How To Use Color Coding for Material Graphics

Color coding can be used on reports in OpenGround Cloud Professional to represent different soil and rock material types. Color coding can be used as an alternative to pattern-based graphics (Legend Codes), or in conjunction with pattern-based graphics.

How to Use Color Coding (Instead of Pattern-Based Graphics)

Color coding works much the same way as pattern-based graphics. A bitmap image is added to a Picklist for each material type.

However, the graphics are much easier to create because the image only needs to be a solid fill. So, there are no concerns with perfecting the image pattern and size so that graphics scale and tile well. In the example color coding components created by Bentley (see below), images are 100 pixels wide x 60 pixels high, but any size would work. New images can be created and edited in any 3rd party bitmap editor, such as GIMP, Paint.NET, or Microsoft Paint.

Color coded images can be added directly to the StratumDetails – LegendCode Picklist as is typically done with pattern-based graphics. Or, a new Picklist and header can be created for color coded material types.

Color coded graphics can then be added to templates in Template Studio in the same manner as pattern-based graphics, by using the Graphics Bar object.

How To Use Color Coding In Conjunction With Pattern-Based Graphics

Perhaps you are not ready to completely abandon pattern-based graphics, but would still like to incorporate color-coding. You could colorize all your images in a 3^rd-party bitmap editor and re-add them to your Picklist, but that would be time-consuming and inflexible if you have multiple color-coding schemes.

An alternative is to overlay semi-transparent colors on your pattern-based graphics.

To do this, your pattern-based graphics would still typically be associated with the StratumDetails – LegendCode Picklist.

You would also need to add a “Color Coding” header that uses a Picklist. The values in the Color Coding header could be manually entered, or (for example), automatically populated based on the Legend Code or other conditions. The images in this Picklist would need to be semi-transparent (and accordingly in a format that supports transparency, such as .png.)

Then, in Template Studio, two Graphics Bar objects can be added to a column to show both the pattern-based graphic, and the color coding. Make sure Graphics Bar for the pattern graphics is higher up in the column list, which will make it print below the color graphics. Use the Move Up and Move Down buttons in the ribbon to adjust.

Example Color Coding Components

Bentley has created component files with different example color coding schemes. For each scheme, there are 2 versions. One version will import values into the StratumDetails – LegendCode Picklist. The other version will import values into a StratumDetails – ColorCode Picklist. All images are about 67% opaque. The component files can be found in Component Center.

Color Coding Considerations

Many organizations struggle with consistent symbolization across all their deliverables. Perhaps over the years, their library of symbols has grown to an unmanageable level. They want to carry on with what they are used-to, but there is the daunting task of migrating all their symbols as they adopt new platforms to report, analyze, and model their data. Bentley encourages organizations in this position to strongly consider adopting color coding as it has the following benefits:

• Cross-Platform Compatibility – Different platforms have different formats for generating pattern graphics, such as vector graphics, bitmap images, hatch patterns, cells, and styles to name a few. However, almost any application can easily handle RGB codes to efficiently implement standard color coding across platforms.
• Easier Distinction Between Material Types – Changes in material type may be represented by subtle changes in pattern-based graphics that are difficult to distinguish. Changes in material type are often more apparent with color coding. After all, color coding has been used effectively in the geoscience world since the earliest geologic maps.
• No Issues With Tiling/Scaling – It can be complex to generate patterns that tile well and work effectively for many different purposes. For example, graphics chosen for a borehole log may not be suitable for a cross-section or 3D model. Color coding is simple to implement, and works universally.
• It Can Be Supplemented With Text Annotation – Common concerns with color coding are that it doesn’t work if reports are printed in black & white and can be less accessible to the color blind. Text annotation addresses both these issues, and in general, makes reports more understandable because a legend does not need to be referenced.