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Hack to adjust map symbols location in QGIS

Now and then I get too many map symbols (points) in the same place, and I thought how nice it would be if we could drag n’ drop them around without messing with their geometries position, just like we do with labels. That thought gave me an idea for a cool hack. Choose your point layer and start by creating two new fields called symbX and symbY (Type: Decimal number; Size: 20; Precision: 5). Now go the layer properties and in the Style tab edit your symbol. For each level of your symbol select “map units” as the offset units, and set the following expression in the offset data define properties option:

Monday, February 23, 2015 | 2 minutes Read

Calculate polygon centroid's coordinates

I had the need to add columns with the coordinates of polygons centroids. I came up with the following expressions to calculate X e Y, respectively: [code] xmin(centroid($geometry)) ymin(centroid($geometry)) [/code] The expression seems quite simple, but it toke me some time before I realize that, not having a x(geometry) and y(geometry) functions, I could use the xmin() and ymin() to get the coordinates of the polygons centroids. Since this wasn’t the first time I had to use this expressions, this post will work as a reminder for the future.

Tuesday, February 10, 2015 | 1 minute Read

Labels leading lines with QGIS and Postgis

Recently I had the need to add labels to features with very close geometries, resulting in their collision. Using data-defined override for label’s position (I have used layer to labeled layer plugin to set this really fast) and the QGIS tool to move labels, it was quite easy to relocate them to better places. However, in same cases, it was difficult to understand to which geometry they belonged.

Monday, January 12, 2015 | 2 minutes Read