The prescribed map layout

ONE WAY, NOT THE ONLY WAY

QGIS usually offers several ways to do the same task: a processing algorithm, the Field Calculator, a plugin, or editing by hand. The steps in this module are examples of how to do each task, tested with the course’s sample data. They are not the only way, and other methods are equally valid as long as the outputs meet the guide’s requirements and agree with each other. Where a choice affects correctness (for example, using area($geometry) instead of $area), the module says why.

Before we begin

Before diving into this module’s exercises, it would be good if you can review and familiarize yourself with the Print Layout and the QGIS Atlas.

NOTE

For exercises in this module, you will use the outputs of Preparing the area data and Technical descriptions and corner coordinates. The outputs subfolder of the BNHR_QGIS-for-SFLMA-Mapping folder has a completed project and a layout template for each part of this module:

Part	Project	Template
The map of one application	sflma-sample.qgz	SFLMA-prescribed-map.qpt
Letting the atlas drive the layout	sflma-sample-atlas.qgz	SFLMA-prescribed-map-atlas.qpt
One layout for several applications	sflma-several-applications.qgz	SFLMA-prescribed-map-several-applications.qpt

What we want to achieve

1. Build the prescribed map of the sample application in the Print Layout.
2. Read the title, location, area, and tables from the layers, so the map cannot disagree with the shapefiles and the technical description.
3. Let the QGIS Atlas drive the same layout.
4. Map several applications with one layout.

What we have

1. area_boundary and area_corners - the sample application’s shapefiles
2. td_lines and tie_point - the technical description lines and the tie line from Module 3
3. ref_barangays, ref_municipalities, and ref_provinces - reference administrative boundaries
4. sample2_boundary, sample2_corners, sample2_td_lines, and sample2_tie_point - a second, fully prepared fictional application, for the last part of this module

Relevant QGIS knowledge/skills

• Layout templates
• Map themes
• Adding tables to maps
• The QGIS Atlas and data-defined elements
• Merging vectors
• Expressions

The prescribed map format

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

1. Identify the elements of the prescribed map for forestry tenure applications.
2. Plan the layout before building it.

The guide requires the map to contain the title of the application, location, area, and projection used. The prescribed format for SFLMA applications arranges these elements as follows:

The completed map of the sample application (A3, landscape)

#	Element	Contents
1	Main map	The application area with numbered corners, barangay boundaries and names, and a grid of latitude and longitude marked with crosses and labelled in degrees, minutes, and seconds
2	Technical description	Line, bearing, and distance for each side, with the tie line below
3	Original coordinate of the point	Reference point, easting, northing, and datum and zone
4	Location map	A small-scale map of the surrounding provinces marking this site, with its frame labelled in latitude and longitude
5	North arrow
6	Title	Application for a Sustainable Forest Land Management Agreement (SFLMA) of the applicant
7	Location and area	Barangay, municipality/city, and province; area in hectares
8	Scale and projection	Scale bar, numeric scale, and projection
9	Legend	Corners, application area, and administrative boundary
10	Office and certification	Office logo and name; certification statement
11	Signatories	Prepared by, noted by (two), and attested by

The signatories in the prescribed format are:

• Prepared by: PENRO/CENRO GIS Focal or Concerned Permanent Staff
• Noted by: Chief, Regulation and Permitting Section (RPS)
• Noted by: Chief, Technical Services Division (TSD)
• Attested by: PENRO/CENR Officer

CONFIRM BEFORE SUBMITTING

Confirm the page size, the certification text, and the signatories with your office. The office logo in the sample is a placeholder.

The map of one application

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

1. Build the prescribed map for one application.
2. Read the map’s text and tables from the layers with expressions.
3. Save the layout as a template and export it.

This first version is all that a single application needs. Its labels read the application’s attributes from the area_boundary layer with aggregate(), which works because the layer holds exactly one application.

4.1. Setting up the page and the main map

Level: Beginner

1. Create a new print layout and set the page to A3, Landscape (right-click the page ‣ Page Properties).
2. In the map canvas, zoom to area_boundary. Add the main map () on the left side of the page and give it the Item ID main_map.
3. In its Item Properties, set a round Scale that fits the application area, such as 5000. Move the map content (Move Item Content tool) so the area sits below the tables you will add in the top-left corner.

