QGIS interface¶

The QGIS-OTB plugin (requires QGIS > 3.0)¶

With QGIS 3.0.2 or later, you will need to manually install the plugin. Clone qgis-otb-plugin repository and set QGIS_PLUGINPATH:

For Linux/Unix/MacOSX¶

mkdir $HOME/projects; cd $HOME/projects
git clone https://gitlab.orfeo-toolbox.org/orfeotoolbox/qgis-otb-plugin
export QGIS_PLUGINPATH=$HOME/projects/qgis-otb-plugin

For Windows¶

Clone qgis-otb-plugin repository to C:\qgis-plugins\qgis-otb-plugin

git clone https://gitlab.orfeo-toolbox.org/orfeotoolbox/qgis-otb-plugin

Then set the QGIS_PLUGINPATH variable:

System properties (Windows Key + R -> sysdm.cpl )
Select Advanced Tab -> Environment variables.
Under “user variables for “
Add or Edit variable QGIS_PLUGINPATH and set value to C:\qgis-plugins\qgis-otb-plugin

Download and Install OTB¶

OTB is not distributed with qgis-otb-plugin. It is a seperate project and has its own git repository. Download latest OTB version: https://www.orfeo-toolbox.org/download/.

Configure plugin in QGIS¶

Restart QGIS, then install the OTB plugin: Plugins -> Manage and Install Plugins.

Click on Installed tab on left and make sure box next to OrfeoToolBox (OTB) is checked.

Open processing settings¶

Settings -> Options -> Processing (left panel)

You can see OTB under “Providers”:

Expand OTB tab
Tick Activate option
Set OTB folder. This is location of your OTB installation.
Set OTB application folder. This is location of your OTB applications. <OTB_FOLDER>/lib/otb/applications
Click “ok” to save settings and close dialog. If settings are correct, you will have OTB algorithms loaded in Processing toolbox

Using the processing toolbox (for QGIS < 3.0)¶

In older QGIS version (3.0 or before), OTB applications are available from QGIS. Use them from the processing toolbox, which is accessible under Processing -> ToolBox. Switch to “advanced interface” in the bottom of the application widget and OTB applications will be there.

Using a custom OTB¶

If QGIS cannot find OTB, the “applications folder” and “binaries folder” can be set from the settings found under Processing $\rightarrow$ Settings $\rightarrow$ “service provider”.

On some versions of QGIS, if an existing OTB installation is found, the textfield settings will not be shown. To use a custom OTB instead of the existing one, you will need to replace the otbcli, otbgui and library files in QGIS installation directly.