Using SVG files in QGIS

SVG (scaled vector graphics) files are small files created in programs such as InkScape. They can be symbols or pattern fills, e.g. geological patterns. There are numerous sources of SVG files on the Internet. I have copied some of the ones used in geological maps and have provided links below. SVG files can be stored anywhere on your system but QGIS will initially look to the default location based on the installed version of QGIS. For the standalone installer option, the SVG are saved to the "C:\Program Files\QGIS 3.xx\apps\qgis\svg" folder. The network installer puts them here "C:\OSGeo4W64\apps\qgis\svg". To avoid having to reload the SVG files every time you do a major version upgrade, say from v 3.16 to v 3.17, copy the SVG files to a folder outside of QGIS and point QGIS to this folder using the QGIS menu item Settings > Options > System tab, and adding the directory to the SVG paths window.

The USGS have published their complete symbol list together with how each symbol is constructed and a full description of the USGS patterns and symbols can be found here.

I have downloaded one symbol set from Steve Revets site and have modified some of these to remove bounding borders and allowed the patterns to be coloured. These USGS symbols can be downloaded in a zip file from here. Similarly, the USGS geological patterns can be found here . Note that the reference numbers to the patterns and symbols form part of the file name. The USGS symbol and pattern sets are also available on the NSW Seamless Geology data set as part of their QGIS data here.

Other geological pattern files can be found here and here

If you would like to contact me please use email address boxerg at iinet dot net dot au.