The main map at a fixed scale of 1:5,000, following the main map theme

The map stays in the national grid, the CRS of the shapefiles. Its grid is added next, in latitude and longitude.

4.2. Adding the map grid in latitude and longitude

Level: Intermediate

What we want to achieve

• A grid of crosses on the main map, labelled along the frame in latitude and longitude (degrees, minutes, and seconds, e.g. 14°44’00”N and 121°34’00”E), as the prescribed map requires.

A map grid is drawn in its own CRS, which does not have to be the map’s. The main map stays in the national grid (EPSG:3123), so the shapefiles, tables, and scale are untouched; only the grid is set to a geographic CRS, so its lines follow latitude and longitude instead of eastings and northings.

USE THE GEOGRAPHIC CRS OF THE MAP’S DATUM

Latitude and longitude depend on the datum. At the sample application, the same latitude and longitude read in PRS 1992 and in WGS 84 are 221 m apart. The grid must therefore be in the same datum as the map:

Map’s CRS (national grid)	Grid CRS
PRS92 / Philippines zone 1 to 5 (EPSG:3121 to 3125)	PRS92, EPSG:4683
Luzon 1911 / Philippines zone I to V (EPSG:25391 to 25395)	Luzon 1911, EPSG:4253

Do not use EPSG:4326 (WGS 84), the geographic CRS most tools offer first. For the same reason, a handheld GPS (which reads WGS 84) will not agree with a PRS 1992 grid by about 200 m: that difference is the datum, not an error in the map.

1. Select main_map. Under Grids, click the green plus button to add a grid, rename it latitude and longitude, and click Modify Grid….
2. Under Appearance, set:
   • Grid type: Cross, with a Cross width of 2.50 mm
   • CRS: click the CRS button and select EPSG:4683 - PRS92 (or EPSG:4253 - Luzon 1911 for a Luzon 1911 map)
   • Interval: Map Units, with X and Y both 0.002777777778. Map units are now the grid CRS’s units, degrees, and 0.002777777778° is 10 seconds (10 ÷ 3600).

A cross grid in PRS92 geographic coordinates, every 10 seconds

3. Under Frame, set the Frame style to Line Border.
4. Check Draw Coordinates and set:
   • Format: Degree, Minute, Second Aligned (it pads the minutes and seconds, so 121°34’00”E rather than 121°34’0”E)
   • Left and Right: Show Latitude/Y Only, Outside Frame, Vertical Ascending
   • Top and Bottom: Show Longitude/X Only, Outside Frame, Horizontal
   • Coordinate precision: 0

Latitude on the left and right, longitude on the top and bottom, in degrees, minutes, and seconds

5. Check the map: the crosses fall on every 10 seconds of latitude and longitude, and the labels read 14°43’40”N to 14°44’10”N and 121°33’40”E to 121°34’20”E.

CHOOSING THE INTERVAL

At the sample’s latitude, 10 seconds is about 300 m on the ground (299 m east-west, 307 m north-south), which puts four to five crosses across the map at 1:5,000. For a larger area at a smaller scale, use another whole number of seconds so the labels stay round: 20” is 0.005555555556 and 30” is 0.008333333333. Type all 12 decimals; a rounded interval such as 0.00278 drifts off the round seconds.

WHY THE GRID IS VERY SLIGHTLY TILTED

Lines of longitude point to true north, while the national grid’s vertical lines point to grid north. The angle between them, the grid convergence, is 0.14° at the sample site, so the grid’s lines lean less than a millimeter across the map. That tilt is correct; it is not a misalignment.

4.3. Styling the application area and its corners

Level: Beginner

1. Style area_boundary with a red outline and no fill.
2. Style area_corners as white circles with a black outline, labelled with T_CORNER over the point.
3. Style ref_barangays with a dashed gray outline and no fill, labelled with the barangay name in capital letters (upper("barangay")) with wide letter spacing.
4. Create a map theme () named main with only these three layers visible, and set the main map to Follow map theme: main.

