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Before beginning the tutorial, you will copy all of the required tutorial data onto your Desktop. Follow the applicable set of instructions below depending on the particular computer you are using.

OPTION 1: Obtaining tutorial data independently online using a personal computer

If you would like to download and prepare the data for this tutorial from scratch, follow the instructions below:.

Make a new project folder named Introduction to QGIS and save to your desktop. 

1. Go to the City of Houston's GIS website and click the Download button under the Open Data section. 
   
   
2. In the search bar, type roads and click enter. 
3. Click COH MAJOR ROAD Feature Layer.
    
4. Click the Download dropdown button and choose the Shapefile option under the Filtered Dataset. A popup box will appear containing the compressed files. You can see the folder contains different types of files such as CPG, DBF, PRJ, SHP, and SHX. 

1. QGIS does not recognize CPG type files. Select all of the COH_MAJOR_ROAD files except the CPG file. 
2. Click the Extract all button. A popup window will appear. 
3. Click the Browse button and navigate to a folder specifically for this project. Save the data to the folder. 
4. Click the Extract button. 
   
   
   

OPTION 2: Accessing tutorial data from Fondren Library using the gistrain OPTION 2: Accessing tutorial data from Fondren Library using the gistrain profile

If you are completing this tutorial from a public computer in Fondren Library and are logged on using the gistrain profile, follow the instructions below:

1. On the Desktop, click the File Explorer icon  located on the Windows Taskbar at the bottom left corner of the screen.
2. In the 'File Explorer' window, click This PC on left side panel and then navigate to gisdata (\\file-rnas.rice.edu) (R:) > Short_Courses > Introduction_to_GIS  
3. To create a personal copy of the tutorial data, drag the Intro folder onto the Desktop. 
4. Close all windows.

(Delete this option?)OPTION 3: Accessing tutorial data

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online 

If you are completing this tutorial from a personal computer, you will need to download the tutorial data online by following the instructions below:

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Getting Started with QGIS

Managing Projects

Opening an Existing Project

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Creating a New Map

A map is a project item used to display and work with geographic data in two dimensions. The first step to visualizing any data is creating a new map. The ribbon runs horizontally across the top of the ArcGIS Pro interface. Tools (buttons) are organized into tabs along the ribbon.

1. Open QGIS. 
2. Click the Open Data Source Manager button in the top left Image Added. 
3. On the ribbon, click the Insert tab.
4. In the Project group, click the New Map button.
   
   
   
   You will notice that a new map view opens in the main section of ArcGIS Pro.
   
   The panel on the left side of ArcGIS Pro is called the Contents pane. After creating a new map, the Contents pane now displays the default Map title and automatically adds the Topographic basemap layer to the map.
   
   The panel on the right side of ArcGIS Pro is called the Catalog pane. After creating the first map, a new Maps section has been added to the top of the Project tab within the Catalog pane.
   
   
5. In the Catalog pane, click the arrow to expand the Maps section.
   
   
   
   Notice that there is a single map there, named "Map". Since most projects will have multiple maps, it is a good idea to name your maps with more descriptive titles.
   
   
6. In the Catalog pane, under the Maps section, right-click Map and select Rename.
7. Type "Super Neighborhoods" and hit Enter.

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