I just posted an updated version of my QGIS tutorial / workbook manual, Introduction to GIS Using Open Source Software. This version was written for QGIS 3.10 A Coruña, which recently superseded QGIS 3.4 Madeira as the current Long Term Release (LTR). The LTR is intended to be more stable than the current releases and is supported for at least a year.

The workbook was designed to accompany a day-long introductory workshop that I teach and is divided into five chapters. Chapter 1 is a broad and concise overview of GIS, chapters 2 to 4 are hands-on exercises that cover: the basics of using the interface and the difference between vectors and rasters (chapter 2), a site selection analysis that demonstrates geoprocessing, spatial selection, table joins, coordinate plotting, expressions, and spatial analysis (chapter 3), and a thematic mapping example that illustrates coordinate reference systems (CRS), data classification, and mapping (chapter 4). Chapter 5 summarizes data sources and resources for learning more about GIS. In chapters 2 to 4 the steps for doing the exercises are kept concise with many screenshots, while detailed commentary explaining how everything works follows.

The manual and tutorial data are freely available for personal and classroom use under a Creative Commons license. I’m providing the material for both 3.10 A Coruna and 3.4 Madeira for now, but will take down the latter at the end of the spring semester (late May 2020).

The changes between 3.4 and 3.10 are not dramatic as far as the basic tools and principles that I cover in the book go, but I thought an update was worthwhile as there are just enough changes that could trip up new users (see the 3.10 visual change log for a full list of software updates).  In addition to incorporating changes to the interface, I also took the opportunity to tighten up and condense the material. In particular, I consolidated the coordinate reference system (CRS) exercises in chapter 4 from two sections to one, because in practice I found that it was overkill for a one-day session.

Here are a few noteworthy changes to the tutorial and software that impact novice users:

1. The default setting for the toolbar buttons is rather small, so during the setup phase in chapter 2 I inserted an optional step to make them bigger. Go to: Settings > Options > General tab, and under the Application section change the icon size from 16 to 24.
2. In 3.10, when new files are generated from geoprocessing operations and added to your project, the layers appear in the layers panel with the name you give them. In 3.4 they were assigned generic aliases like “Clipped” and “Buffer” based on the process you ran.
3. In 3.10 the “Quantiles” classification scheme has been replaced with “Equal Counts”. Same scheme, different terminology.
4. There’s now a dedicated north arrow button in the map layout screen. In 3.4 and earlier versions you added an arrow by selecting the add image button.
5. In 3.10, every time you add a layer with a CRS that doesn’t match the existing CRS of the window, you’re presented with a datum transformation screen to modify the file you’re adding. This is a helpful warning if you already have existing layers in your project that match the window and your new file doesn’t, but it’s annoying when you’re trying to add files to a blank window in a new project. You can turn this feature off under: Options > Settings > CRS tab, under Default Datum Transformations uncheck the box for Ask for datum transformation.

It’s hard to believe that this is the 10th edition I’ve published in the past ten years. QGIS has certainly come a long way during that time. For a trip down memory lane, look at the 1st edition I wrote for QGIS 1.5 Tethys in 2011! Back then I wrote the whole thing in HTML… thankfully I “discovered” LaTeX a year later, and have used it for writing tutorials ever since.

If you wanted to learn GIS in general and QGIS in particular, spend a day with the manual and work through the exercises and you’ll have a good foundation. All the basics are there, as well as best practices and the “gotchas” that tend to trip people up.