QGIS for Archaeologists – A Basic Guide Contents

QGIS for Archaeologists – A Basic Guide
We now have a map showing the distribution of Anti-Landing Trenches across the UK mainland, and
counties in which Anti-Landing Trenches are preserved. However, if someone was looking at this
map without us there to tell them more –they wouldn’t have a clue what it was about! To sort that
out, let’s add some more map objects and make our data more accessible.
11.2. 27BAdding a scalebar
First, let’s add a scale to the map. The add scale tool is on the left hand side of the screen. As a
default, the scale will have four large sections to the right of zero and two small sections to the left.
You can modify this in the tabbed menus on the right hand side of the screen – with the new
scalebar selected, go to Item Properties.
The number of segments on the
bar makes it a little unwieldy, and
we want to avoid objects on the
map clashing with each other, so
let’s reduce this to two sections to
the right of zero, and change the
fixed width to 100,000 units (1 unit
= 1 metre (which is the default
value for the OSGB36 coordinate
reference system) so 100,000 units
= 100 kilometres). With the scale
bar resized, move it to a corner of
the map where it won’t clash with
the land – look out for the red lines
to make sure the box is properly
lined-up with the edges of the map
canvas.
Figure 55: Adding the scalebar
Figure 56: Scale Bar Added and modified
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