Can I reproject a shapefile without ArcGIS?

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Jason.Henning
i-Tree Team
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Joined: Fri Dec 21, 2012 7:45 am

Can I reproject a shapefile without ArcGIS?

Post by Jason.Henning » Tue Jan 08, 2013 5:23 pm

If you have a shapefile of your desired boundary but it is in the wrong coordinate system or projection, and you have have access to ArcGIS follow this forum post (http://forums.itreetools.org/viewtopic. ... ght=canopy) to reproject your file.

If you have a shapefile of your desired boundary in the wrong coordinate system or projection, and you do not have access to ArcGIS to reproject it please read on.

You can reproject a shapefile using a free open source GIS program called Quantum GIS (or QGIS). Download the free program http://www.qgis.org/ and install it on your machine. Once the software is installed:

1) Launch Quantum GIS Desktop then click on Image or Image in newer versions and load your desired shapefile.
2) Right click on the name of your shape file in the Table of Contents on the left hand side of the screen under where it says “Layers”
3) Select "Save As" from the drop down menu.
4) In the dialog box that opens up click on the “Browse” button next to "CRS" (coordinate reference system).
a. Under “Coordinate Reference Systems of the World” expand the Geographic Coordinate Systems using the “+” and scroll to WGS 84. Click on this to select it and press “OK”. WGS 84 should now appear in the CRS box.
b. In the “Save as” box provide an appropriate name for your newly projected shapefile and browse to an appropriate location. Press "OK" and you will have created a new shapefile with the correct projection to be loaded into i-Tree Canopy.

A how-to video is now available at the following link https://youtu.be/AP30-rGnYXU using free QGIS software to deal with the common "Invalid Projection Format" error when loading a shapefile in i-Tree Canopy.

Note: It is also possible to create shapefiles in Quantum GIS and anyone interested in using Quantum GIS should consult the documentation associated with the program and materials at http://www.qgis.org/.
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