Draw Legends on Maps

Maps can express diverse information. Therefore, to improve the readability of a map, cartographers convert the content of their maps to map languages through legends. With legends, the user can read and understand maps more easily.

SuperMap iDesktopX supports drawing legends on both layouts and maps.

SuperMap iDesktopX supports creating common legends and custom legends on maps. Common legends list symbols used on thematic maps and layers in order beside major maps.

Figure: drawing legends on a map

Functional Entrances

  • On the Maps tab: click Mapping > Map Decoration > Legend.
  • Open a Layout: click Object Operations tab > Object Drawing group > Legend > Legend.

Operating Instructions

  • Draw legend: click your mouse on a proper position, and then drag your mouse to determine the position of the legend.
  • Sets legend parameters: In the pop-up dialog box Create Legend, select layers as the legend items. If you specify a thematic map, items of the legend are the unique-value items of the thematic map. The current layer is selected by default.
  • Preview and set legend parameters: in the diaolog box, you can preview the legend instanly and modify the legend styles by setting the following parameters.
    • Legend Title: sets the title of the legend. The default title is "Legend".
    • Legend Columns: sets the number of the legend columns. The default value is 3.
    • Fill Color: sets the filling background of the legend. Click the button to open the color panel where you can select a color as the background color.
    • Subitem Style: sets the shape of each item of the legend. The application provides 4 kinds of shapes: rectangle, round rectangle, ellipse, and diamond.
    • Font Settings: Sets font styles of the legend title, legend items, and legend subitems. Among them, Legend Item works on the legend of a vector layer. Legend Subitems apply for the legend of the subitem of a thematic map (unique value thematic map, range thematic map, statistic thematic map, or graduated symbol thematic map). Click each button to set the font of the corresponding legend. For the specific operations on the font settings, please refer to The Styles tab on the page Modify Uniform Label Maps.
  • Visibility of Legend Item/Legend Subitem: check layers to make corresponding legend items or legend subitems visible. Note: if you check a thematic map, its subitems will be added to the legend. To delete one of the subitems, you can right-click on the legend, select Ungroup, specify the item, and press the Delete key to delete it.
  • After all parameter settings, click OK to apply to the legend. The application will generate a CAD dataset in the first read-write datasource to save the legend named "Legend" by default. Besides, the application will add the dataset to the current map and save the legend styles.