QGIS has undergone major improvements in version 3.x including a switch to Python 3, improved processing and expression support, better raster and vector symbology, multi-canvas support, annotation enhancements, and refactored 3D and server capabilities. Future work may include additional 3D, time, and database improvements as well as greater LIDAR support. The QGIS community needs more users, testers, documentation contributors, developers, and financial supporters to further its open source desktop GIS software.

1. Selected Improvements in QGIS 3.x

2. ● QGIS 0.0.1: 2002
● QGIS 1.0 “Kore”: 2009
● QGIS 2.0 “Dufour”: 2013
● QGIS 3.0 “Girona”: 2018 (February)
● QGIS 3.2 “Bonn”: 2018 (June)
● QGIS 3.4 “Madeira” (LT version): 2018 (October)
● QGIS 3.6 “Zanzibar” (or Stone Town?): 2019 (February)
QGIS road map:
https://www.qgis.org/en/site/getinvolved/development/roadmap.html#release-schedule
New logo: http://www.qgis.org/en/site/getinvolved/styleguide.html
QGIS evolution

3. QGIS Key Events
OSGEOincubation,IntroductionofPSC
Firstprofessionalusers
QGIS1.0(Kore)
QGIS2.0(Dufour)
QGIS.ORGAssociationfounded
QGIS3.0
Source of Search volume interests: https://trends.google.com/
FirstWindowsrelease
FirstHackfestwithguyinasuit;-)
Today, QGIS is the most popular Open Source Desktop GIS and it is the second most popular GIS after ESRI ArcGIS.

4. QGIS 3: Why a new major release ?
● API: needed revisions and more elegant approaches
● Dependencies with other projects / libraries
○ Qt4: end of life → switch to qt5
○ Switch from Python 2 to Python 3
● Refactorings of core parts of the code
○ Layer registry and legend tree
○ Print composer
○ Processing (analysis part of QGIS)
→ ported from Python to C++
→ task manager for parallel execution and control of long-running tasks
○ Snapping
○ Digitizing Nodes (click-drag → click-click)
○ Datum transformation handling improvements
○ Cleaner separation of GUI and core parts of widgets and legend (map layer) tree

5. QGIS 3x: The ugly things first ...
● All QGIS Plugins from 2.x needs updates (ask the authors of the plugins)
○ Reasons: API changes, Python 2 → 3 change, qt4 → qt5 change
○ Please be patient with plugin developers → might be a lot of work
● Your Python Macros, code for Python console or form inits also need
update
● QGIS 2.x processing models are not compatible with 3.x

6. QGIS visual changelogs
When you install a new QGIS
version, always have a look at
the visual changelogs:
https://www.qgis.org/en/site/fo
rusers/visualchangelogs.html

7. Geopackage Improvements
● Is now the standard format for processing and
“Save As” → Hurrah!
● Optional z-value support
● Easier to save additional tables into existing
Geopackages (already in late 2.x releases)
● Integration in DB-Manager (already in late 2.x
releases)
NO MORE EXCUSES FOR USING SHAPEFILES !!!!!!!!!
→ http://switchfromshapefile.org/

8. Locator Bar
● Allows to search for layer names, algorithms,
layouts, features, settings, bookmarks, actions
and more
● Extensible with additional search providers using
Python, e.g. for national gazetteers or
GeoNames
● Uses prefix with 1 or 2 characters to restrict
search to certain topics

9. Multi-canvas support
● Each canvas can have its
own visibility preset
● Each canvas can have
different CRS
● Optionally show
annotations
● Show cursor locations and
extent
● Each canvas can show
magnified or rotated views
Canvases can be synced during navigation

10. Optionally show/hide Panels and GUI
Ctrl-Tab
Hide/Show all Panels
Ctrl-Shift-Tab
Hide/Show all of the
GUI

11. Expressions, Expressions, Expressions ...
Many new and improved expressions, operators and variables:
New expressions in QGIS 3.0:
http://changelog.qgis.org/en/qgis/version/3.0.0/#category-50
New expressions in QGIS 3.2:
https://www.qgis.org/en/site/forusers/visualchangelog32/index.html#expressions

12. QGIS 3 symbology improvements
● Cluster renderer
● Data defined symbol layer visibility /
temporarily disable symbol layers
● Data-defined properties for
diagram renderer
● Inches/points as units for
symbology and labels
● Faster updates as label are cached
● Properties of selected layers can be
animated:
https://youtu.be/2jsYRxmnWkI