4.4. Adding the technical description and original coordinate tables

Level: Intermediate

1. Add an attribute table () inside the top-left corner of the main map, set its Layer to td_lines, and click Attributes…. Keep only LINE, BEARING, and DISTANCE, with the headings Line, Bearing, and Distance (m), centered.
2. Still in Attributes…, replace DISTANCE’s attribute with an expression so it always shows two decimals (186.90, not 186.9):

format_number("DISTANCE", 2)

3. Under Sorting, add SEQ, ascending.
4. Set a white background and show the grid lines. Resize the table’s frame until all the lines fit.

The technical description table, reading the td_lines layer

5. Add a label () with the title TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION above the table, and another directly below it for the tie line:

[% aggregate('tie_point', 'max', "TIE_LINE") %]

6. Add a fixed table (Add Item ‣ Add Fixed Table) to the right of the technical description, with the heading ORIGINAL COORDINATE OF THE POINT and four rows. Set each cell to an expression (Insert Expression in the table editor):

'Reference Point: ' || aggregate('tie_point', 'max', "ref_point")

'Easting: ' || format_number(aggregate('tie_point', 'max', "easting"), 3, omit_group_separators:=true)

'Northing: ' || format_number(aggregate('tie_point', 'max', "northing"), 3, omit_group_separators:=true)

'Datum: ' || aggregate('tie_point', 'max', "datum")

PRO-TIP

Because the tables read the layers, there is nothing to retype: a corrected bearing or a new tie point shows up on the map the next time it is refreshed.

4.5. Building the title block from the layer’s attributes

Level: Intermediate

What we want to achieve

• A title, location, and area that are read from the area boundary’s attributes, so they cannot disagree with the shapefile.

1. Add a label () for the title, with the Item ID title:

[% 'APPLICATION FOR A SUSTAINABLE FOREST LAND MANAGEMENT AGREEMENT (SFLMA) OF ' || upper(aggregate('area_boundary', 'max', "NAME")) %]

The title reads the applicant’s name from the area boundary

2. Add a label for the location. Multiple barangays are stored as Batangan,Maigang; the label adds a space after each comma for readability:

[% 'Barangay: ' || replace(aggregate('area_boundary', 'max', "BARANGAY"), ',', ', ')
|| '\nMunicipality/City: ' || replace(aggregate('area_boundary', 'max', "MUNI_CTY"), ',', ', ')
|| '\nProvince: ' || aggregate('area_boundary', 'max', "PROVINCE") %]

3. Add a label for the area:

[% 'Area = ' || aggregate('area_boundary', 'max', "AREA") || ' hectares' %]

4. Add a north arrow (Add Item ‣ Add North Arrow) and a scale bar () in meters, linked to main_map, with four segments of 100 m.
5. Add labels for the numeric scale and the projection, read from the main map:

[% 'SCALE 1:' || format_number(map_get(item_variables('main_map'), 'map_scale'), 0) %]

[% 'Projection: ' || map_get(item_variables('main_map'), 'map_crs_description') || ' (' || map_get(item_variables('main_map'), 'map_crs') || ')' %]

PRO-TIP

Typing the area into a label creates a second copy of it that can drift from the attribute table. Reading it from the layer with an expression means there is only one value to check.

4.6. Adding the location map

Level: Intermediate

1. Duplicate area_boundary in the Layers panel (right-click ‣ Duplicate Layer) and name the copy location_marker. Style it with a Geometry Generator marker at centroid($geometry) (a red dot) and a label with the text 'THIS SITE'.
2. Style ref_provinces with a light fill, labelled with the province names. Style ref_municipalities with a Rule-based symbology whose only rule highlights the municipality the application is in:

overlay_intersects('area_boundary')

3. Create a map theme named location with ref_provinces, ref_municipalities, and location_marker visible.
4. Add a second map in the top-right of the page that follows the location theme, at a scale that shows the neighboring provinces, with a LOCATION MAP label.
5. The prescribed format labels the location map’s frame in latitude and longitude too. Add a grid to location_map as in Adding the map grid in latitude and longitude, but with Grid type Frame and annotations only, Interval 0.5 map units (30 minutes), Format Degree, Minute Aligned, and Frame style Exterior Ticks. Leave a few millimeters around the map for the labels.

