QGIS – Package Layers

By David Crowther

Question:

What does the Package Layers Tool do within QGIS?

Answer:

The Package Layers Tool within QGIS enables you to package (or group) individual GIS files into one GeoPackage Database.

In QGIS we have 3 individual ESRI Shapefile layers representing the ARoads, BRoads and Motorways for the UK.

We will Package these 3 separate layers together to create 1 GeoPackage Database.

From the Processing menu choose > Toolbox > and open the Database section.

Choose the Package Layers menu option.

The Package Layers Tool will open.

In the Package Layers Tool choose the Input Layers by clicking on the Ellipsis icon and then selecting the Layers from the map window that you wish to group together.

Now choose a destination for the saved GeoPackage.

If you now Run the Package Layers Tool, the 3 individual layers will be grouped together into the output GeoPackage Database.

Once the process is completed a Task Complete window will popup.

In your Browser Panel you will now see that a new GeoPackage Database is available.

You can individually open one of the files stored in the GeoPackage Database. For example, open up the All_Roads GeoPackage Database and drag the ARoads into the map.

Or by dragging in the whole GeoPackage Database you can then choose to open all the sub level GeoPackage Layers, and by ticking the ‘Add Layers to a Group’ box, they will be opened and auto added into their own Group Layer.

The Package Layers Tool in QGIS is a great tool for quickly converting individual or multiple source GIS files (e.g. MapInfo Tabs, ESRI Shapefiles) into a GeoPackage File format.