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I'd like to use QGis as a trip planner. Once there's a topographic map on the screen - from whatever source - I'd like to point-and-click a track over that map, then export it in a common GPS format (GPX for instance). Is that possible and if so, how?

Thanks.

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This is certainly possible. Create a new shapefile by choosing New under the menu Layers and there you select Shapefile. In the options dialog you choose Line and WGS84 projection and press Ok. It will prompt you to save somwhere.

Now the newly created shapefile shows up in your layer list. Select it and toggle editing to on (the Pen icon on the toolbar, or Toggle editing under the Layer menu.)

Use the create new feature tool to draw your line. When you're done with a segment, right click to finish it. When you're done editing, press the pen icon again to toggle editing off. It will prompt you to save your edits.

Now right click on the edited layer in your layer list and select Save as. Here you can choose to save as GPX format.

Edit: As the linked question suggests, it also seems like you have to tick the "Skip attribute creation" box when saving the GPX file.

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  • Thank you for your very nice answer. I have installed a "GPS plugin", which also allows me to "create new GPX layer", which as far as I could understand creates a group of two vector layers (route and track) and one of points (waypoints). In either case, though - by using that plugin or following your very instructions step by step - I can't make it. Whenever I deselect the "toggle edit" feature, QGis does not ask me to save anything and I keep seeing the red line I drawn on the screen. It's not associated to the .shp because if I try to change its style, that line remains red and thin.
    – Dakatine
    Sep 16, 2014 at 15:24
  • I can't really say anything about the plugin, but I've made this image to try and explain how to edit the shapefile you created: i.imgur.com/JCgpHDg.png
    – hexamon
    Sep 17, 2014 at 7:06
  • Thanks again for your time. Still, the "save" button doesn't get highlighted. I recorded a screencast to show you what I do. Maybe I'm really lost in a lame detail which i missed. youtube.com/watch?v=lrIPr89Zm8I Thank you :)
    – Dakatine
    Sep 17, 2014 at 9:02
  • It looks like you're not finishing the segment. Are you sure you're right clicking at the end of the line to finish it? Edit: Or actually it does look like it stays. Seems really weird. Might actually be a bug, or maybe a write permission problem.
    – hexamon
    Sep 17, 2014 at 9:16
  • Right click to finish it. That was so clear and explicit and I missed it. I have no idea of how to fill in that pop-up window that appears when I right click, but it looks like the line actually gets associated to the vector whatever I write. Now it's only a matter of exporting it. Thanks!
    – Dakatine
    Sep 17, 2014 at 9:28

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