Transform

Transform layers with tools for spatial analysis.

Transformations are a set of spatial analysis techniques that allow users to manipulate and analyze geographic data, making it easier to combine and extract meaningful information from different datasets on a map.

Using Transformations

To apply a transformation a layer, click on the Transform icon in the toolbar. The transformations menu is also available via the Felt menu in top-left corner and via feature menu using the Command/Control + K shortcut (simply type Transform or the name of any specific transformation, like Buffer).

Available Transformations

Processing large layers could take a long time. Consider clipping large layers to your area of interest before running other operations.

Name	Description	Example use case	Input	Output
Buffer	For each feature, generate a polygon covering an area within a distance	To identify specific locations that are within a certain radius of features like roads, hospitals, etc.	Any	Polygons
Bounds	For each feature, generate a rectangular polygon completely covering the feature	To simplify features to broad coverage areas	Any	Polygons
Centroid	For each feature, generate a point at the center of it	To simplify a polygon layer to a point layer, like metro areas to just cities	Lines or polygons	Polygons
Clip	Keep only the parts of each feature inside polygons from another layer	To reduce a global or countrywide layer to just an area of interest	Any and polygons	Any (same as input)
Count Points	Add the total number of points covered by each polygon to each feature	Count the number of airports in each US state	Points and polygon layers	Polygon layer with number of points as an attribute
Dissolve	Create a single new polygon covering all features	To simplify overlapping or contiguous polygons, like buffers	Polygons	Polygons
Intersect	Keep only the features in layer A that intersect layer B	To identify features that overlap another layer, like roads inside national parks	Any and polygons	Any (same as input)
Subtract	Keep only the parts of each feature outside the polygons from another layer	Remove flood zones from candidate areas for development projects	Any and polygons	Any (same as input)
Join	For each feature, generate a new one that includes the columns from both input layers	To add non-geographic data to a geographic layer, like GDP per year to a countries layer	Any and any	Any (same as input)

Spatial Analysis Exercise

Try out Felt’s spatial analysis tools for yourself in this step-by-step tutorial to find suitable habitat for the Iberian Lynx!

Download the datasets: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1eKmVEg1hZk8TlVnQPu150oaTQNu07YkX