[GIS] way in qgis 2.0 to prevent overlapping labels

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Is there a way in qgis 2.0 to prevent overlapping labels?

I have a layer with a large geographical extent, which means a hell of a lot of labels. Many of them collide and it looks really bad. Is there a way for me to get qgis to automatically place the labels on an alternative 'location'?

I know it is possible in MapInfo but I'd rather use qgis 🙂

Best Answer

In the Layer properties select the Label page. In the Rendering subpage on the right you can select various options in the Features category.

You can limit the amount of Labels to be printed or merge connected line labels (this of course depends on the type of Feature used).

The placement of labels can be customized under the Placement subpage.

Related Solutions

[GIS] Label inside top left corner of polygons using MapInfo Professional

You can label in a position.

Go into layer control (right click) and then select the layer you want, then the label button. IN there, is all the positioning you need.

In MapBasic, you can do the following in the MapBasic window (very easy) or you can script it:

Loop through your objects in the layer you want to label
get the objects x,y you want (using ObjectInfo if I remember correctly)
then adjust the label based on that.

Code to adjust is:

Set Map Layer 1 Label Object 1 
    Visibility On 
    Anchor (0, 85) ’anchor the label at this (x,y)

MapBasic User/Reference Guide

You could also look at this; trial version is free, in case it works for you: evermap.com/evername.asp

QGIS – Preventing Text Labels from Overlapping Other Markers

The best consistent solution I have so far is along the lines of what I have laid out above. Assuming a SHP file is used, the steps are:

Open the dbf file either with a spreadsheet application such as LibreOffice, Excel, or the QGIS Table Manager plugin.
Add a column to the table. If a data type is required, use string.
Fill the cells with a non-breaking space. Once complete, save the changes. (See this Wikipedia page for information on how to type a non-breaking space.)
Open the Layer Labeling Settings for the point layer. On the Advanced tab, set the Placement to Over Point and set the Priority such that it is higher than any other labeled layers.

Best Answer

Related Solutions

[GIS] Label inside top left corner of polygons using MapInfo Professional

QGIS – Preventing Text Labels from Overlapping Other Markers

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