{"id":172941,"date":"2010-11-02T20:31:06","date_gmt":"2010-11-02T20:31:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/?post_type=blog&#038;p=172941"},"modified":"2018-12-18T11:08:48","modified_gmt":"2018-12-18T19:08:48","slug":"can-i-create-a-customized-colormap-file-in-arcgis","status":"publish","type":"blog","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/arcgis-desktop\/imagery\/can-i-create-a-customized-colormap-file-in-arcgis","title":{"rendered":"Can I create a customized colormap file in ArcGIS?"},"author":4061,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_searchwp_excluded":""},"categories":[22931,22941],"tags":[25311,23011],"industry":[],"product":[36991],"class_list":["post-172941","blog","type-blog","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-imagery","category-mapping","tag-arcgis-10","tag-raster","product-arcgis-desktop"],"acf":{"short_description":"The way to create a colormap file (CLR) is to edit the color scheme of a raster dataset using the Unique Values renderer","flexible_content":[{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/downloads.esri.com\/MappingCenter2007\/blog\/Apr12Images\/IBP_AdvancedLabelingForTheStretchRenderer.png\" alt=\"Thumbnail\" align=\"left\" border=\"0\" hspace=\"5\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Many of you have asked us if\/how you can create a custom colormap file in ArcGIS.\u00a0 Well, finally we can say, \u201cYes! You can create a custom colormap file in ArcGIS 10\u201d.<\/p>\n<p><strong><span id=\"more-2158\"><\/span>OK, so how do I create one?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The way to create a colormap file (CLR) is to edit the color scheme of a raster dataset using the Unique Values renderer (on the Symbology tab of the Layer Properties dialog). Edit the color for each value. Once you have completed the editing, then you can display your color scheme to see if you are satisfied with it.\u00a0 If you are not satisfied yet, you can further refine your color scheme.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/downloads2.esri.com\/blogs\/images\/dev_21251.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/downloads2.esri.com\/blogs\/images\/dev_21251.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"545\" height=\"401\" align=\"middle\" border=\"0\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>I am happy with my colors; now how do I save my colormap?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Once you are satisfied with your colors, go back to the Symbology tab window. In the window, there is a new button named \u201cColormap\u201d. This allows you to export or import CLR files.\u00a0 To save your colormap, click the Colormap button, and then click Export Colormap.\u00a0 Save it to your local disk, and you now have a CLR file with your custom colors.<\/p>\n<p><strong>How do I persist my CLR to my raster?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>To actually apply your colormap file with your raster dataset(s), you can use the Add Colormap geoprocessing tool. Populate the Input Raster and the Input .clr fields. After you run the tool, your raster dataset now has the new colormap information attatched.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Requirements for Colormaps<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Single band data.<\/li>\n<li>8- and 16-bit unsigned integer (positive integer values).<\/li>\n<li>A format that supports colormaps (see\u00a0<a title=\"Raster Technical Specs\" href=\"http:\/\/help.arcgis.com\/en\/arcgisdesktop\/10.0\/help\/index.html#\/Technical_specifications_for_raster_dataset_formats\/009t0000000r000000\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Technical Specifications for Raster Formats<\/a>).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>For more information about colormaps, please see:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a title=\"Key concepts of raster colormaps\" href=\"http:\/\/help.arcgis.com\/en\/arcgisdesktop\/10.0\/help\/index.html#\/Key_concepts_of_raster_dataset_color_maps\/009t0000002q000000\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Key Concepts of raster dataset colormaps<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a title=\"Creating a colormap file\" href=\"http:\/\/help.arcgis.com\/en\/arcgisdesktop\/10.0\/help\/index.html#\/Creating_a_color_map_clr_file\/009t0000002r000000\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Creating a colormap file<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><em>Contributed by: Simon Woo<\/em><\/p>\n"}],"authors":[{"ID":4061,"user_firstname":"Simon","user_lastname":"Woo","nickname":"Simon Woo","user_nicename":"simo3919","display_name":"Simon W","user_email":"swoo@esri.com","user_url":"","user_registered":"2018-03-02 00:15:40","user_description":"Simon is an Esri product engineer on the Raster team. He works mainly with Pixel Editor, raster visualization, georeferencing, and documentation.","user_avatar":"<img alt='' src='https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/284f5c139a24b4d63be933eebce2580a4a5dc93d4c09b375bd1d2368019e8748?s=96&#038;d=blank&#038;r=g' srcset='https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/284f5c139a24b4d63be933eebce2580a4a5dc93d4c09b375bd1d2368019e8748?s=192&#038;d=blank&#038;r=g 2x' class='avatar avatar-96 photo' height='96' width='96' loading='lazy' decoding='async'\/>"}],"related_articles":"","card_image":false,"wide_image":false},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v25.9 (Yoast SEO v25.9) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Can I create a customized colormap file in ArcGIS?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/arcgis-desktop\/imagery\/can-i-create-a-customized-colormap-file-in-arcgis\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Can I create a customized colormap file in ArcGIS?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/arcgis-desktop\/imagery\/can-i-create-a-customized-colormap-file-in-arcgis\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"ArcGIS Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/esrigis\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-12-18T19:08:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ESRI\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":[\"Article\",\"BlogPosting\"],\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/arcgis-desktop\/imagery\/can-i-create-a-customized-colormap-file-in-arcgis#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/arcgis-desktop\/imagery\/can-i-create-a-customized-colormap-file-in-arcgis\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Simon W\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/#\/schema\/person\/6f650fb8cda0894dd6401d333dcdcb64\"},\"headline\":\"Can I create a customized colormap file in ArcGIS?\",\"datePublished\":\"2010-11-02T20:31:06+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-12-18T19:08:48+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/arcgis-desktop\/imagery\/can-i-create-a-customized-colormap-file-in-arcgis\"},\"wordCount\":9,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"ArcGIS 10\",\"raster\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Imagery &amp; 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