QGIS 3.42 New Features: Raster Data Labeling

Introduction

QGIS 3.42 “Münster” was released on February 21, 2025.

The name “Münster” may bring different images to mind. Some people think of Munster, the powerhouse Irish rugby team. Others think of Munster, the town in eastern France known for its delicious cheese. But the umlaut in the “ü” shows that the name here refers to Münster, the beautiful city in western Germany.

This article introduces some of the new features from the changelog for version 3.42.

Symbology

Raster data labeling

You can now display raster band values as labels for the pixels of raster data.

In earlier versions, you had to check pixel values one by one with the Identify Features tool. The new labeling feature makes raster data easier to visualize. Because the labels are registered with the QGIS labeling engine, QGIS automatically avoids collisions and adjusts overlaps with other labels.

Buffer setting for the symbol rendering range

In earlier versions, QGIS rendered only the features inside the map canvas.

For example, if you generated polygons with a geometry generator, a polygon was not rendered when its point was outside the map canvas.

To solve this problem, symbols have a new setting that lets you define the rendering range of a symbol as a buffer around the visible extent of the canvas. Follow these steps to set it.

1. Select a symbol.
2. Click Advanced.
3. Click Extent Buffer.
4. Set the buffer distance around the map canvas.

This lets you include additional features within a range you define, so you can optimize the visualization of complex data while maintaining rendering performance.

Layouts

Apply page properties to all pages

To make editing multi-page layouts more efficient, the Page Properties panel has a new Apply to all Pages button.

It applies layout settings to multiple pages at once, which greatly reduces the effort of editing complex layouts.

JPEG quality setting when exporting layouts

The JPEG export options for print layouts have a new quality parameter, so you can adjust export settings such as file size more precisely.

Data management

STAC data integration

STAC (SpatioTemporal Asset Catalog) is a standard specification for organizing geospatial data into catalogs so that it can be searched and shared. Data providers use it for data such as imagery, synthetic aperture radar (SAR), and point clouds.

Since QGIS 3.40, you can load data from STAC data catalogs directly in the Browser panel. Version 3.42 adds the following improvements.

• Access STAC data catalogs from the Data Source Manager
• Filter the search results in a catalog by the map extent and by date
• Show the footprints of catalog items on the map canvas

STAC data catalogs hold a huge amount of data, so these new features are very useful: they make it easier to find the data you need.

Run SQL queries from the layer context menu

From the Layers panel, you can now run SQL queries directly on supported layers.

Running complex filters and retrieving statistics is smoother, which makes data analysis more efficient.

How to upgrade

The article below explains in detail how to upgrade QGIS. Have a look at it as well.

Conclusion

QGIS 3.42 “Münster” adds features that strengthen visualization, such as the buffer setting for the symbol rendering range and labeling for raster data. It also includes many features that make data management and workflows smoother, such as more efficient layout editing, STAC data integration, and direct execution of SQL.

QGIS 3.42 adds many more features than the ones covered here. See the changelog for details.