9.3.7.20 The (Plot Details) Colormap tab


This tab is available when the color property of the plot has been mapped to the values of a column or a column label row. It provides controls for customizing the levels, fill color, and rescale mode.

The Plot Details Color Map Tab 1.png

Note: For multi-layer graph, if you have applied background colors by Layers, this Colormap tab will also show at page level to let you customize the colormap for layer backgound colors.

Contents

Level and Fill

The Plot Details Color Map Tab 2.png
Level

Origin displays a default set of levels by finding the minimum and maximum values along Y direction or Z direction, then calculating an increment that creates eight color levels. Two additional levels are added to represent values less than the minimum or greater than the maximum value. Individual values may be edited in the list by double-clicking. You can also click the Level header to open the Set Levels dialog. Then you can edit the levels as a group.

Fill

By default, Origin uses a color list that introduces Yellow and Green between limits of Red and Blue. Individual colors may be edited in the list by clicking or you can click on the Fill header to open the Fill dialog where you can edit the fill method and properties as a group.

Editing Levels

To edit a level value:

  1. Double-click on the level. This allows direct edit of the level value. Values are restricted to those between the previous Level value and the next Level value.

To edit the full range of levels:

  1. Click on the Level heading. This opens the Set Levels dialog box (see next).
The Plot Details Color Map Tab 3.png

To customize the minimum or maximum level:

  1. Type the desired value in the associated text box.

or

  1. Click Find Min/Max button to automatically set the From and To text box values, based on your values.

or

  1. Click Find Group Min/Max button to set the From and To as the minimum and maximum value among the grouped datasets in graph page, respectively.

Select the type for the scale. Please see details about the scale type here. Additionally, you can set the interval between levels or you can specify the number of levels manually by setting the value of Major Levels and Minor Levels.

You also can set the First Level item to specify the value of the first major level.

Editing Fills

PD Colormap Edit Fills.png
  1. To edit fill colors click the Fill header to open the Fill dialog box.

Color Generations by Interpolation

CMap Fill Limited Mix.png CMap Fill 3-Color Mix.png
CMap Fill Load Palette.png CMap Fill Color List.png
Limited Mixing Select this radio button to select a minimum level fill color (From) and a maximum level fill color (To), and to fill the levels between these extremes with a linear mix of the two colors.
Introducing Other Colors in Mixing Select this radio button to have Origin automatically introduce complementary colors into the mix. This option provides fill colors that are more distinct than the ones provided by the Limited Mixing option.
3-Color Limited Mixing Select this option to select a minimum level fill color (From), a middle level fill color (Middle) and a maximum level fill color (To), and to fill a range of cells by using a gradation of three colors.

Additionally, specify how to determine the Middle Position:

  • If By Percentile, enter the percentile of the level that corresponds to the Middle color.
  • If By Percent, enter the percent of the level that corresponds to the Middle color. Note that because you can insert or delete individual levels on the Colormap/Contours tab, the n% level may not correspond to the nth percentile level.
  • If By Value, enter a number in the From and To range of values, that you wish to correspond with the Middle color.
Load Palette Load the palette and apply it to color fills. Click the Select Palette button, you can select one palette from the 40 built-in palettes. Besides, you also can browse the user-defined palette files by clicking More Palettes... in the palette list.
Link to Palette/Color List
Select this check box to link the color filling to the selected palette. It will disable editing the single color under the Fill column by clicking.
Flip
Flip the order of colors in the selected palette and map it to the existed color level.
Stretch to Full Range
  • If this checkbox is checked, the colors in the palette will be repeated or skipped to n, where n is the number of color map levels in the input graph layer.
  • If this checkbox is clear and n is less than 256 (palette), only the first n colors in the palette will be used. If the checkbox is clear and n is more than 256 (palette), the entire set of colors in the palette will be repeated as many times as needed.
Color List Load the color list and apply it to color fills. Click the Select Color List button, you can select one color list from built-in or user defined color list.
Link to Palette/Color List
Select this check box to link the color filling to the selected color list. It will disable editing the single color under the Fill column by clicking.
Flip
Flip the order of colors in the selected color list and map it to the existed color level.
Stretch to Full Range
  • If this checkbox is checked, the colors in the color list will be repeated or skipped to n, where n is the number of color map levels in the input graph layer.
  • If this checkbox is clear and n is less than color number in the color list, only the first n colors in the color list will be used. If the checkbox is clear and n is more than color number in the color list, the entire set of colors in the color list will be repeated as many times as needed.

Range

The Range group displays the range of levels that are affected by the current dialog box settings. By default, the two Range boxes will register Full range.

  1. To alter range, close the dialog box and using the CTRL or SHIFT keys, select the desired range from the Level column of the Colormap tab.
  2. Click the Fill header again and now you can customize colors for the selected range.
PD Fill Range.png

Level Group

Use the buttons in this group to insert or delete levels.

To insert a level:

  1. Highlight the level that is directly below the level to be added.
  2. Click the Insert button in the Level group. Origin inserts a level value halfway between the selected level and the previous level.

To delete a level:

  1. Click on the level to select it and then click the Delete button in the Level group. When you delete a level, the other levels do not change.

Colormap Theme Group

There are four buttons in this group for color map theme operation. Please note that the check-box of Include Levels and Colors Only is gray-out and checked.

Copy the current color mapping to the clipboard.

Once there is color mapping available in the clipboard, this button will be activated for pasting the color mapping in the clipboard to replace the current one.

Save the current color mapping as *.oth file.

Load a color mapping saved as *.oth file to replace the current one.

Missing Values

In this group, you can not only specify the threshold value for missing value in the source column or column label row, but also indicate the way to interpret values according to threshold value. By selecting the operators in drop-down list, you can assign values larger than/smaller than/equal to threshold value as missing value. This is in addition to an Origin Missing Value, which appears as --.

And then, you can click the color box to specify a color for these missing values.

Color Map Contours Tab 9.png

Rescale Mode

The Rescale Mode drop-down list allows you to control whether or not the levels that are established on the Colormap tab will update if the current values change.

Normal

Origin automatically finds the minimum and maximum values in your data set, and then creates evenly sized levels and associated colors.

Manual

Current levels and associated colors set on the Colormap tab will remain fixed, independent of the range of your data set. To alter the levels and colors, you must edit the Level and Fill controls.

Fixed From

The minimum level remains unchanged, independent of the values in your data set.

Fixed To

The maximum level remains unchanged, independent of the values in your data set.

Auto

Auto resale the color levels and color fills, once the data range is changed.