13. QGIS 3 symbology
improvements
● New “topological” coloring algorithms:
make sure polygons with similar colors
don’t touch each other, balance colors
by count, distance, area
→ see
http://nyalldawson.net/2017/02/new-map-coloring-
algorithms-in-qgis-3-0/ for details

14. Annotation improvements
● All standard styling options can now be applied to annotation overlays
● Annotations can use live layer effects (e.g. shadows, inner glow, etc)

15. Raster Pseudocolor Enhancements
● Better handling of raster pseudocolor (discrete) classes
○ Autoclassification of unique values
○ Delete / add individual classes
○ Delete multiple classes at once
○ Better labels
○ Change color / transparency of multiple raster classes at once
○ More improvements …
● Raster stretch for pseudocolor rasters
● Auto-classification for individual extents
● Good example of user initiative and crowd funding:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1cDemM2m88_mbs65sYzfBbVdHI_O
bOjf_i35ne3OKsRs/edit

16. QGIS 3D
● Separate 3D canvas (docked or undocked)
● Renders 3D terrain from raster files
(triangulated after loading)
● 3D polygons or multipatch geometries supported
● 2D geometry can be draped on terrain and/or extruded
● Point objects can be rendered as simple 3D objects
(spheres, boxes, cylinders, cones)
or with linked 3D model files
● 3D polylines supported from
QGIS >= 3.4
● 3D in layouts coming in 3.4

17. Manually positioned labels
● In QGIS 2.x you had to add extra data columns for manually positioned
labels
→ what if the data you had was “read only”? Bad luck or data copies ...
● In QGIS 3 you can still label such “read only” layers, using an auxiliary data
file (.qgd) stored in parallel with your project (or in .qgz project file). Note
that such labels are only available in the project it resides next to.

18. Metadata display and management
● Based on Dublin core
● Geonode integration
● See extra talk on GeoNode with QGIS Server, Wed, 11:30, Bagamayo

19. QGIS 3 form and table improvements
● Polishing the UI of fields / widgets tab in layer properties
● Support for array / hstore (key→ value pair) widgets
● Autocomplete search text input widgets
● Improvements in relation editor widget (show/hide link/unlink buttons)
● Forms: Show/hide label per widget individually
● Conditional visibility of group items based on rules of other widget values
● Filter tool enhancements (e.g. between, not between)

20. QGIS 3 form and table improvements
● Better widget defaults for some data providers (e.g. PostgreSQL)
● Automatically detect foreign-key relations (PostgreSQL)
● More client side default values
● Not null and unique constraints (client side or delegates to database)

21. QGIS 3 processing refactoring
● Processing refactoring and new features:
→ ported to C++
→ new task manager for long running tasks in QGIS overall and in Processing
● Many more QGIS features exposed in Processing, e.g.
○ Heat map generation
○ Routing functionality
○ Geometry snapping
● Resurrection of the R-Provider (upcoming in 3.4 or 3.6)

22. Editing tools enhancements
● MultiLayer or SingleLayer editing modes
● Edition of vertices of polygons and linestrings: node tool refactored
○ Change from click-drag to click-click mode in order to allow numeric input
○ Range vertex selection in node tool (Shift-R). Selects all vertices between start and end-point
○ New modes to create mid-point vertices and to extend lines at the ends
● Node tool can be combined with “advanced digitizing” (construction) tool for
precise placement of vertices
● Tracing now allows offset for parallel lines
● Snapping settings are available in toolbar

23. QGIS Server
● Totally refactored, rewritten and modularized
● Now a OGC reference implementation for WMS
● Tested as compliant against OGC WMS testsuit
● Much more unit tests
○ Ongoing work
○ Compliance work for WFS ongoing
○ Work on WMTS support ongoing
○ Performance: currently still slightly worse than version 2x, but being worked on

24. Things to come
● It is YOU who decides what will be in future QGIS releases
● More 3D and Mesh Support
● More time and animation support
● Improved support for working with database relations and data models
● LIDAR viewing / analysis support?
Please visit panel “QGIS: The future”:
Friday, 09:45 - 10:30 in Selous (main auditorium)

25. QGIS precisa de você!
O QGIS necessita de mais Colaboradores!
● Usuários (Comunidade QGIS)
● Testadores (verificação de falhas)
● Contribuidores de estudos de caso
● Documentação e Tradutores
● Hospedagem de encontros e hackfests
● Desenvolvedores (kernel e plugins)
● Sysadmins para infraestruturas
● Financiadores, Doadores, Patrocinadores
Nós nos esforçamos para uma comunidade mundial amigável, acolhedora e
diversificada!
Visite https://www.qgis.org para mais informações ou siga @QGIS no Twitter