Skip to main content

🌏Atlas Export Tool

Available from v1.0.1

The Enhanced Atlas Export Tool allows you to export print layouts and atlas pages in various formats with advanced customization options. Whether you're creating a single map or hundreds of atlas pages, this tool streamlines the export process with an intuitive interface and robust error handling.

✨ Key Features​

  • 🎯 Support for both atlas and single layout exports
  • 📁 Multiple export formats (PDF, PNG, JPG, TIFF, SVG)
  • 🔧 Advanced quality and compression settings
  • 👀 Live preview capabilities
  • 📊 Comprehensive export logging

🚀 Getting Started​

Prerequisites​

  • ✅ QGIS 3.x installed
  • ✅ At least one print layout created in your project
  • ✅ For atlas exports: coverage layer configured

Launching the Tool​

  1. 📂 Open your QGIS project
  2. 🖱️ Click on the Atlas Export icon or Plugins ▶ Gruhanaksha ▶ Atlas Export

🖥️ Interface Layout​

The tool features a split-panel interface:

Left Panel: Settings & Configuration ⚙️​

  • Layout Selection - Choose your print layout
  • Export Mode - Select export type (all, custom, single)
  • Output Settings - Configure directory and filenames
  • Quality Settings - Adjust DPI, compression, and size
  • Advanced Options - Vector settings, text rendering

Right Panel: Preview & Logging 📊​

  • Layout Preview - Visual preview of selected page
  • Preview Information - Detailed layout and feature data
  • Export Log - Real-time export progress and messages

🎯 Layout Selection​

📋 Selecting a Layout​

  1. Print Layout Dropdown 📝

    • Lists all available print layouts in your project
    • Shows "No layouts available" if none exist

  2. Atlas Status Display 🗺️

    • Shows current atlas configuration state
    • Indicates coverage layer and feature count

  3. Enable/Disable Atlas 🔘

    • Toggle atlas functionality on/off
    • Only visible when coverage layer is configured

Atlas Status Messages​

  • ✅ "Atlas: Enabled (X features from 'LayerName')" - Ready for export
  • ⚠️ "Atlas: Configured but not enabled" - Click "Enable Atlas"
  • ❌ "Atlas: Enabled but no coverage layer set" - Configure coverage layer
  • 📄 "Regular Layout: No atlas configuration" - Single page layout

🎨 Export Modes​

📑 Single Layout Export​

  • Use Case: Export one page from a regular (non-atlas) layout
  • Button: "Export Single Layout"
  • Output: One file per layout

🗂️ Export All Atlas Pages​

  • Use Case: Export every page in the atlas
  • Button: "Export All Pages"
  • Output: One file per atlas feature
  • Note: Only available for atlas-enabled layouts

🎯 Export Custom Atlas Pages​

  • Use Case: Export specific pages from atlas
  • Button: "Export Custom Pages"
  • Input Format:
    • Single pages: 1,3,5
    • Ranges: 1-5,8,10-12
    • Mixed: 1,3,5-8,12,15-20

🚫 Disabled Options​

  • Single page export is automatically disabled for atlas layouts
  • Atlas options are disabled for regular layouts

📁 Output Settings​

🗂️ Output Directory​

  • Browse Button 📂: Select destination folder
  • Path Display: Shows selected directory path
  • Auto-creation: Directory created automatically if it doesn't exist

📝 Filename Pattern​

Configure output filenames using placeholders:

Standard Placeholders​

  • {page} - Page number (001, 002, 003...)
  • {index} - Zero-based index (0, 1, 2...)

Atlas-Specific Placeholders​

  • {field_name} - Value from coverage layer field
  • Example: {NAME}, {ID}, {REGION}

Example Patterns​

atlas_{page}           → atlas_001.pdf, atlas_002.pdf
map_{NAME}_{page}      → map_London_001.pdf, map_Paris_002.pdf
export_{ID}_{index}    → export_12_0.pdf, export_15_1.pdf

📄 Export Format​

Choose from five formats:

FormatBest ForVector SupportTransparency
PDF 📄Professional printing✅ Yes❌ No
PNG 🖼️Web use, transparency❌ No✅ Yes
JPG 📷Photos, smaller files❌ No❌ No
TIFF 🗃️GIS applications❌ No✅ Yes
SVG 🎨Scalable graphics✅ Yes✅ Yes

⚡ Quality Settings​

🎯 DPI (Dots Per Inch)​

  • Range: 72-1200 DPI
  • Default: 300 DPI
  • Recommendations:
    • 📱 Screen: 72-96 DPI
    • 🖨️ Print: 300 DPI
    • 📊 High-quality: 600+ DPI

🎨 Image Quality (JPG only)​

  • Range: 1-100%
  • Default: 95%
  • Slider Control: Real-time percentage display

📐 Custom Dimensions​

  • Width/Height: Set custom pixel dimensions
  • Auto Mode: Leave at 0 for automatic sizing
  • Aspect Ratio: Maintains proportions when one dimension is set

🗜️ Compression Settings​

PNG/TIFF Compression​

  • Range: 0-9 (0=none, 9=maximum)
  • Default: 6
  • Trade-off: Higher compression = smaller files, slower processing

🔧 Advanced Options​

📊 Metadata Options​

  • ✅ Include Metadata: Embed creation info, timestamps
  • 📁 Create Subdirectories: Organize exports into folders

🎨 Vector vs Raster (PDF/SVG)​

Two mutually exclusive options:

