How to Lock Grid and Scalebar in QGIS Atlas

Question

Have just started using Valmeira and I am looking at generating an Atlas.

I am using irregularly sized features as the index.

The challenge I have, is when I set up the template page and scalebar and grid, if I go to another page (with a different sized feature) the resulting scale change makes the scalebar push out, and the grid become too small too read.

There are two workarounds -

1. Use regularly sized index features - then Grid and Scalebar size are not an issue, as the scale doesn't change between pages.

2. Group the Features by their approximate scale to reduce the amount of changes in scale, and break the project into a number of atlases.

My preferred option would be if there were a 'Disconnect Object from Atlas' style of option. This would mean that I could set the Scalebar and Grid for that page, then disconnect them from the Atlas automaitc refresh once I have completed them.

Answer 1

You can set a fixed scale for an atlas map:

1. Click the map item
2. Select "item properties"
3. Under the "controlled by atlas" group, select "fixed scale"

This is a better solution then the workarounds you listed.

Answer 2

Possibly better solution:

1. Click the map, and set Atlas to 'predefined by scale'
2. Select the scalebar and set Segments to 'fit segment width'

I'm not too sure about the correct terms, as my QGIS is in Dutch