[GIS] Export to new projection in QGIS 1.8

coordinate systemexportqgis

I would like to use QGIS to convert a CSV file from UTM to lat/long.

I imported the CSV file with the "Add Delimited Text Layer" plugin. This works fine, the data looks like it is projected properly on my map.

However, when I try Layer> Save as… and set the Selected CRS to NAD83, it does not convert my UTMs to lat/long. When I go Open Attribute Table, the x and y coordinates are still in meters, not degrees.

Any thoughts why this isn't working for me?

Best Answer

Reprojecting changes the geometries. It does not change any values in the attribute table. It never does. For the GIS, fields named x and y have no special meaning.

You can recalculate the values in the attribute table after the reprojection step using field calculator.

  1. Load the CSV in UTM
  2. "Save as ..." to reproject to NAD83
  3. Use Vector - "Add geometry columns" to add lat/lon values to the attribute table or use field calculator to update the existing x and y fields (the operators are $x and $y)
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