GIS Software

Information about GIS software and applications including both commercial and open source GIS applications. This category covers desktop GIS (Esri’s ArcGIS suite, MapInfo, QGIS, and GRASS) as well as web mapping, GIS apps, mobile GIS, and component GIS.

GIS Software

Free GIS Data Viewers

January 9, 2018By Caitlin DempseyGIS Software

Free data viewers for a variety of GIS data formats. These viewers allow you to display geographic data as well as perform some basic GIS functions.

How to Geocode Addresses Using QGIS

January 9, 2018By Caitlin DempseyGIS Learning, GIS Software

If you have a CSV formatted file containing addresses, you can take advantage of QGIS to map out those addresses. This article contains step by step instructions for geocoding addresses using QGIS.

PostGIS logo.

What is PostGIS?

September 28, 2017By Mark AltaweelGIS Software

PostGIS is an Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) compliant software used as an extender for PostgreSQL, which is a form of object-relational database. While PostGIS is free and open source, it is used in both commercial (e.g., ArcGIS) and open source software (e.g., QGIS).

Why Online GIS for Local Government Is Moving To The Cloud

August 30, 2017By Chris BrownGIS Software

Chris Brown, the CEO of Mango, discusses the benefits of Mango’s GIS for Local government web mapping application.

Where is Open Source GIS Going?

July 31, 2017By Mark AltaweelGIS Software

Mark Altaweel discusses the growth and direction of open source GIS tools and software in this opinion piece.

Dress Up Your QGIS Install With this Whimsical Plugin

July 7, 2017By Caitlin DempseyGIS Software

The QGIS hats plugin is a bit of fun that accomplishes no other purpose than to add a hat to the QGIS icon.

How to Make a Map in Excel Using the 3D Map Add-in

July 6, 2017By GIS ContributorGIS Software

This tutorial by Nick Williams provides an overview of how to create a map in Excel using 3D Map for Excel 2016 (or Power Map for Excel 2013).

Insights for ArcGIS 2.0 Released

July 3, 2017By Olivia HarneGIS Software

Insights now has new ways to visualize data with new charts: box plots, data clocks, chord diagrams and heat charts are all now available.

ArcGIS Runtime 100.1 Now Available

June 30, 2017By Olivia HarneGIS Software

ArcGIS Runtime 100.1, dubbed “Update 1” per ArcGIS’ announcement, is now available for use.

Topography of Australia’s Intertidal Zone Available as Open Data

The National Intertidal Digital Elevation Model (NIDEM) is the first 3D model of Australia’s intertidal zone. It is available for downloading as an open source dataset from Australia’s National Map portal.

Tutorial: Introduction to Geospatial Analysis in R

Watch this tutorial “Introduction to Geospatial Analysis in R” to learn how to import files into R, overlay layers, reduce spatial extent, select and reclassify values, and make a map.

Elements of a Map

Map elements such as the map frame, legend, and north arrow are parts of what create a map.

Learn GIS for Free

There are a few online options to learn GIS for free. Take advantage of resources that provide you access to free courses from some of the world’s best universities and institutions.