Zoom To Layer			Map Navigation
Zoom To Selection	Ctrl+J		Map Navigation
Zoom Last			Map Navigation
Zoom Next			Map Navigation
Zoom Actual Size			Map Navigation
Decorations -->		see decorations
Map Tips			Attributes
New Bookmark	Ctrl+B	see sec_bookmarks	Attributes
Show Bookmarks Refresh	Ctrl+Shift+B Ctrl+R	see sec_bookmarks	Attributes Map Navigation
Tile scale slider		see tilesets	Tile scale

Layer

Menu Option	Shortcut	Reference	Toolbar
New -->		see sec_create_shape	Manage Layers
Embed Layers and Groups ...		see nesting_projects
Add Vector Layer	Ctrl+Shift+V	see label_workingvector	Manage Layers
Add Raster Layer	Ctrl+Shift+R	see load_raster	Manage Layers
Add PostGIS Layer	Ctrl+Shift+D	see label_postgis	Manage Layers
Add SpatiaLite Layer	Ctrl+Shift+L	see label_spatialite	Manage Layers
Add MSSQL Spatial Layer	Ctrl+Shift+M	see label_mssql	Manage Layers
Add WMS Layer	Ctrl+Shift+W	see ogc-wms	Manage Layers
Add Delimited Text Layer		see label_dltext	Manage Layers
Create new GPX layer		see plugin_gps	Manage Layers
Add Oracle GeoRaster layer		see oracle_raster	Manage Layers
Add SQL Anywhere Layer		see sqlanywhere	Manage Layers
Add WFS Layer			Manage Layers
Copy style		see vector_style_tab
Paste style		see vector_style_tab
Open Attribute Table			Attributes
Save edits			Digitizing
Toggle editing			Digitizing
Save as...
Save selection as vector file...		See sec_attribute_table
Remove Layer	Ctrl+D
Set CRS of Layer(s)	Ctrl+Shift+C
Set project CRS from Layer
Properties
Query...
Labeling
Add to Overview	Ctrl+Shift+O		Manage Layers
Add All To Overview
Remove All From Overview
Show All Layers	Ctrl+Shift+U		Manage Layers
Hide All Layers	Ctrl+Shift+H		Manage Layers

Settings

Menu Option	Shortcut	Reference	Toolbar
Panels -->		see sec_panels_and_toolbars
Toolbars -->		see sec_panels_and_toolbars
Toggle Full Screen Mode	Ctrl-F
Project Properties ...	Ctrl+Shift+P	see sec_projects
Custom CRS ...		see sec_custom_projections
Style Manager...		see vector_style_manager
Configure shortcuts ...
Customization ...		see sec_customization
Options ...		see gui_options
Snapping Options ...

Plugins

Menu Option	Shortcut	Reference	Toolbar
Fetch Python Plugins		see plugins
Manage Plugins		see managing_plugins
Python Console
GRASS -->		see sec_grass	GRASS

Vector

Menu Option	Shortcut	Reference	Toolbar
Analysis Tools -->		see ftools
Coordinate Capture -->		see coordcapt
Data Management Tools -->		see ftools
Dxf2Shp -->		see dxf2shape	Vector
Geometry Tools -->		see ftools
Geoprocessing Tools -->		see ftools
GPS -->		see plugin_gps	Vector
Research Tools -->		see ftools
Road Graph -->		see roadgraph
Spatial Query -->		see spatial_query	Vector

Raster

Menu Option	Shortcut	Reference	Toolbar
Raster calculator		see sec_raster_calc
Georeferencer -->		see georef	Raster
Heatmap -->		see heatmap_plugin	Raster
Interpolation -->		see interpol	Raster
Terrain Analysis		see rasterrain
Zonal Statistics -->		see zonal_statistics	Raster
Projections -->		see label_plugingdaltools
Conversion -->		see label_plugingdaltools
Extraction -->		see label_plugingdaltools
Analysis -->		see label_plugingdaltools
Miscellaneous -->		see label_plugingdaltools
GdalTools settings		see label_plugingdaltools

Database

Menu Option	Shortcut	Reference	Toolbar
DB manager -->		see dbmanager	Database
eVis -->		see evis	Database
Offline Editing -->		see offlinedit	Database
Spit -->		see label_spit	Database

Web

Menu Option	Shortcut	Reference	Toolbar
MapServer Export ... -->		see mapserver_export	Web
OpenStreetMap -->		see plugins_osm	OpenStreetMap

Help

Menu Option	Shortcut	Reference	Toolbar
Help Contents	F1		Help
What's This?	Shift+F1		Help
API Documentation
QGIS Home Page	Ctrl+H
Check QGIS Version
About
QGIS Sponsors

Please not that for Linux the Menu Bar items listed above are the default ones in KDE window manager. In GNOME, Settings menu is missing and its items are to be found here:

Project Properties	File
Options	Edit
Configure Shortcuts	Edit
Style Manager	Edit
Custom CRS	Edit
Panels -->	View
Toolbars -->	View
Toggle Full Screen Mode	View
Tile scale slider	View
Live GPS tracking	View

Toolbar

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The toolbar provides access to most of the same functions as the menus, plus additional tools for interacting with the map. Each toolbar item has popup help available. Hold your mouse over the item and a short description of the tool's purpose will be displayed.

Every menubar can be moved around according to your needs. Additionally every menubar can be switched off using your right mouse button context menu holding the mouse over the toolbars (read also sec_panels_and_toolbars).

single:layout toolbars

Tip

Restoring toolbars

If you have accidentally hidden all your toolbars, you can get them back by choosing menu option Settings --> Toolbars -->. If a toolbar disappears under Windows, which seems to be a problem in QGIS from time to time, you have to remove \HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\QuantumGIS\qgis\UI\state in the registry. When you restart QGIS, the key is written again with the default state, and all toolbars are visible again.

