Professional, consistent, print-ready map layouts at the click of a button.
Layout Maker automates the creation of print-ready map layouts. Instead of manually drawing map frames and placing fold marks, the plugin handles everything for you. Open the dialog, choose your settings, click Start, and get a finished layout based on your title block template directly in the QGIS Layout Manager.
Perfect for GIS professionals who regularly produce maps for clients, reports, or internal documentation.
- One-click layout from your current map view
- Fold marks (Faltmarken) with configurable line width and start edge
- Interactive extent tool to select the map area on the canvas
- Multi-language UI (English, German, and more (generated by AI))
- Paper formats A0–A5 and custom sizes
- Qt5 & Qt6 compatible — works in both QGIS 3.x and QGIS 4.x
Via Plugin Manager (recommended):
- Open QGIS 3.x or 4.x
- Go to Plugins → Manage and Install Plugins
- Search for Layout Maker and click Install
Manually from ZIP:
- Download the latest release from the Releases page
- In QGIS: Plugins → Manage and Install Plugins → Install from ZIP
Requirements: QGIS 3.16+ or QGIS 4.0+, Windows / macOS / Linux. No additional Python packages needed.
- Open a QGIS project with at least one layer
- Click Plugins → Layout Maker or use the toolbar icon
- Configure your settings: extent, paper size, orientation, fold mark width
- Click Start
- The layout opens in the QGIS Layout Manager — ready to export as PDF or image
- QGIS 3.x support — tested and compatible with QGIS 3.16+
- Qt5 & Qt6 dual support — runs on both QGIS 3 (Qt5) and QGIS 4 (Qt6)
metadata.txtupdated withsupportsQt6=Trueand correct version range
- Fold marks with configurable line width
- Multi-language support (i18n)
- Logo embedding
- UI rework and Qt6 compatibility
- Multiple paper formats (A0–A5 and custom)
- Initial release: A4 layout generation with UI dialog
Things that could go into future versions — open an issue if you want to see something prioritised.
Templates & Styles
- Save and load layout templates (logo position, fold marks, scale bar style)
- Manage multiple templates (e.g. "Client Presentation", "Internal Report", "Field Use")
- Store company CI (colors, fonts, logo path) once, reuse everywhere
Map Elements
- Auto scale bar proportional to map size
- North arrow (selectable style, free positioning)
- Auto legend showing only visible layers
- Title block with project name, date, author, scale as fillable fields
Export
- One-click PDF export without opening the Layout Manager
- Batch export of all layouts to PDF
- Selectable DPI (150 / 300 / 600)
- Auto-generated filenames (e.g.
ProjectName_Date_Scale.pdf)
Atlas & Automation
- Atlas support — generate one layout per feature (e.g. one map per municipality)
- Multi-layer export — one layout per layer, exported in one step
UI
- Live preview in the dialog
- Layout panel docked in the main QGIS window
- Remember last used settings
Further ideas
- Custom logo embedding
- QR code in the layout (link to project or online map)
- Coordinate grid / graticule with labels
- Multiple map frames (overview map + detail map on one sheet)
- Stamp field with digital signature for planning documents
- Print series by attribute (e.g. all municipalities, all building projects)
- Export to GeoPDF (with embedded layers), SVG, georeferenced TIFF
- Dynamic labels from layer attributes (title and metadata filled from feature attributes)
- Built-in sanity check — warn if layers are hidden, CRS mismatch, or extent is empty
- Dark mode UI support
- Drag-and-drop element positioning in dialog preview
- WMS/WCS background layer support in layout
- Paper roll formats for large-format plotters
- Watermark / draft stamp overlay
- Automatic CRS labelling in the layout
- Support for multi-page layouts (e.g. title page + map pages)
Pull requests are welcome. Please:
- Keep the code simple and readable — no unnecessary dependencies
- Test changes with QGIS 3.x and 4.x
- Open an issue first for larger changes
Claude Widmer
Geographer & GIS enthusiast
GitHub: @widmerc
PersonalWebsite: https://www.claudewidmer.ch/
Free software under the GNU General Public License v2 or later.