How can I Apply a Custom Color Theme to other Layers?

The Color Theme wizard in Maptitude allows you to save and load color themes. This can be especially useful when you have created a custom theme using logos or image files and you don’t want to recreate this every time.

This article will go over how to create a theme with custom icons, save it and then reapply to a new layer. Note that the field that the theme is applied on needs to have the same name in the new layer.

In these steps I have a layer with a field called Type that divides the layer into Type A, Type B, and Type C.

Part 1: Create the Custom Theme

1. Make the point layer you want to create the theme for the working layer
2. Click in the main toolbar
3. From Field, choose Type and make sure the Method is List of Values
4. Click Apply. Your points will be colored depending on their Type
5. Go to the Styles tab
6. For each class, highlight the class name and click Style…
7. Click Color Image, then click … then click the icon you want to use for that class and click Click OK
8. Repeat Steps 6-7 for each class
9. When you are happy, click Apply to see the theme applied
10. Go back to the Settings tab and click Save…
11. Save a settings file in an appropriate location
12. Give the Theme a name, e.g. Type Custom Color and click OK
13. Click OK to return to the map.

Part 2: Reapplying the Theme

Now consider that we have started on a new map and have a new layer called New Customers. This is a similar setup to the original layer, but there is an extra type of point, Type D. I want to reapply the theme and then edit it so I only have to customize Type D. The key thing about this new layer is that the Type field has the same name

1. Make New Customers the working layer
2. Click in the main toolbar
3. Click Load…
4. If necessary choose From Settings File and browse for the settings file saved in Step 11 of part 1
5. Select the correct theme, e.g. Type Custom Color and click OK
6. Click This apply the previous customization, but all of Type D will be in the Other category
7. Click Customize
8. Increase # of Classes by one, and highlight the class None (0) that appears
9. Under Class Settings set the value to Type D
10. Click The Type D points will be given the same icons as Type A
11. Go to the Styles tab and customize the icons for Type D as before
12. Go back to the Settings tab and click Save…
13. Give the Theme a name, e.g. New Type Custom Color, or save over the old theme and click OK
14. Click OK to return to the map

This will reapply the theme with the custom settings for Type D added. You can apply this theme to any layer with a field called Type. You will only need to customize the theme if new Types appear. If all the Types in a layer are already covered, skip steps 7-11.