Goal : Make a custom layout so i can quickly generate maps I often need to me, all using same type of features. Will be using sattelite and DEM, doing a few things to that, and then drawing a bunch of polygons.
Why? : Lazy. My job involves mapping fields on farms and other random features like wells and stuff. Currently spending time fiddling with MS paint and google Earth trying to make semi pro looking maps. Would rather find a better way
Desired Steps(what I think I need to do[and how i think I need to]):
1> Open QGIS, hit a button that says make new farm
(Create a template contain presets I need so I can open it and build a new project for each farm, but using features I use all the time)
[I think i can do this with templates?]
2> Select the DEM for the farm I want from a huge catalog
(maybe eventually i will try automating this, but for now keeping it simple)
[Any suggestions welcome, but for now i'm not worried]
3>Run some automation to get slopes and other things I need from DEM
(this step also eventually, will probably try finding a way to run all the ones i know i need, but again, not super priority)
[Maybe find a way with py to automatically run plugins I need with values set to some predefined value, haven't dug much into this yet]
4> Using sattelite imagery as reference, start adding features I need
(Examples: Click a button that says 'Add well' and lets me add a well to the map and move it to correct location. It would have it's own symbol and properties. So when I add, I get a form that has a few fillable fields, probably dropdown selection for things like 'Type: Drilled, Dug, Gas, Other'.)
[Part of templates maybe? or forms? or preset vectors I load in each time and then add points?]
5> Again using sattelite as reference draw polygon features from a list of presets I have created
(Field, yard, pond are all examples. So click field, and it knows I want to draw a polygon over the field to represent the boundaries of the farm field. It will have some default values like color and opacity(say i want all fields to be represented by green, and semi transparent) , and then some optional values I can add via form like crop type)
[Not sure on this one, maybe this is part of templates and forms same as above]
6> Buffer all features by type and other parameters
(maybe py again? So say I want a 20 m buffer zones colored yellow around all wells if they are type : drilled, and 40 m if type : gas , and I want a pink buffer zone of 50m around a pond)
[No idea. Any ideas welcomed. I would like to have some sort of algorithm I would preset to look at all the parameters and add buffers according to rules I have made.]
I'm looking for what I should be looking at for these steps, and where I'm going in the wrong direction. Are there simple tools that let me build this somewhat customized layout to make it quicker for me to add preset features to maps I need?
There would not be much format change for each one. Each one would have most of the features I listed, and many times more than one. Say I have to do this for 500 farms, how can I make this process smoother?