Part 5 – Cartography Exercise: Finalizing a Map Layout

Cartography
Assemble a main map and inset map into a finished, publication-ready layout — legend, titles, symbols, and labels.
Published

August 6, 2026

Classification: Intermediate GIS Analysis | Spatial Data Basics | Map Composition & Layout

Learning Level: Intermediate

Time Estimate: 60 minutes

Software Required: QGIS LTR 3.44

Author: Daniele Cannatella

Overview

This exercise is the fifth and final hands-on block of the Week 1 GIS workshop. Building on the Cartography input lecture, you will take one styled layer from Parts 1–4 and turn it into a complete, publication-ready map: a main map, an inset locator map, a legend, titles and description, styled symbols, and labels. You’ll finish at least one map in class; the rest of your Parts 1–4 outputs become a take-home assignment using the same workflow.

Learning Outcomes

By completing this exercise, you will be able to:

✅ Assemble a Print Layout combining a main map and an inset (locator) map
✅ Add and style a legend, title, north arrow, and scale bar
✅ Adjust symbol styling for visual hierarchy and print legibility
✅ Add descriptive text elements (title, caption, source/attribution)
✅ Add and style labels for key features
✅ Export a finished map as an image or PDF

Data & Software

You will need:

Resource Type Description
One project from Parts 1–4 QGIS project Your own styled output — land use basemap, DTM/risk zone, FSI choropleth, or bakery density map
zeeland.gpkg Geopackage Boundary layer for the inset map

Quick Reference: Layout Elements

Element Menu Path Purpose
Print Layout Project → New Print Layout Opens the layout canvas where all map elements are assembled
Map Add Item → Add Map Places the main (or inset) map view on the page
Legend Add Item → Add Legend Explains symbology to the reader
Label (title/caption) Add Item → Add Label Free text: titles, captions, source notes
North Arrow Add Item → Add North Arrow Orients the reader
Scale Bar Add Item → Add Scale Bar Shows map distance at a glance

Step 1: Choose Your Map and Tidy the Layers

  1. Open the project containing the layer you want to finalise (your choice of Part 1’s land use map, Part 2’s DTM/risk zone, Part 3’s FSI choropleth, or Part 4’s bus stops density map)
  2. In the Layers Panel, turn off or remove any layers you don’t want to appear in the final map, so the legend stays focused
  3. Confirm your main layer’s symbology still looks the way you left it (graduated/categorised classes, colours, etc.)

Result: Only the layers relevant to your final map are visible in the Layers Panel.

Step 2: Build the Main Map

  1. Go to Project → New Print Layout, give it a name (e.g. land_use_layout)
  2. Click on the canvas; in Item Properties, change the page size to A3
  3. In the Items Panel, click Add Item → Add Map
  4. Click and drag on the layout canvas to draw the main map frame — aim for roughly 60–70% of the page
  5. With the map item selected, use the Item Properties panel to pan/zoom the map inside its frame until the extent looks right
  6. Once you’re happy with the extent, tick Lock Layers and Lock Styles in Item Properties, so later edits to the project don’t accidentally change what’s shown in the layout

Result: Your styled layer fills most of the page as the main map.

Step 3: Add an Inset (Locator) Map

A reader unfamiliar with Vlissingen needs context for where your main map sits — that’s what an inset map provides.

3.1 Add the Inset Map Frame

  1. Click Add Item → Add Map again
  2. Draw a small frame in an empty corner of the page (roughly 15–20% of the page width)
  3. In Item Properties for this new map, zoom/pan it out to show the wider context — i.e. Vlissingen’s location within Zeeland — using the zeeland layer

3.2 Show the Main Map’s Extent on the Inset

  1. With the inset map selected, open Item Properties → Overviews
  2. Click the + button to add an overview
  3. Set Map frame to your main map item

Result: A highlighted rectangle now appears on the inset map, showing exactly where the main map’s extent sits within the wider area.

Tip: Give the inset map a thin border (Item Properties → Frame) so it reads clearly as a separate map, not part of the main map’s background.

Step 4: Add a Legend

  1. Click Add Item → Add Legend
  2. Draw the legend box in a clear area that doesn’t overlap the main map’s content
  3. In Item Properties, uncheck Auto update so you can edit it manually
  4. Remove any layers from the legend that aren’t relevant to your map’s message (select the layer under Legend Items and click the − button)
  5. Double-click layer/class names to rename them into reader-friendly labels (e.g. FSI_24 → “Floor-Space Index, 2024”)

Result: A clean legend that explains only what’s relevant to your map.

