Plugins decorations

Decorations Plugins

The Decorations Plugins includes the Copyright Label Plugin, the North Arrow Plugin and the Scale Bar Plugin. They are used to ``decorate the map by adding cartographic elements.

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Subsections

• Copyright Label Plugin
• North Arrow Plugin
• Scale Bar Plugin

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Copyright Label Plugin

<P> The title of this plugin is a bit misleading - you can add any random text to the map.

<P>

<A NAME="fig:copyright"></A><A NAME="5"></A>

Figure: Copyright Label Plugin

[clip=true, width=8cm]copyright

<P>

1. Make sure the plugin is loaded
2. Click on Plugins > Decorations > copyright_labelCopyright Label or use the copyright_labelCopyright Label button from the Toolbar.
3. Enter the text you want to place on the map. You can use HTML as shown in the example
4. Choose the placement of the label from the PlacementBottom Right drop-down box
5. Make sure the Enable Copyright Label checkbox is checked
6. Click OK

<P> In the example above (default) places a copyright symbol followed by the date in the lower right hand corner of the map canvas.

<P>

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North Arrow Plugin

<P> The North Arrow plugin places a simple north arrow on the map canvas. At present there is only one style available. You can adjust the angle of the arrow or let QGIS set the direction automatically. If you choose to let QGIS determine the direction, it makes its best guess as to how the arrow should be oriented. For placement of the arrow you have four options, corresponding to the four corners of the map canvas.

<P>

<A NAME="fig:north_arrow"></A><A NAME="25"></A>

Figure: North Arrow Plugin

[clip=true, width=8cm]north_arrow_dialog

<P>

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Scale Bar Plugin

The Scale Bar plugin adds a simple scale bar to the map canvas. You control the style and placement, as well as the labeling of the bar.

<P> QGIS only supports displaying the scale in the same units as your map frame. So if the units of your layers are in meters, you can't create a scale bar in feet. Likewise if you are using decimal degrees, you can't create a scale bar to display distance in meters.

<P> To add a scale bar:

<P>

1. Click on Plugins > Decorations > scale_barScale Bar or use the scale_barScale Bar button from the Toolbar.
2. Choose the placement from the PlacementBottom Left drop-down list
3. Choose the style from the Scale bar styleTick Down list
4. Select the color for the bar Color of barblack or use the default black color
5. Set the size of the bar and its label Size of bar30 degrees
6. Make sure the Enable scale bar checkbox is checked
7. Optionally choose to automatically snap to a round number when the canvas is resized Automatically snap to round number on resize
8. Click OK

<P>

<A NAME="fig:scale_bar"></A><A NAME="52"></A>

Figure: Scale Bar Plugin

[clip=true, width=8cm]scale_bar_dialog