Basemaps

BASEMAPS

Creating your own map doesn’t have to be a long process and doesn’t have to be reserved only for cartographers. Anyone can create a map for their needs. Whether the goal is to create an interactive map, present analysis results, or create a database, you will need a basemap (spatial reference) where you will embed your analysis results.

Here you will find information on:

1. HOW TO UPLOAD AVAILABLE BASE MAPS [if something is already done, why waste time on it]
2. SIDE EFFECT – the skill of managing plugins in QGIS

In the following sections, you will find:

1. METHODS FOR CREATING YOUR OWN BASE MAPS for a selected area
2. ADDING DATA TO BASE MAPS
3. PERFORMING SIMPLE ANALYSES

LET’S GET STARTED and WE CLAIM IT’S NOT DIFFICULT 😁

PREPARATION FOR WORK

What will we need?

SOFTWARE

f everyone can create a map, it must be done with free software like QGIS. Downloading it is very simple and doesn’t require any special knowledge from the user, just knowing which operating system they have 🙂 Just go to  the website and download it.

QGIS does not have its own base maps like ArcGIS, but maps are available under open licenses. Below, we will present various methods and sources for loading base maps.

MAPS

Have you ever wondered if, for example, Google Maps can do more? WE ANSWER: YES
Are there other maps besides Google Maps? WE ANSWER: YES
Can I create my own layers and place them on Google Maps? ANSWER: YES
Can I manage the project and have exclusive access to it? ANSWER: YES

Just load the base map into the program and then only your imagination limits you.

Below we present the three most common methods for linking base maps in QGIS.

QuickMapSevices PLUGIN

Loading base maps in QGIS can be facilitated by the QuickMapServices plugin. Without unnecessary descriptions, step by step:

First Method:

1. Go to the top menu bar, click on PLUGINS and select MANAGE AND INSTALL PLUGINS from the list.
2. The plugin management window will appear; select ALL [1].
3. A list of plugins will appear; find or type ‘QuickMapServices’ in the search box.
4. Click on the selected plugin [information about the plugin will appear on the right] [2].
5. Install the plugin [3] DONE.
6. After installation, the plugin will appear on the toolbar and in the main menu bar under ‘WEB.’ After selecting it, you can choose the base map you’re interested in and switch it with another at any time.

Second Method:

The difference lies in manually downloading the plugin, preferably from the QGIS website, where the list of plugins is updated regularly.

1. Enter the name of the plugin in the search engine.
2. Download it, ensuring it is compressed [has a .zip extension; if not, compress it].
3. Go to the QGIS software.

1. Go to the top menu bar, click on ‘PLUGINS’ and select ‘MANAGE AND INSTALL PLUGINS’ from the list.
2. The plugin management window will appear; select ‘INSTALL FROM ZIP FILE’ [1].
3. A window will appear; indicate where you saved the downloaded file by clicking the […] icon [2] and selecting the file, which will then load itself.
4. Click ‘Install Plugin’ [3] DONE.

xyz TILES

An alternative to the plugins presented above is the ability to directly load a specific base map into the program. This solution will satisfy those who are decided on a specific base map and do not like plugins. All we need to know is the URL address of the base map.

1. In the browser window, select XYZ Tiles [I].
2. Click on ‘New Connection,’ which will bring up the connections window.
3. Name it [II-1].
4. Enter the URL address [II-2]; below, we will provide the most popular ones.
5. Confirm [II-3]; a connection with your name will appear in the browser bar.
6. Drag the connection to the layers window [III] DONE 😎

WMS

We personally treat WMS network connections as thematic maps, which can indeed serve as a base or additional content on our map for our projects.

1. You can find WMS addresses in our previous post. Just copy them [click WMS] from the selected source or go to the source page. NOTE: do not copy the content of the page, only the address as shown below [1]

2. Go to the QGIS program.

NOTE: We can also connect WMS from the browser like in XYZ Tiles.

1. After activating the DATA SOURCE MANAGER window, you must add a new connection by clicking NEW [1]
2. A CREATE A NEW WMS/WMTS CONNECTION window will appear [2]
3. Name your connection and paste the URL address [3]
4. Confirm the connection by clicking OK [4]
5. NOTE: The ADD button [6] will be active when you click/activate the loaded layer [5].

The layer will automatically load.