Simple Map Figures

Map figures for academic publication

In this tutorial we will learn the basics of setting up a new Print Layout in QGIS before then restyling an existing map project for academic publication.

Academic publications present a few challenges to creating clear and effective maps due to the limitations of smaller layouts, lower print resolutions, and limits on the use of color in graphics. Designing a map for these constraints is often difficult for new GIS users as it requires a lot of symbol restyling and data pruning to get to a map graphic that conveys useful information without being too detailed at smaller sizes or when printed in black and white.

Download Module 1

Click the icon to download the workshop data packets. Copy the zipped folder to your HD and right click to unzip.

Open the map project and create a new print layout

From the downloaded tutorial data, open the Module 1 folder, double click to open the Kilauea Lava Flow project.
In the QGIS project that opens go to the Project Menu and select New Print Layout (or look for the Create Print Layout icon in the top menu bar).
In the window that pops up, give your new layout a name. I'll call mine "Kilauea - Nature" so later I'll know this layout was for a Nature article submission. Click OK.
A new blank layout window should now be open.

Nature Specs (toggle open)

90mm single column or 180mm for a 2 column spread.
Maximum height is 170mm.
CMYK TIFF images at 300-600 dpi preferred.
JPGs ok.

Page properties

We'll use the Nature specs shown above for article figures to setup our print layout dimensions.

With the Select/Move (V) cursor, click on the white art board in the middle of the layout window to activate it.
In the Item Properties panel on the right set the Size drop down to Custom.
Set the Width and the Height values to 135 mm (3/4 page square map figure).

Note: there is a units drop down to the right of the Width and Height options that can only be changed when in a custom page size.

Add map

Use the Add Map tool to create a new map item in the layout that dynamically embeds your QGIS map. Note this is an active map frame that will update as the GIS map is changed or restyled. Later we'll see how to lock the map view so you can continue to work with your GIS data without disturbing the current map styling in your layout.

From the tool bar on the left, find the Add Map icon.
Click in the white page area to open the properties for the new map view item.
Set the X and Y page position to 0.
Set the Width and Height to 135 mm.
Click OK to place the new map frame in the page layout area.

Move item content (adjust map position in layout)

You can adjust the position of your map inside the new layout map frame with the Move item content tool. This tool pans the map inside the map view without moving the map frame at all. If you need to rescale your map (zoom in or out) you can scroll the mouse wheel or enter a specific scale in the Map item Main Properties window.

Add a scale bar

Select the Add Scale Bar tool.
Click in the upper right of the map and drag to place a new scale bar.
In the scale bar Item Properties menu change the style to Line Ticks Up.
Leave the units set to Kilometers, but change the Segments from right 3 to right 5.

The new scale bar may be hard to see right now over the dark ocean background. You could change the style from all black to all white to make it stand out more, but instead in a few steps we'll restyle the map itself for better legibility.

In the next section we'll return to the main GIS window and restyle the map layers to work better for a journal article figure.

Click the save icon in the upper left of the current layout window.
Minimize the layout window and bring the main GIS window back to the front.

De emphasize the basemap

Satellite basemaps are great for seeing real world features in your GIS, but they make terrible backgrounds for most print maps. There's too much color and too much detail competing with the rest of your map data.

Return to the main QGIS data window...
In the Layers panel, uncheck the Google Hybrid layer to hide the satellite basemap.
Open the Layer Styling panel and select the coast_UTM5 layer.
Find the Simple Fill menu under Layer Styling and make the following changes:
1. Click on the color bar next to Fill color and set the HSV sliders to H-0, S-0, V-80%
2. Click on the color bar for Stroke color and set the HSV sliders to H-0, S-0, V-50%
Now drag the coast layer to the bottom of the layer stack.

Change historic lava flows to shades of gray

Assuming color is allowed in the map figure, we'll want to reserve that for our main data. We can build a decent visual hierarchy for our old lava flows by setting them each to a slightly different shade of grey going from light to dark for oldest to newest. Picking breaks between shades of gray of around 5-10% keeps them all distinct from each other.

Select the 1790 lava flow layer and go to the Layer Styling panel.
Go to Simple Fill > Fill Color and set V int he HSV sliders to 75%.
Click the back arrow and select the Stroke color and set its Opacity to 0% (making it fully transparent).
Repeat the above for 1840 (V 65%) and 1955 (V 50%). Make the stroke for each fully transparent.

Contrast in shades of grey shows separation of layers, lighter layers suggest older (faded) lava and darker layers suggest newer recent flows. Removing stroke lines de-emphasizes the layers complexity setting it lower in the visual hierarchy and blending the lava flow layers into the base layer background.

While you're updating the old lava flow symbols, you can quickly change the Kilauea Fissures lines from thin purple to a thick black line in the Layer Styling menu.

Select the Kilauea fissures layer.
In the Layer Styling menu, scroll down in the Default Stlyes library until you find the simple black line style.
Click to apply.

Simplify the composite lava flow image

Just as with the satellite basemap, the composite lava flow is a little too detailed as a full color raster for most journal publications. Converting it to a simplified polygon to represent the footprint of the flow like the historic flows will make it easier to print and read.

We'll use the Contour Polygon tool to change the heat raster into polygon vectors that we can filter and restyle as needed.

Open the Contour Polygons tool from the Processing Toolbox (search Contour).
Set the Input layer to lava_composite_b10.
Set the Interval to 10,000.
Run the tool.

This output creates a full set of polygons, we just need to keep the ones that represent the area of highest heat and color them from low to high temperatures.

Create a definition query to limit polygons to 130,000 units or above ("ELEV_MIN" >= '130000')
Go to Layer Styling and set the style to Graduated.
Find the Orange to Red color ramp. Set the Mode to Natural Breaks with 3 classes.

The graduated color lava footprint works well for larger full color printing but may still be too complex for a smaller map figures. We can further simplify the data by creating a single full color footprint by Dissolving the adjacent polygons into one area.

From the Vector > Geo processing run the Dissolve tool on your lava flow contour polygons. Style it red.

Finally, for full BW printing you can change the footprint from a red fill color to a slahsed line pattern.

Duplicate your new dissolved layer and change the style to the hashed black pattern in the Layer Styling panel.
In the Fill properties change the main Color to white.
Under Simple Line, change the Stroke width to 0.7mm.
Under Line, change the Width to 0.5mm.

Finish the layout

Return to your saved print layout from earlier. If you click the Refresh View icon the layout will update to the most recent vewi from the GIS.

Add a legend, click the Only show items inside linked maps. Update names etc.

Add a legend

Select the Add Legend tool and click to drag a new legend in the lower right corner of the map.
In the Legend Items menu click to check Only show items inside linked maps option (this will remove the duplicate legend items).
Click to un-check Auto update (this allows us to manually remove layers from the legend list).
Select and remove Example Styles, coast_UTM5, and Google Hybrid layers from the legend.
Right click on the Project Layers group heading and select Hidden.

Export the map

From the menu bar above the map layout, find and click the Export as Image icon.
Name your map export file and choose your export location.
In the Image Export Options menu, be sure the Export resolution is set to 300 dpi or higher.
Click Save.

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