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Is there a way to interrupt a contour line beneath a elevation number?

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Thanks!

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ArcGIS? QGIS? Custom? – Ragi Yaser Burhum Mar 5 at 3:36
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I use qgis for the contour labeling – MAP Mar 5 at 8:37
Would you accept an answer that requires PostGIS? – Scro Mar 5 at 15:01
unfortunatly: no :) But, is there a way to solve the problem with PostGIS? – MAP Mar 5 at 18:53

3 Answers

up vote 4 down vote

I use the "Buffer" option on the "Label setting" tab. (Using the labels button, not the old labels option on the layer properties dialog.) This does not wipe out the contour line, as I imagine you are wanting to do, but it does make the label legible.

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I never thought of it before, but it would be convenient if instead of assigning a color for the buffer, you could choose to apply it as a 'knockout' to selected layers. – Scro Feb 25 at 22:01
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The latest version of QGIS has transparent buffers so you can reduce the impact on other parts of the map. – Nathan W Feb 25 at 22:59
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@MAP A knockout erases the pixels beneath it. If that were an option, in this case you would choose to knockout the contour layer. – Scro Feb 26 at 11:41
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knockout - the esri term is "masking" resources.arcgis.com/en/help/main/10.1/index.html#//… – redbeard Feb 26 at 19:47
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@MAP - Sponsor a developer, or submit a feature request and wait on the benevolence of others. :) – Scro Feb 27 at 23:02
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up vote 1 down vote

Do you remember this thread Martin? The only way I can think of to get near to a solution to your problem would be to overlay your contour layer with a clipped contour layer, use this for labelling and change the line colour to something neutral that would mask the contours under the labels, one hopes without being too intrusive. N.

Added later: it might be worth looking at this thread too, the second answer. Perhaps breaking the contour lines might be an answer, perhaps using the buffer layer used to clip the contours?

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up vote 0 down vote

ESRI blog entry: http://blogs.esri.com/esri/arcgis/2011/11/28/variable-depth-masking-contour-label-example/

Variable-depth masking for contour labels involves three steps:

1creating annotation from the labels, 2using the Feature Outline Masks tool to create masks, and 3using the Advanced Drawing Options > Masking settings to specify which layers the masks will mask out.

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This shows how it could be implemented, but it doesn't really answer the question. – underdark♦ Mar 5 at 21:00

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