The location map follows the location map theme

4.7. Adding the legend, certification, and signatories

Level: Beginner

1. Add a legend (), uncheck Auto update, and keep only area_corners, area_boundary, and ref_barangays, renamed Proposed SFLMA corners, Proposed SFLMA area, and Barangay boundary.
2. Add the office logo and name.
3. Add the certification statement as a label that reads the applicant’s name:

[% 'This is to certify that this is the correct map of the proposed area for the Sustainable Forest Land Management Agreement (SFLMA) of ' || aggregate('area_boundary', 'max', "NAME") || ', as described hereon. This map was prepared based on the submitted maps, technical description and other references available from this Office.' %]

4. Add the signatories in the prescribed order.

4.8. Saving and reusing the layout template

Level: Beginner

1. Save the layout as a template (Layout ‣ Save as Template…). The completed template is SFLMA-prescribed-map.qpt in the outputs folder.
2. For a new application, load its layers and name them area_boundary, area_corners, td_lines, and tie_point, as in this course. The template’s expressions find the layers by these names.
3. Create a layout from the template (Project ‣ Layout Manager, choose Specific under New from Template, and select the .qpt file).
4. Check the technical description table’s Layer, zoom the main map to the new application, and move the tie line label directly below the table if the new technical description has a different number of lines. The title, location, area, tables, and certification update without retyping.

4.9. Exporting the map

Level: Beginner

1. Export the map with Layout ‣ Export as PDF… (), e.g. as IV-A_SFLMA_Map_Bagong Gubat Agroforestry Cooperative.pdf.
2. Open the PDF and check every element against the prescribed format.

Letting the atlas drive the layout

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

1. Turn the layout of one application into an atlas-driven layout.
2. Replace layer lookups with the atlas feature’s attributes.

The layout above works, but every new application means re-zooming the map and checking each label. With the QGIS Atlas (), the area boundary becomes the coverage layer: the main map follows the application on its own, labels read its attributes directly ("NAME" instead of aggregate('area_boundary', 'max', "NAME")), and the PDF is named from its attributes.

4.10. Turning on the atlas

Level: Intermediate

1. Open Atlas ‣ Atlas Settings, check Generate an atlas, and set the Coverage layer to area_boundary. Set the Output filename expression to:

"REGION" || '_SFLMA_Map_' || "NAME"

An atlas over the area boundary

2. Select the main map and check Controlled by Atlas with Fixed scale, so the map centers on the application at 1:5,000. The grid needs no change: it belongs to the main map, so its crosses and labels follow each application.

The main map, controlled by the atlas at a fixed scale of 1:5,000

3. Select the technical description table and, under Feature filtering, check Show only features intersecting atlas feature.
4. Replace the layer lookups in the labels with the atlas feature’s fields:

Label	One application	Atlas
Title	upper(aggregate('area_boundary', 'max', "NAME"))	upper("NAME")
Location	aggregate('area_boundary', 'max', "BARANGAY"), and so on	"BARANGAY", and so on
Area	aggregate('area_boundary', 'max', "AREA")	"AREA"
Certification	aggregate('area_boundary', 'max', "NAME")	"NAME"

The title reads the applicant’s name from the atlas feature

5. On the location map, mark only the current application: in location_marker, change the symbology to Rule-based with this rule, and use the same expression for the label’s Show label data-defined override:

$id = @atlas_featureid

and highlight the municipality the current application is in:

intersects($geometry, @atlas_geometry)

6. Click Preview Atlas on the Atlas toolbar to check the map, save the layout as a template (the completed one is SFLMA-prescribed-map-atlas.qpt), and export it with Atlas ‣ Export Atlas as PDF.

One layout for several applications

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

1. Bring several applications into one set of working layers, keyed by the applicant’s name.
2. Filter every table and label to the current application.
3. Export one map per application from one layout.

An office that prepares or reviews many applications can produce all their maps from one layout: the atlas makes one page per application. The atlas needs all the applications in one coverage layer, while the guide requires separate shapefiles for each application. So the applications are merged into working layers, keyed by NAME, and the submission shapefiles are left untouched.

