Depth Colors

In Hydromagic, depths or elevation values can be drawn in colors so it is easier to see, for instance, which areas are deeper than others. By defining a color set, you can create a mapping between depth (or elevation) values and colors which are used when matrices, raw data tracks or soundings are drawn. You can generate a single color set, or multiple, for instance to have a different color set for depth and elevation values. Color sets are defined per project, since depth ranges may be different for various sounding locations.

Example matrix overlay with cell colors assigned via a user-defined color set.

Manage color sets

To create or alter color sets, open the 'Manage Color Sets' tool by selecting the "Depth Colors..." option from the "Options" menu, or by clicking the "Depth Colors" in the tool bar (when tool bar is visible and the button has been added to the collection of standard buttons):

Select the "Depth Colors..." option from the "Options" menu
to start defining color sets.

Creating (the first) color set

After creating a new project, the project does not contain any color sets. This means that depths will be displayed in black and matrices can be drawn in black text only. To create a color set, click the "..." button next to the color set selection drop-down box. In the dialog which appears, click the "Add..." button.

Enter a descriptive name for the set, since it will be displayed in the header of the color legend as well. After clicking "OK" to set the name, select the newly created color set and click "Close". The newly created color set is now set to active. In case you ever want to rename the color set, use the "Rename..." button.

Click the '...' button to alter, remove, or add color sets.

Defining colors

To define or alter color ranges for a color set, first select the color set you want to modify by selecting it from the drop down box at the bottom of the screen. Once selected, the colors associated with the set are displayed in the color list. The easiest and fastest way to generate color ranges for the color set is by calculating them automatically. Click the 'Auto...' button to do so.

The colors for the selected color set are displayed in the list.

Using the "Generate Color Ranges" tool, you can just enter the minimum and maximum depths, an interval and select which colors to use. In case you do not know the color range, you can detect the minimum and maximum values automatically by clicking the buttons with the 'magnifying glass' on them. on it. These buttons will only work when a valid sounding has been generated or loaded.

Please note that a maximum of 30 colors can be used per color set. When an error is displayed stating the generation of color ranges will result in more than 30 ranges, just increase the "Interval" value. Generated depth ranges can be altered or removed at any time.

Click the "Auto..." button to calculate
ranges for your color set.

Displaying a color legend

A legend for the defined color set can optionally be displayed in on of the corners of the map display. Use the drop down box to select the location. Possible values are:

• Do not display color legend;
• Display in the upper-left corner;
• Display in the upper-right corner;
• Display in the lower-right corner;
• Display in the lower-right corner.

When using the 'Final Product Editor,' the legend might be displayed at another position. This setting only controls the position of the legend in the map display.

Select the location of the color legend using the drop down box.

Adjusting the legend size

To adjust the size of the color legend in the map display by adjusting the row height. This allows you to fit all colors on the screen when a smaller display is used. When the row height changes, the font will resize accordingly.

Adjust the row height when using smaller displays.

Exporting and importing color sets

Color sets can be backed up easily for archiving, or to import them into another project, which might come in handy if you use the same color set in different projects. To export the color sets defined in a project, click the "..." button to open the list of color sets, and click the 'Export...' button to save the colors. From the second project, open the same window and use the "Import..." function to import the color set file.

Use the import and export functions to transfer color sets between projects.

The color importing and exporting functions can be used in the "3D Terrain Viewer" application as well. This allows you to display 3D terrains in the same colors as defined in your project.