Printing large multi-page maps in QGIS?

Question

i need to print a detailed map, on a street level zoom of Metro Manila. i figured to do this i need to download map tiles, but that will be a breach on map usage in OSM. then i found this website, http://metro.teczno.com/#manila, they provide pre-downloaded map extracts of certain areas, with Metro Manila being one, just what i need.

Now what i have to do is get a hold of some GIS application, and that will be QGIS, I've done some research and it turns out QGIS offers a plugin that prints maps, print composer to be exact, but as i continue reading, though i haven't really tried it, print composer only prints in a certain zoom level? or paper/print size?

I need a map that is on a street level, so if im gonna use one paper, it has to be huge to accommodate the street zoom level, so im thinking if print composer provides or has a feature to cut a map on a street level zoom to multiple A4 size papers or any smaller size papers, so that i can just later on fit them all together?

Answer 1

You can use the QGIS Atlas plugin, which in the current build of QGIS is no longer a plugin but a core feature of the composer. Atlas will allow you use a coverage layer, in your case would be a street level grid over you map, to print the composer for each feature in the coverage layer. The grid does not need to be uniform, in fact you can even use points or lines.

Answer 2

You can use a QGIS plugin called EasyPrint, it is in the main plugin repository and it will create map books based on scale and/or a grid you supply. Here's a link to the mailing list where the author announced its availability:

http://lists.osgeo.org/pipermail/qgis-user/2010-August/009301.html

Answer 3

I'm assuming you have access to a large-format plotter so you can at least print an A4-sized page.

With that said, I personally would let the plotter do the work:

Use QGIS to create a map to the final size you're after - a huge page. You can choose a custom size and enter the width and height in the units you're after.

You can then design the map to the exact scale you need, and even print test pages to ensure your features are the correct size (note the scale, create smaller print composer page at 8.5x11 or so, and plot the same map to the scale you noted in your final map. See how the print out looks, then make adjustments to the 'big' print composer)

When you're done, export the map as a PDF.

The print options of your operating system and plotter drivers should give you the option to print the huge PDF map as tiles - that's what you want to do.

Additionally, if you're looking for high-resolution street cartography, using the OSM data you have, you should really use Anita's styles for OSM - we use these daily, and plot out very detailed street maps at 36x24" that look beautiful:

https://anitagraser.com/2014/05/31/a-guide-to-googlemaps-like-maps-with-osm-in-qgis/

We have custom versions of the styles posted here:

https://github.com/dpsspatial/Styles/tree/master/QGIS_OSM