4.11. Preparing the applications’ layers

Level: Intermediate

What we have

• The sample application’s area_boundary, area_corners, td_lines, and tie_point
• A second, fully prepared application in bnhr_qgis-sflma-mapping-001.gpkg: sample2_boundary, sample2_corners, sample2_td_lines, and sample2_tie_point (the Luntiang Bundok Agroforestry Association, 20.15 ha in Maigang and Minahan Norte)

1. The boundary and corners already carry NAME. Add NAME to the sample application’s td_lines and tie_point with the Field Calculator (Text), read from its area boundary:

aggregate('area_boundary', 'max', "NAME")

2. Run Processing Toolbox ‣ Merge vector layers four times, once for each kind of layer: the two boundaries, the two corner layers, the two technical description line layers, and the two tie points.

Merge vector layers: one boundary layer for both applications

3. Save the four merged layers in a GeoPackage, load them, and name them area_boundary, area_corners, td_lines, and tie_point. The completed layers are applications_boundary, applications_corners, applications_td_lines, and applications_tie_point in bnhr_qgis-sflma-mapping-outputs.gpkg.

NOTE

The merged layers are working layers for producing the maps. Each application is still submitted with its own shapefiles, technical description, and coordinates, in the prescribed names.

4.12. Keying the layout to the current application

Level: Advanced

Start from the atlas layout. The labels that read the atlas feature (title, location, area, certification) already work. The tables and the tie line read other layers, so they must be filtered to the current application by NAME.

1. Select the technical description table. Under Feature filtering, uncheck Show only features intersecting atlas feature, check Filter with, and enter:

"NAME" = attribute(@atlas_feature, 'NAME')

The table shows only the lines of the current application

WHY NOT “INTERSECTING ATLAS FEATURE”?

Applications that share a boundary have technical description lines that touch both areas, so filtering by intersection would list the neighbor’s lines too. Filtering by NAME is exact.

2. Change the tie line label and the four cells of the original coordinate table to read the current application’s tie point:

[% attribute(get_feature('tie_point', 'NAME', "NAME"), 'TIE_LINE') %]

'Reference Point: ' || attribute(get_feature('tie_point', 'NAME', "NAME"), 'ref_point')

'Easting: ' || format_number(attribute(get_feature('tie_point', 'NAME', "NAME"), 'easting'), 3, omit_group_separators:=true)

'Northing: ' || format_number(attribute(get_feature('tie_point', 'NAME', "NAME"), 'northing'), 3, omit_group_separators:=true)

'Datum: ' || attribute(get_feature('tie_point', 'NAME', "NAME"), 'datum')

The tie line of the current application, found by NAME

3. Applications have different numbers of lines, so the table’s height changes from page to page. Make the table’s frame tall enough for the longest technical description (e.g. 30 lines), and place the tie line under the last row with a data-defined override of the label’s Y position (in Position and Size). With the table starting at 28 mm and rows 5.11 mm high:

28 + 5.11 * (1 + aggregate('td_lines', 'count', "LINE", filter:="NAME" = attribute(@atlas_feature, 'NAME')))

The 1 + accounts for the table’s header row. Measure your own table’s top and row height in the layout and change the two numbers accordingly.

4.13. Previewing and exporting the maps

Level: Beginner

1. Click Preview Atlas and step through the pages: one page per application, each with its own map, tables, tie line, title, and certification.

Page 2 of the atlas: the Luntiang Bundok Agroforestry Association

The exported map of the second application, from the same layout

2. Export with Atlas ‣ Export Atlas as PDF, choosing a folder. The atlas writes one PDF per application, named by the output filename expression:
   • IV-A_SFLMA_Map_Bagong Gubat Agroforestry Cooperative.pdf
   • IV-A_SFLMA_Map_Luntiang Bundok Agroforestry Association.pdf

The completed project is sflma-several-applications.qgz and the template is SFLMA-prescribed-map-several-applications.qpt.

PRO-TIP

An application with several parcels works the same way: add a PARCEL field to the boundary, the technical description lines, and the tie points, and filter by it instead of by NAME.

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