Step 5: Add Title, Description, North Arrow, and Scale Bar

  1. Title: Add Item → Add Label, place it at the top of the page, and set the text to a short descriptive title (e.g. “Building Density (FSI) in Vlissingen, 2024”). Increase the font size so it reads clearly as the title
  2. Description/caption: Add a second, smaller label somewhere near the bottom of the page with a short caption — what the map shows, the data source, the date, and your name (e.g. “Source: RUDIFUN, 2024. Map by [Name], MSc1 Urbanism Workshop.”)
  3. North arrow: Add Item → Add North Arrow, place it in a corner that doesn’t compete with the inset map
  4. Scale bar: Add Item → Add Scale Bar, place it near the north arrow, and set its units (metres or kilometres) to something sensible for the map’s extent

Result: The page now has a title, a short description with source attribution, a north arrow, and a scale bar.

Step 6: Style Symbols for Clarity

Layout elements only work if the underlying map symbology is legible at print size.

  1. Return to the main map’s Layer Styling (F7) if needed
  2. Increase contrast between classes if colours look too similar once printed/exported (e.g. widen the colour ramp, or reduce the number of classes)
  3. For point layers (e.g. bus stops), check that marker size is large enough to see at the layout’s scale, but not so large that points overlap
  4. Keep any reference/basemap layers (e.g. OSM) subdued — lower opacity or greyscale — so your main theme stays the visual focus
  5. Click Apply, then return to the Print Layout and refresh the map item if changes don’t appear automatically (right-click the map item → Refresh View)

Tip: Ask yourself “what’s the one thing I want a reader to notice first?” — that element should have the strongest colour and contrast on the page; everything else should visually recede.

Step 7: Add and Style Labels

  1. Select the vlissingen_neighbourhoods layer, open Layer Properties → Labels
  2. Change No labels to Single Labels
  3. Value: buurtnaam
  4. Under Text, set a legible font size (test at your layout’s scale, not the default canvas zoom)
  5. Under Buffer, enable a white (or light) halo around the text, so labels stay readable over coloured polygons
  6. Under Placement, choose a rule appropriate to your geometry (e.g. Around Point for point layers, or a polygon placement mode that centres the label in each polygon)
  7. Click Apply, then check the layout for overlapping or clipped labels — reduce font size or manually move individual label positions if needed (Move Label tool in the layout toolbar)

Result: Key features are labelled directly on the map, legible against the underlying colours.

❓ Question: Why does a white halo/buffer matter for labels placed over a graduated colour ramp?

✅ Solution (click to reveal):

Without a halo, dark label text becomes unreadable over dark map classes, and light text disappears over light classes. A halo (buffer) keeps a consistent light — or dark — ring around the text regardless of what colour sits underneath it, so labels stay legible across the whole colour ramp.

Extra: Rule-based Labeling

  1. Select the vlissingen_neighbourhoods layer, open Layer Properties → Labels
  2. Change Single Labels to Rule-based Labeling, click Add Rule
  3. Filter:
"aantalInwoners" > 1000
  • "aantalInwoners" – refers to one of the layer’s attributes (number of residents)
  • > 1000 – flags neighborhoods with over a thousand residents
  1. Text: buurtnaam
  2. Style the labels as described in Step 7

Step 8: Final Check and Export

Before exporting, run through this checklist:

  1. Go to Layout → Export as Image… (PNG, for Miro)
  2. Save the export at a resolution suitable for on-screen viewing (300 dpi is a safe default)
  3. Upload the exported map to the course Miro board
  4. File → Save Project, so your layout is preserved

Take-Home

Repeat Steps 1–8 for at least one more of your Parts 1–4 outputs, using the same workflow, so that all four maps (land use, DTM/risk zone, choropleth, bakery density) end up as finished layouts by the take-home deadline.

Reflection

  • Which single element (inset map, legend cleanup, labels, symbol styling) made the biggest difference to how readable your map is?
  • How did adding the inset map change how a reader unfamiliar with Vlissingen would understand your main map?
  • What trade-offs did you make between showing detail and keeping the map uncluttered?
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