Example Style Window
Cartographica has a sophisticated, but not yet easy-to-use, style system which provides the user with significant control over how data is shown on the screen and in printed output.
To edit the Layer style, select "Show Layer Styles" from the Layer menu, click on the Styles... button in the Layer Stack, or double-click on the Layer name in the Layer Stack. This will bring up the Style window.
Example Style Window
Styles in Cartographpica can be simple styles (having only one visual representation regardless of the data) or complex styles (those that vary depending on the data in each feature of the layer).
To edit a simple style, concentrate on the lower-left corner of the window, where the attributes for the graphic elements are. Note that the lower-left is labeled "Style for non-matching items", which will become more important when using complex styles. But, for now, think of a simple style as containing nothing but non-matching items.
To edit a complex style, the "Based on" menu determines which column of data is to be used for discriminating between the styles. Once the column is selected, use the table on the left of the window to determine the breaks for each style variant. When using a string column to discriminate, you must use the Value column, which indicates an exact match between the value in the column and the one you define in the style here. When using a numeric column to discriminate, you may use either the Value column or the From and To columns. For the Value column, the data must still match exactly. When using the From and To columns, the value must be within the range specified. The Distribute button may be used to help create natural ranges based on a linear distribution over the range of the data in the selected layer.
Whether using simple or complex styles, the style attributes are the same, just placed differently in the window. The only exception to this is the Name attribute in complex styles which is unnecessary for simple styles.
| Hide | Used mostly in complex styles, the hide box indicates whether non-matching items are hidden from view. |
| Fill Color | The fill color swatch defines the color used for filling polygons and lines. It is important to note that lines are usually drawn with the fill color unless Stroke is checked. |
| Stroke Color | The stroke color swatch defines the color used for stroking (outlining) polygons and lines. In the case of lines, the stroke color will appear on both the left and right sides of a line. |
| Stroke Box | If the stroke box is checked, outlines will be drawn for polygons or lines. |
| Line Width | The line width slider controls the width of the stroked line around a polygon, the total width of a line, or the size of a point representation. |
| Item Label | The data column to be used as a label for this item. |
| Symbol | The symbol menu controls what symbol is drawn to represent a point. |
| Name | For complex styles only: the name of this style variant in a printed or on-screen legend |
Style Attributes
The Preview pane (in the lower right hand corner) shows a live preview of the style that is being edited. When you are editing a complex style, the preview pane shows how a feature that matches that style will be drawn.
Text Styles for labels may be changed using the Macintosh Font window (select Show Fonts in the Font submenu of the Edit menu).
To show picture thumbnails in a point layer, select a the column containing the path to the picture file in the Picture menu at the top of the style window.
The background color of the map can be changed by bringing up the Color Picker (select Show Colors from the Edit) and dragging a color sample to the Map View.