Practical GIS

Creating an atlas

The atlas generator is the most powerful feature of QGIS's print composer. It can create a lot of maps automatically based on a template we provide. The underlying concept is very basic--we have to provide a polygon layer with a column which has unique values. The print composer takes that layer, and creates a separate map page for every different value (therefore, feature) it can find in the provided column. Furthermore, it grants access to the current feature it uses for the given page. The real power comes from the QGIS expression builder, which enables us to set cartographic preferences automatically. With this, we can build a template for our atlas and use it to showcase each suitable area in its own map.

First of all, ...