Applying style files

When data is added to QGIS it won't have any pre-defined symbology. You can either set up your own symbology for each layer or, if available, you can apply style files that have previously been created.

Setting up symbology can be time consuming; an alternative is to make use of a pre-defined symbology definitions. QGIS allows layer style files (.qml) and styled layer descriptor (.sld) files to be loaded allowing us to make use of pre-defined styles.

1. In QGIS double click on a layer in the layer control panel on the left hand side to bring up the properties for that layer, then select Style to bring up the style window:
   
2. Press the 'Load Style...' button and browse to an appropriate .qml or .sld file that contains style definitions for the selected layer.
3. Press the Open button to display the styles in the selected style file:
   
4. The styles and rules can be modified if required; pressing the 'Count features' button will display a count of the number of features that match each specified rule.
5. When you are happy with the styles press Apply or OK to apply these styles to the selected layer in the map.