Map Legend

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The map legend area lists all the layers in the project. The checkbox in each legend entry can be used to show or hide the layer.

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A layer can be selected and dragged up or down in the legend to change the z-ordering. Z-ordering means that layers listed nearer the top of the legend are drawn over layers listed lower down in the legend.

Layers in the legend window can be organised into groups. There are two ways to do so:

1. Right click in the legend window and choose Add Group. Type in a name for the group and press Enter. Now click on an existing layer and drag it onto the group.
2. Select some layers, right click in the legend window and choose Group Selected. The selected layers will automatically be placed in a new group.

To bring a layer out of a group you can drag it out, or right click on it and choose Make to toplevel item. Groups can be nested inside other groups.

The checkbox for a group will show or hide all the layers in the group with one click.

The content of the right mouse button context menu depends on whether the selected legend item is a raster or a vector layer. For GRASS vector layers ^{Toggle editing} is not available. See section grass_digitizing for information on editing GRASS vector layers.

Right mouse button menu for raster layers

• Zoom to layer extent
• Zoom to best scale (100 %)
• Show in overview
• Remove
• Set Layer CRS
• Set Project CRS from Layer
• Properties
• Rename
• Copy Style
• Add New Group
• Expand all
• Collapse all
• Update Drawing Order

Additionally, according to layer position and selection

• Make to toplevel item
• Group Selected

Right mouse button menu for vector layers

• Zoom to layer extent
• Show in overview
• Remove
• Set Layer CRS
• Set Project CRS from Layer
• Open attribute table
• Toggle editing (not available for GRASS layers)
• Save as
• Save selection as
• Query
• Show Feature Count
• Properties
• Rename
• Copy Style
• Add New Group
• Expand all
• Collapse all
• Update Drawing Order

Additionally, according to layer position and selection

• Make to toplevel item
• Group Selected

Right mouse button menu for layer groups

• Zoom to group
• Remove
• Set group CRS
• Rename
• Add New Group
• Expand all
• Collapse all
• Update Drawing Order

It is possible to select more than one layer or group at the same time by holding down the Ctrl key while selecting the layers with the left mouse button. You can then move all selected layers to a new group at the same time.

You are also able to delete more than one Layer or Group at once by selecting several Layers with the Ctrl key and pressing Ctrl+D afterwards. This way all selected Layers or groups will be removed from the layerlist.

Working with the Legend independent layer order

Since QGIS 1.8 there is a widget that allows to define a legend independent drawing order. You can activate it in the menu Settings --> Panels. Determine the drawing order of the layers in the map view here. Doing so makes it possible to order your layers in order of importance, for example, but to still display them in the correct order (see figure_layer_order). Checking the control rendering order box underneath the list of layers will cause a revert to default behavior.

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Figure Layer Order:

Define a legend independent layer order

Map View

map view

This is the "business end" of QGIS - maps are displayed in this area! The map displayed in this window will depend on the vector and raster layers you have chosen to load (see sections that follow for more information on how to load layers). The map view can be panned (shifting the focus of the map display to another region) and zoomed in and out. Various other operations can be performed on the map as described in the toolbar description above. The map view and the legend are tightly bound to each other - the maps in view reflect changes you make in the legend area.

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Tip

Zooming the Map with the Mouse Wheel

You can use the mouse wheel to zoom in and out on the map. Place the mouse cursor inside the map area and roll the wheel forward (away from you) to zoom in and backwards (towards you) to zoom out. The mouse cursor position is the center where the zoom occurs. You can customize the behavior of the mouse wheel zoom using the Map tools tab under the Settings --> Options menu.

Tip

Panning the Map with the Arrow Keys and Space Bar

single:pan arrow keys

You can use the arrow keys to pan in the map. Place the mouse cursor inside the map area and click on the right arrow key to pan East, left arrow key to pan West, up arrow key to pan North and down arrow key to pan South. You can also pan the map using the space bar: just move the mouse while holding down space bar.

Status Bar

The status bar shows you your current position in map coordinates (e.g. meters or decimal degrees) as the mouse pointer is moved across the map view. To the left of the coordinate display in the status bar is a small button that will toggle between showing coordinate position or the view extents of the map view as you pan and zoom in and out.

Next to the coordinate display you find the scale display. It shows the scale of the map view. If you zoom in or out QGIS shows you the current scale. Since QGIS 1.8 there is a scale selector which allows you to choose between predefined scales from 1:500 until 1:1000000.

A progress bar in the status bar shows progress of rendering as each layer is drawn to the map view. In some cases, such as the gathering of statistics in raster layers, the progress bar will be used to show the status of lengthy operations.

If a new plugin or a plugin update is available, you will see a message at the far right of the status bar. On the right side of the status bar is a small checkbox which can be used to temporarily prevent layers being rendered to the map view (see Section redraw_events below). The icon immediately stops the current map rendering process.

To the right of the render functions you find the EPSG code of the current project CRS and a projector icon. Clicking on this opens the projection properties for the current project.

Tip

Calculating the correct Scale of your Map Canvas

single:scale calculate

When you start QGIS, degrees is the default unit, and it tells QGIS that any coordinate in your layer is in degrees. To get correct scale values, you can either change this to meter manually in the General tab under Settings --> Project Properties or you can select a project Coordinate Reference System (CRS) clicking on the ^{CRS status} icon in the lower right-hand corner of the statusbar. In the last case, the units are set to what the project projection specifies, e.g. '+units=m'.