In this section, several useful color tools in SuperMap iDesktop are described. Reasonable use of these tools can effectively help us improve the efficiency of mapping.
Color Finder
Color picker is a necessary tool for various drawing software, drawing board and other software related to Color Settings. SuperMap iDesktop also provides this useful tool. In the color panel, it represents Pick Color, which can pick any color on the current screen. Apply to map. As shown in the following figure:
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| Image: Color Picking |
Color library management
The Color Library Manager provides advanced management of the colors in the current color library, making the Color Collection more flexible and professional. In the Color Library Manager, you can do the following:
- Add swatches
The system provides default, standard, theme, Google style and other color plates by default. If the drawing requirements cannot be met, the user can add a new color plate through this function to build a Color Collection that meets the actual application needs. After the newly created swatches or color blocks are selected and saved, they will be synchronized to other places involved in color selection, so as to truly achieve one-party management and multi-party application.
- Extract Color from Picture to build a new swatch.
This function can extract all the colors in the picture from the existing Picture File and import these colors into the current color library as the colors in the new swatch. As shown in the following figure, the image is collected from the picture and applied to the drawing.
from the picture of color swatches
Figure: Collecting schematic colors 
Figure: Application - Import Color Swatch from text file
You can Import the color-recorded text into the current color library. The format of the text file can be *.txt or *.csv, but the recording format of the color should meet certain requirements. As shown in the following figure, the content of the first comma (English comma) is the label of the color, followed by the RGB color value. The color value must use the RGB color mode; one line represents one color record. If there is a record in the text file that does not strictly follow this rule, the record will be ignored and the corresponding color will not be imported.
- Import/Export Color Library
You can export all swatches in the current Color Library Manager to a SuperMap color library file (*.xml) to share with others, or import a color library made by others into a File. When importing, you can select the swatch file to be imported, which can be used as a way to backup the results.
Figure: Importing a color library In addition, in the Color Library Manager, the colors in the color palette can also be arranged as approximate colors, which is the color block Add Label, to increase the recognition of the color block, or to search for use.
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| Figure: Color File Format Requirements |
Color Scheme management
The Color Scheme Manager is used to customize and manage the Color Scheme in the program. SuperMap iDesktop keeps a list of commonly used Color Schemes in the Color Manager. Some of these Color Schemes are for specific domains, such as the Color Scheme for displaying elevations. At the same time, it also supports users to create custom Color Scheme to meet different application requirements. As shown in the following figure.
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| Figure: Application of Custom Color Scheme |
In a word, the color design of the map is a complicated thing, must on the basis of understanding the knowledge of chromatics and map color design, often analyze the excellent map works at home and abroad, learn good color methods, in order to gradually master the law of color design, so as to improve the expressive force of the map, enhance the artistic effect of the map.
People who are new to map color matching can refer to the Online Map mentioned above if they are equipped with the commonly used Digital Map. The color matching of these online maps is more in line with the aesthetic requirements of the public and has reference value.
Related content:
The Basic Characteristics of Color and Color Psychology