ColorBrewer.org: An Online Tool for Selecting Colour Schemes for Maps

The Cartographic JournalPublished 1 June 2003

Mark Harrower, Cynthia A. Brewer

DOI10.1179/000870403235002042

Source URL

Citations1,086

SJR quartileQ3

SJR score0.26

SNIP1.14

TL;DR

colorBrewer is an online tool designed to take some of the guesswork out of this process by helping users select appropriate colour schemes for their specific mapping needs by considering the number of data classes, nature of their data, and the end-use environment for the map.

Abstract

Choosing effective colour schemes for thematic maps is surprisingly difficult. ColorBrewer is an online tool designed to take some of the guesswork out of this process by helping users select appropriate colour schemes for their specific mapping needs by considering: the number of data classes; the nature of their data (matched with sequential, diverging and qualitative schemes); and the end-use environment for the map (e.g., CRT, LCD, printed, projected, photocopied). ColorBrewer contains 'learn more' tutorials to help guide users, prompts them to test-drive colour schemes as both map and legend, and provides output in five colour specification systems.

Keywords

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