GIS Demo Using MapWindow GIS Software ‐‐‐ How to Make a Simple Map ‐‐‐
I. Download and Install MapWindow GIS Software Go to http://www.mapwindow.org/download.php?show_details=1 Download the free MapWindow GIS software. See illustration below.
Click this for 32‐bit machines Click this for 64‐bit machines
1
Click Save on the ‘File Download – Security Warning’. Save it in a folder where you can easily locate it. After downloading you will see this file.
Double‐click it. You will see “Open File – Security Warning” popup window. Click Run button.
Follow instructions during installation process. When the installation is successful, you will see the MapWindow GIS icon on your desktop.
II. Copy McCurtain_SampleData Folder Copy the folder named ‘McCurtain_SampleData’ from the thumb drive (supplied) to your computer The folder contains data that we will use in this exercise. Opening the folder in ArcExplorer, you will see files like the one below. Note that three or more files have the same name, but with different extension names. Each group of these files is called a shapefile. It is the most common GIS file. Opening in a GIS software, however, the many files comprising a shapefile appear only as a single shapefile.
2
III. Open MapWindow GIS Right‐click on the MapWindow GIS icon. Click Open.
Click “Add data to this project” Go to ‘McCurtain_SampleData’ folder that you saved a while back.
3
Select “tl_2009_40089_McCurtain”. Click Open. You should see a layer as the boundary map of McCurtain County. Menu Bar Standard Toolbars
Project or map display area
Data layers area
Cartesian coordinates Geographic location of the projected map in degrees The MapWindow interface contains the following: The Menu Bar The File Menu
Scale of the display
4
The Edit Menu
The View Menu
The Plug‐ins Menu
5
The Standard Toolbars New Project Open Project Save Project Print Map
Zoom In Zoom Out
Zoom Identifier
Measure Area Attribute Table Editor Add / Remove Measure Distance / Clear Layers Select Pan Changing the Display Name of the Data Layer Change the display name of the data layer “tl_2009_40089_McCurtain” with an easier to remember name such as “McCurtain Boundary”. Right‐click on “tl_2009_40089_McCurtain”, and click Properties. The Legend Editor opens.
6
Highlight the Display Name “tl_2009_40089_McCurtain”, and rename it as “McCurtain Boundary”. The display name is for display purposes only; this doesn’t change the original (internal) file name.
Spend a few moments to examine the Legend Editor. It contains information about the layer such as its properties, projection, legend, and symbology. The bold characters in the second column denote that the property or symbology can be changed. Adding More Files , and open the McCurtain_SampleData folder. While Click the Add/Remove/Clear Layers tool pressing the Ctrl key, click the files as shown below:
7
Click Open. You should now see the added files in the Data Layers area. Move the layers up or down to make them visible, as shown below. (Click on a layer, and while pressing the mouse’ left key, drag the layer up or down as may be necessary.)
Changing the Symbology Now let’s make changes to the display name and symbology. Rename the following: “gnispop_p_ok089_McCurtain_utm15” to “Populated Places” “SecRoads” to “Roads” “tl_2009_40089_areawater” to “Waterbodies” “tl_2009_40089_place” to “Municipal Boundaries” Change the symbology as appropriate using the Legend Editor, shown below. Under Symbology, in the the second column, click on the line to make the symboloby on an edit mode.
8
The resulting map is shown below.
Adding Labels Let’s decide what label to use. Right‐click on “Populated Places” and click View Attribute Table Editor. The NAME field holds the names of cities.
9
Familiarize with the menus and tools in the Attribute Table Editor. Click Close. Right‐click “Populated Places” again and click Label Setup. The Shapefile Labeler popup opens. Fill the blank next to ‘Label Field for First Line:’ with NAME. Leave the default values as is.
Click Apply and OK.
10
Note that some labels overlap. We need to move some labels to avoid overlapping.
to see the label placement more clearly if necessary. Use the Zoom In tool Under Plug‐ins Menu, click Label Mover. The Label Mover icon appears on the Standard Toolbar. Click on the Label Mover icon. Click a city or town name and move it so that the town names don’t overlap with each other. Repeat the process and adjust the labels placement accordingly for other towns.
11
Setting up the MapWindow Print Layout Under File Menu, click Print. The MapWindow Print Layout popup opens.
12
The Menu Bar of the MapWindow Print Layout The Standard Toolbars of the MapWindow Print Layout Insert map New layout Insert north arrow Open layout project Insert legend Insert scale bar Save layout Insert text Insert rectangle Insert bitmap Save as new layout Print layout
Zoom layout in Zoom layout out Fit to screen Zoom layout in or out by percent Zoom map in Zoom map out Zoom map to full extent of layers Zoom map to extent of data view Pan map 13
Inserting the Map Click the Insert tool and draw a rectangle on the blank layout. Position and size the map and layout accordingly using the Zoom and Pan tools below .
Inserting the North Arrow, Legend, Scale Bar, Text, and Layout Border Click each of the tools to perform the Insert Arrow, Insert Legend, Insert Scale Bar, Insert Text, and Insert Rectangle, respectively. Adjust the symbol size accordingly. Editing the Layout Move the appropriate symbol box (in the upper right corner of the layout) up start editing the particular symbol. For example, the text box content is edited as shown by the illustration below.
14
After a few adjustments, the final layout is shown below.
15
Printing and Saving the Map Under File menu of the MapWindow Print Layout, select Choose printer. Fill out with appropriate information.
Still under File menu, select Print. (Or click the Print tool
.)
.) Save it in your Under File menu or from the toolbar, select ‘Save as’. (Or click the ‘Save as’ tool McCurtain_SampleMap folder, and name it as “McCurtainMap”. Under File menu, click ‘Close’ to close the MapWindow Print Layout popup. Click ‘Yes’ if you already saved the current print layout. Saving the Project Under the File menu of the MapWindow GIS interface, select ‘Save as’. Save the file as “McCurtainProject” in the McCurtain_SampleData folder. Under File menu, click Exit to end the program. Extra Challenge Open MapWindow. Open the “McCurtainProject” you just saved. Try adding the image files “BrokenBow” and “Idabel”. Zoom in and pan to your house’ location or your friend’s. Observe the relative distances and locations of the different features. Close MapWindow. You may save your new project. END OF DEMO.
16