Welcome to Maps Printer’s documentation!

• Installing
• Using Maps Printer plugin
  • Custom settings
  • Export layouts from project
  • Export layouts from folder
  • From command line

Even though multiple pages and atlas options have improved print layouts usability and help enough to create many maps with few print layouts in a project, you can still have many print layouts in your project. And when comes the time to print or export them, it is not as fun as it could be. You indeed need to open each print layout, wait till it renders, fill the export options, wait till the export finishes to open the next layout. And so on…

If you find this process long and somehow boring (and even if you do not), then Maps Printer plugin is designed for you. It offers an easy, simple and quicker way to export print layouts to pdf, svg or image (jpg, tif, png, bmp…) file format.

Installing

The easiest way to install Maps Printer plugin in QGIS is through the Plugins --> Manage and Install plugins... menu of QGIS.

Using Maps Printer plugin

When installed, Maps Printer adds to the Processing Toolbox a new Maps Printer entry with following algorithms:

• Export layouts from project: exports a set of layouts from the current project
• Export layouts from folder: exports all the layouts from all the projects files in a selected folder

A Help entry is also added to the top Help --> Plugins --> Maps Printer menu and opens this documentation.

Custom settings

From the Processing options dialog (Settings --> Options --> Processing -->), under Providers --> Maps Printer, you can select the default format you wish to use while exporting. The list of available formats is based on the one supported by your OS.

Export layouts from project

Once you have created and set at your convenience your print layouts and wish to export some of them,

1. Expand the Maps Printer entry in the Processing Toolbox panel and double-click Export layouts from project. The following dialog opens.

   

   The Export from Project algorithm dialog

2. Click the ... next to the Layouts to export field.
3. Check the print layouts from the list that opens, validate.
4. Select the file format to use in Extension for exported maps. By default, its value is set to .png format but you can configure it (as explained below).
5. Enter a custom Export resolution to apply to all the outputs. If not set, each layout is exported using its own set resolution.
6. Press the ... button of Output folder of exported maps to browse your file explorer and select the output folder

7. Click Run to execute.

   Maps will be output to the indicated folder. Check the log tab for issues, if any.

Export layouts from folder

The Export layouts from folder algorithm helps you export layouts from projects in a folder.

1. Expand the Maps Printer entry in the Processing Toolbox panel and double-click Export layouts from folder. The following dialog opens.

   

   The Export from Folder algorithm dialog

2. Click the ... button of the Projects folder field and select the folder to use as input
3. Check the Include sub-directories option if you want to also export layouts from the subfolders of the input director
4. Select the file format to use in Extension for exported maps. By default, its value is set to .png format but you can configure it (as explained above).
5. Enter a custom Export resolution to apply to all the outputs. If not set, each layout is exported using its own set resolution.
6. With many files (containing many layouts) being exported to the same directory, you can hit filename collision. Check Prefix with project file name to minimize the risk; exported layouts will will be placed following the project folder structure.
7. Press the ... button of Output folder of exported maps to browse your file explorer and select the output folder

8. Click Run to execute.

   QGIS will successively open each available project file and output their layouts’ maps.

From command line

Maps Printer’s algorithms can be run from the QGIS Python console:

 # Display help, for algorithm parameters
 >>> processing.algorithmHelp("mapsprinter:exportlayoutsfromproject")
 # Export few layouts to PDF
 >>> processing.run("mapsprinter:exportlayoutsfromproject",
         {'LAYOUTS': [0,2],
         'EXTENSION': 0,
         'OUTPUT': '/path/to/exports/folder'
         }
     )

Starting from QGIS 3.14, it’s also possible to call Maps Printer’s algorithms and export layouts from the command line using qgis_process.

 # Display help, for algorithm parameters
 $ qgis_process help mapsprinter:exportlayoutsfromfolder
 # Export layouts from project files within a folder and subfolders
 $ qgis_process run mapsprinter:exportlayoutsfromfolder --PROJECTS_FOLDER=/path/to/projects/folder \
   --RECURSIVE=1 --EXTENSION=0 --OUTPUT_FOLDER=/path/to/exports/folder

Plugin developped by Harrissou Sant-anna (CAUE 49) - 2021