Using QGIS¶

This exercise will introduce some of the basic features of QGIS. Along the way you will also become more familiar with QGIS.

About QGIS¶

QGIS (Fig. 1) QGIS is a free and open source software you can download from www.qgis.org. and distribute through as many computers as you wish.

Fig. 1 QGIS logo¶

It is handy to bookmark the official QGIS documentation.

Resources

For this exercise you will need this dataset. The dataset contains the following layers:

power_cables.gpkg (vector layer containing the power lines of Addis Ababa)
residential_areas.gpkg (vector layer containing residential areas of Addis Ababa)
rivers.gpkg (vector layer containing the main water lines of Addis Ababa)
main_roads.gpkg (vector layer containing the main roads of Addis Ababa)

Task Start QGIS and add the three layers
Task Go to Plugins > Manage and install plugins... the plugin Quick map services and add one base map to your project.
Task In the Layer's panel create two groups (i.e. folders): one called artifitial and another one called natural
Task Drag the residential_areas, power_cables and main_roads into the group artificial and the rivers layer into the group natural.
Task Re-order the groups and the layers inside in such a way that all the layers are visible.
Task Save your QGIS project and share it with a colleague.
Task Open a project created by a colleague.
Task Re-arrange one or two toolbars in a way that it is convenient.
Task Make sure the Processing panel is visible