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Importing the datasets

To review the difference between raster and vector data, visit the Introduction to GIS.

Raster data

  1. If you haven’t already, download and install QGIS.

  2. Open QGIS.

  3. Open a New Empty Project.

  4. In the left-hand Browser menu, find the dropdown titled XYZ tiles. Screenshot of XYZ tiles in the QGIS browser menu interface

  5. Expand the XYZ tiles dropown and double-click OpenStreetMap to add a basemap to your project. The basemap exists in the background of the project to give us a reference while we are working.

  6. In the banner that runs across the top of the QGIS project, find the Zoom in button. Select this button. Screenshot of the QGIS interface showing the top banner with the Zoom in button highlighted

  7. Click and hold to drag a square around Europe. You can also scroll in and out on your mouse to Zoom in and out. To pan around the map without zooming, engage the Pan map button, which looks like a hand. GIF of zooming and panning around the QGIS map document

  8. In the left-hand browser menu, right-click XYZ Tiles and select New Connection. Screenshot of New XYZ tile connection menu option in QGIS

    We are adding the map of Poland nationalities. This map has already been georeferenced. Georeferencing maps like this one allows us to overlay it onto other maps and directly compare maps and data of the same area. The map is currently hosted online as a streaming data layer. We can bring it into our project by specifying in QGIS what the layer URL is.

  9. In the XYZ Connection wizard, title the new layer Poland Nationalities 1919.

  10. Copy and paste the following link into where it asks for a URL: https://allmaps.xyz/maps/8d5cc5d1fec615d6/{z}/{x}/{y}.png Screenshot of XYZ Connection wizard in QGIS

    To learn how we georeferenced this map from our Digital Collections, you can follow this tutorial.

  11. Accept all other defaults. Select OK.

  12. Make sure the dropdown caret next to XYZ Tiles in the browser menu is expanded. To add the Poland Nationalities 1919 map layer to your QGIS project, double-click on Poland Nationalities 1919. You should be able to see the old map overlaid on the basemap now.

    It might take a few moments to render. As you zoom in and pan around, you are querying the map data at different zoom levels. The resolution should improve as it finishes loading.

Vector data

  1. Download the zipped data from this Google Drive link.

  2. Uncompress the zipped data folder. If you need help unzipping folders, follow the steps on this website.

  3. In the very top QGIS program menu, select Layer → Add Layer → Add Vector Layer. Screenshot of Add Vector Layer menu option in QGIS

  4. In the Data Source Manager, Under Source, click the ellipsis next to Vector dataset(s). This will open your computer’s files. Navigate to where you downloaded and unzipped the project data. In the allenstein-region folder, select the file allenstein-region.shp. GIF of navigating to find the right shapefile file

  5. Select Open.

  6. Select Add and Close. The allenstein-region layer should now appear in your layer list, and on your map.

  7. Follow the same prompts to add the Polish cities statistical data. In the Data Source Manager, Under Source, click the ellipsis next to Vector dataset(s). This will open your computer’s files. Navigate to where you downloaded and unzipped the project data. In the poland-stats folder, select the file poland-stats.shp.

  8. Select Open.

  9. Select Add and Close. The poland-stats layer should now appear in your layer list, and on your map. Your map document should look something like this. Screenshot of the QGIS document showing all three layers All three layers, the georeferenced map, the allenstein region, and the polish cities statistics.

  10. Let’s make this data a little easier to work with. Double-click the allenstein-region layer in the Layers Panel. This will open up the Layer Properties for the allenstein-region shapefile. GIF of double-clicking the layer in the layer list to open the properties

  11. Select the Symbology tab from the Layer Properties menu. Screenshot of the Symbology layer properties in QGIS

  12. We want to change the symbology on the plebiscite region layer so that instead of QGIS symbolizing the region as a solid shape, it is just a border around the region. Select where it says Simple Fill. GIF of clicking on the Simple Fill button in the Symbology Properties Menu

  13. In the Fill Style drop-down, change Solid to No Brush. Screenshot of Fill style symbology options in QGIS

  14. Let’s change the border outline, or “Stroke”, to a color and width that appears a bit more prominently against the detail of the bold colors on the historic map. Click the colorful bar which appears to the right of the Stroke Color option to open the Select Stroke Color menu. GIF of clicking on the select stroke color menu

  15. We’re going to use a light greenish color which will pop against the map background. Paste the color code for this color into where it says HTML notation. The value to paste in is #e0f3db GIF of pasting in the correct color code

    To learn more about color codes, check out htmlcolorcodes.com.

  16. Increase the Stroke Width to 1.0. Screenshot of the Stroke width symbology options in QGIS

  17. Select OK

  18. This works better for us, because now we can see the extent of the plebiscite region, but can also “peer under” the layer to see the details of the historic map. Your map should look something like this. Screenshot of map with the allenstein region layer's symbology adjusted

  19. Now let’s label the Allenstein region. Double-click the allenstein-region layer in the Layers Panel again, to open up the Layer Properties. GIF of double-clicking the layer in the layer list to open the properties

  20. Select the Labels tab in the Layer Properties menu. Screenshot of the Label tab in the Layer Properties menu

  21. Select the drop-down that says No Labels, and change it to Single Labels. GIF of changing no labels to single labels in the label interface

  22. Select the Text tab, and change the size of the label to 14.0. GIF of changing the text size

  23. Click the color bar next to Color and paste #eee as the color code into the HTML notation field.
    GIF of changing the text color

  24. Let’s add a drop shadow to make the label stand out better against the map background. Select the label tab called Shadow, and toggle on Draw drop shadow. GIF of toggling on the drop shadow

  25. Select OK. Your map should now look like this, with the Allenstein region outlined and labeled. Screenshot of the map with the allenstein region labeled

  26. The points representing the Polish cities in the poland-stats layer are also quite small and difficult to see. Let’s make them bigger. Double-click the poland-stats layer in the Layers Panel to open the Layer Properties.

  27. Select the Symbology tab.

  28. Select where it says Simple Marker. GIF of selecting simple marker from the Layer Properties symbology tab

  29. In the text box next to Size, change the marker size to 6.0. GIF of changing the marker size from 2.0 to 6.0 in the QGIS layer properties symbology interface

  30. Select OK. Your map should look something like this. Screenshot of the current map state, showing the cities layer with larger points