QGIS 3.0 “Girona” released

Date: 7. March 2018

On February 24th, the long announced official release QGIS 3.0 with the code name “Girona” was released. QGIS 3.0 is the third major version of the Free and popular desktop GIS software.

Till Adams, partner of terrestris, had already given an introduction to QGIS 3.0 at the OSGeo-Park of last year’s INTERGEO in Berlin. As it is hardly possible to present all new features of QGIS 3.0 here, we nevertheless would like to point out some highlights of the new version.

The first important message in advance: It is possible to open projects created under QGIS 2. x in QGIS 3. This might be more problematic if your project uses QGIS plugins, because all QGIs-PlugIns have to be adapted. Some of the plugin developers might already have adapted their plugins, but this should not apply to the majority of plug-ins. However, a random evaluation of the terrestris developers has shown that the adaptions to be performed shouldn’t be too dramatic. Due to the version changes of QT- and Python (now Python 3) some adjustments are necessary. The first important message in advance: It is possible to open projects created under QGIS 2. x in QGIS 3. It becomes more problematic if your project uses QGIS plugins, because they have to be adapted. Some of the plugin developers have already adapted their plugins, but this should not apply to the majority of plug-ins. However, a random evaluation of the terrestris developers has shown that the conversions are not too dramatic. Due to the version changes of QT– and Python (now Python 3) some adjustments are necessary. 

With the new QT version, the user interface comes along more structured and clearer. QGIS 3.0 comes with a lot of new standard symbols and symbol groups. Furthermore, several new renderers have been integrated, such as a point cluster and a unique value renderer for discrete raster surfaces. A powerful 3D rendering engine has been integrated for the 3D visualization. A newly designed geoprocessing toolbox allows easy access to the largely optimized geoprocessing tools in QGIS. The default support for geopackage as datasource is also gratifying. A complete list of all changes can be found in the official changelog. Kurt Menke, the author of several QGIS books, presents his personal highlights in his blog post.

To install QGIS 3, just visit the official download page. Windows users should be able to download the standalone installer for 64-bit systems without any problems. If you want to use other Open Source GIS software, you can also try the OSGEO-Installer, which contains a lot of other Free and Open GIS software.

Basically it is worth trying QGIS 3.0. We currently advise against a complete replacement of your proven and stable QGIS 2. x. If you have any questions about QGIS 3.0, please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions about QGIS 3.0 or if you have any questions about it, please feel free to contact us.