Export as Vectors ✅ (Recommended)​

  • Benefits: Crisp text, scalable graphics, smaller files
  • Best for: Maps with text labels, simple geometries

Rasterize Whole Layout 🖼️​

  • Benefits: Consistent appearance, complex effects
  • Best for: Layouts with complex styling, raster backgrounds

📝 Text Rendering (PDF/SVG)​

  • Always Outlines 🔤: Convert text to vector paths (reliable)
  • Always Text 📋: Keep text as selectable text (smaller files)

🗜️ PDF-Specific Options​

Image Compression​

  • Lossless/None: No compression, larger files
  • Lossy (JPEG): Compressed images, smaller files

JPEG Quality (when Lossy selected)​

  • Range: 1-100%
  • Default: 90%
  • Applies to: Raster images embedded in PDF

👁️ Preview Features​

🔍 Preview Controls​

  • Enable Preview Rendering ☑️: Toggle visual preview on/off
  • Page Selector 🔢: Choose which atlas page to preview
  • Refresh Button 🔄: Update preview manually

📊 Preview Information​

Always visible text panel showing:

  • Layout name and type
  • Atlas configuration status
  • Feature count and coverage layer
  • Current page attributes
  • Export settings summary

🖼️ Visual Preview​

When enabled, shows:

  • Actual rendered layout/atlas page
  • Scaled to fit preview area
  • Error messages if rendering fails

💡 Preview Tips​

  • 🚀 Disable visual preview for faster performance
  • 📋 Text info updates automatically
  • 🔄 Use refresh if preview seems outdated

▶️ Export Process​

🎬 Starting Export​

  1. ✅ Configure all settings
  2. 👀 Use "Preview" to verify settings
  3. ▶️ Click "Export" to begin
  4. 📊 Monitor progress bar and log

📊 Progress Monitoring​

  • Progress Bar 📈: Shows completion percentage
  • Export Log 📝: Detailed messages and file names
  • Page Counter 🔢: "Exported X/Y pages"

⏹️ Cancelling Export​

  • 🛑 Click "Cancel" button during export
  • 🕐 Wait for current page to finish
  • 📄 Partially exported files are preserved

✅ Completion Messages​

  • ✅ Success: "Successfully exported X pages"
  • ❌ Error: Specific error message with details
  • ⏹️ Cancelled: "Export cancelled. XX pages exported"

🔧 Troubleshooting​

❌ Common Issues​

"No layouts available"​

Cause: No print layouts in project Solution:

  1. 📋 Create a print layout in QGIS
  2. 🔄 Refresh the tool

"Atlas not enabled"​

Cause: Atlas is configured but disabled Solution:

  1. 🔘 Click "Enable Atlas" button
  2. ✅ Verify coverage layer is valid

"No coverage layer configured"​

Cause: Atlas enabled without coverage layer Solution:

  1. 🗺️ Open layout properties in QGIS
  2. 📍 Set coverage layer in Atlas tab

Export fails immediately​

Causes & Solutions:

  • 📁 Invalid output directory: Check folder permissions
  • 💾 Disk space: Ensure sufficient storage
  • 🔒 File locks: Close files that might be open

Preview shows "error"​

Causes & Solutions:

  • 🗺️ Invalid atlas page: Check page number
  • 💥 Rendering issues: Try disabling complex styling
  • 🔄 Stale data: Click refresh button

🚨 Error Messages​

Memory Errors​

  • Message: "Not enough memory for export"
  • Solution:
    • 📉 Reduce DPI settings
    • 📏 Use smaller custom dimensions
    • 🗂️ Export in smaller batches

File Access Errors​

  • Message: "Could not write to file"
  • Solutions:
    • 🔑 Check folder permissions
    • 💾 Ensure disk space available
    • 📝 Verify filename is valid

Atlas Errors​

  • Message: "Failed to seek to page X"
  • Solutions:
    • 🔍 Check coverage layer validity
    • 🔄 Refresh atlas in layout
    • 📊 Verify feature count matches

💡 Tips & Best Practices​

🎯 Performance Optimization​

  • 🚀 Disable preview rendering for large atlases
  • 📉 Use lower DPI for draft exports
  • 🗂️ Export in batches for very large atlases
  • 💾 Close other applications for memory-intensive exports

📁 File Organization​

  • 📂 Use descriptive folder names with dates
  • 🏷️ Include field names in patterns for easy identification
  • 📊 Create subdirectories for different export types
  • 🗃️ Archive old exports regularly

🎨 Quality Settings​

  • 📱 Screen viewing: 150 DPI, PNG format
  • 🖨️ Office printing: 300 DPI, PDF format
  • 📊 Professional printing: 600 DPI, PDF with vectors
  • 🌐 Web publishing: 96 DPI, PNG with transparency

🔧 Atlas Configuration​

  • ✅ Test with small samples before full export
  • 🏷️ Use meaningful field names in filename patterns
  • 🧹 Clean data to avoid invalid filename characters
  • 🔍 Preview random pages to verify consistency

💾 Backup & Recovery​

  • 💿 Backup project files before major exports
  • 📋 Save export settings by documenting parameters
  • 🗂️ Keep export logs for troubleshooting
  • 🔄 Test recovery procedures with sample data

🚀 Workflow Efficiency​

  1. 🎯 Start small: Test with 2-3 pages first
  2. 👀 Use preview extensively before full export
  3. 📊 Monitor resource usage during export
  4. ✅ Verify outputs before deleting source data
  5. 📝 Document settings for reproducible results