How to Change Point Styles in QGIS

Introduction

When you load a layer that contains points into QGIS, it shows them as round markers in a random color by default. Changing the markers to suit the data makes a map easier to read and understand: for example, green or a shelter icon for evacuation shelters, or a red cross for hospitals.

This article explains how to change the appearance of points (markers) in QGIS. It covers everything from basic color changes to detailed settings, and even using image files as markers.

To change the appearance of polygon data as well, see this article too.

Change the style of points

When you add a layer to QGIS, it draws points in the Single Symbol style. This gives every feature in a point layer the same marker.

However, QGIS picks the default color at random, so the layer can be hard to read when you combine it with other layers, or look different from what you had in mind. For example, you may want to draw evacuation shelter data with green circles or a shelter symbol. For fire station data, red is more intuitive.

This section shows how to change the appearance of points.

Use a default style

To change the appearance of a marker, including its color, open the Symbology tab in the Layer Properties dialog. Here is how.

Right-click the layer whose color you want to change and select Properties.

When the Layer Properties dialog opens, click Symbology in the menu on the left side of the window. The image below shows the open Symbology tab. Here you can choose from the markers that QGIS provides.

The area at the top left of the window, with a circle drawn over a cross, previews the marker. The point where the cross lines meet is the feature's coordinates. You can adjust the parameters while checking the preview.

As an example, select dot green and click OK at the bottom right of the window.

The points change to green markers.

Set the marker appearance

In the Symbology tab, you can also set the marker's color, opacity, and size.

1. Color: the fill color of the marker
2. Opacity: how opaque the marker is
3. Size: the size of the marker

Set the marker appearance in detail

To change the marker in more detail, click Simple Marker at the top of the window.

Here you can set the fine details of the marker, from its size and fill color to its stroke and shape.

The main settings are:

1. Stroke: adjust the outline of the marker. Use Stroke color to set the color, Stroke style to set the line type (solid, dashed, and so on), and Stroke width to set the width.
2. Rotation: rotate the marker.
3. Offset: set how far the marker sits from the feature's coordinates.
4. Anchor point: set how the marker is positioned relative to the feature's coordinates. This is hard to see with a round marker, but you can use it, for example, to align the feature's coordinates with an edge of the marker, such as its lower left or upper right.
5. Shape: choose the shape of the marker. The list includes many shapes, such as a circle, square, triangle, star, and cross. Click a shape to select it.

Offset and Anchor point both set the relationship between the marker and the feature's coordinates, so the difference may not be obvious.

Offset shifts the center of the marker from the feature's position by a specific distance in a specific direction.

Anchor point, on the other hand, sets which part of the marker aligns with the feature's coordinates. Combine the two to fine-tune the position of the marker.

The image below shows a marker with a different stroke color and width. The marker preview at the top of the window changes accordingly.

When you finish adjusting the settings, click OK at the bottom right of the window to apply them to the layer.

Change the marker to an image

The default Symbol layer type is Simple Marker, but you can also use many other things as markers, from text to animated GIFs.

Here are two ways to use an image as a marker.

Use a Raster Image Marker

To use an image as a marker, you normally use Raster Image Marker. Despite the name, you can also specify a vector image such as SVG, or a PDF. Select Raster Image Marker as the Symbol layer type.

This example uses the PNG image of an emergency evacuation site symbol from the materials published by the Digital Hokkaido Research Group.

1. Click the ... button on the right and select the downloaded image.
2. Adjust the appearance, placement, and other settings if needed.
3. Click OK at the bottom right of the window.

The image you specified now replaces the round marker.

Use an SVG Marker

If the image you want to use is an SVG, you can also use SVG Marker. It offers finer control over the appearance than Raster Image Marker. Select SVG Marker as the Symbol layer type.

When you select SVG Marker, the dialog looks like this.

You can choose the SVG image in two ways. The first is to use a marker that QGIS provides. The second is to use an SVG you prepared yourself.

Use a marker that QGIS provides

The basic steps for setting an SVG marker are:

1. Select the image you want to use as the marker from the SVG browser.
2. Adjust the appearance settings, such as size, stroke, and offset, as needed.
3. Click OK.

The marker changes to the SVG image you just selected.

Use your own SVG

The steps are the same as above. To use an SVG you prepared yourself, select the SVG file with the ... button at the bottom.

The image below shows an example that uses the emergency evacuation site SVG data from the materials published by the Digital Hokkaido Research Group as the marker.

Conclusion

This article covered how to change the marker color of a point layer in QGIS, how to make detailed adjustments such as stroke, offset, and anchor point, and how to use images as markers.

Setting the marker appearance well greatly improves the readability of a map and conveys the meaning of the data more intuitively. Depending on your purpose, you can switch between a simple color change and an image marker to make an effective map. Try customizing the markers to fit your own data and make a more attractive, easier-to-understand map.